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Good morning Voornaam,

Vodacom has suffered another blow in the Please Call Me matter - but the share price doesn't seem to care.
Sappi has swung into a headline loss.
Dominique Olivier tells the Bumble story - and shows how good intentions don't always mean happy share price charts.
A brand new Magic Markets podcast updates you on Meta and Microsoft.
Mazars has announced record revenues for 2023.

You can turn your tax into solar power with Futureneers this month, but you have to act quickly to take advantage of the Section 12BA opportunity. Find out more in this article>>>

Local company news:

Vodacom is still fighting the well known Please Call Me case, with the latest update being a win for Kenneth Nkosana Makate at the Supreme Court of Appeal. This has been going on for years and years now, with Makate having turned down the R47 million offer from Vodacom as reasonable compensation for the "Please Call Me" idea.

I'm old enough to remember when receiving a Please Call Me was a signal to log onto MXit to chat to someone you thought was cute. Kids these days will never understand what it was like to celebrate the start of free instant messaging.

Vodacom will of course appeal the latest ruling in the Constitutional Court, kicking this can down the road as far as they possibly can. The saga continues.

If you have a strong stomach and you enjoy rollercoaster rides, then you could consider investing in the paper sector. Sappi has swung from a headline profit to a headline loss in the latest quarter, with EBITDA down 46% and net profit being negative. There's also an important accounting change in EBITDA that I discuss in Ghost Bites this morning.

You'll also find the latest numbers from Lesaka Technology (where the core business is now profitable but the platform is sub-scale), as well as news of an equity private placement at Spear REIT. You won't often see a placement at a small premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price! These are usually done at a discount, so that's good going for Spear.

Get all the details in Ghost Bites>>>

The latest Ghost Wrap podcast recaps the clothing retailer updates from The Foschini Group, Mr Price, Truworths and Pepkor. This podcast is designed for busy people just like you, with thanks to Mazars. You'll find it here>>>

You can also enjoy my Namibian radio segment at this link. This week, we talked about DRDGOLD, MultiChoice, Sun International and Hudaco.

International company news:

Thanks to data and automation specialists B2IT, Magic Markets is all about "big tech" in the brand new show. Meta and Microsoft are both in the Magnificent Seven, with the latter having been criminally overlooked in the FAANG era. With eye-watering share price movements over the past year, we dug into the latest results from these giants in this podcast>>>

Moving on to online dating, Dominique Olivier is back with one of her excellent business storytelling pieces. Inspired by the Whitney Wolfe Herd story, this is the tale of Bumble and how a woman scorned went off to build a successful competitor to Tinder. Sadly, the share price is less enthralled by the story, but that's a different matter and not one that is unique to Bumble. Enjoy the article here>>>

And as for technology in China, I'm afraid that Alibaba only grew revenue by 5% year-on-year in the quarter ended December. China's economic story has been highly disappointing in recent times and Alibaba obviously sits squarely in that picture. Both the eCommerce and Cloud businesses at Alibaba limped along in the quarter.

Have a great day!

READ: The Bumble story: if you need it, build it
(by Dominique Olivier)

Whitney Wolfe Herd went off and built the the business that she wished existed in this world. There's a lot to be said for that approach, even if the share price story hasn't worked out well. Dominique Olivier digs into the story of Bumble.

Learn about Bumble and how it differs from other dating apps

LISTEN: The 2024 kick-off with Duma Mxenge of Satrix

With a great mix of practical personal finance and investing concepts, this podcast with Duma Mxenge of Satrix will get you on the right path for 2024. Don't miss it!

Listen to the Ghost Stories podcast here (42 minutes long)

Currencies, commodities and rates: TreasuryONE Market Update

Currency markets were rather uneventful yesterday, trading in tight ranges for the most part. Uncertainty over interest rates is giving the dollar a lack of direction, which means sideways action for other currencies as well.

All eyes are on next week's CPI print.

Locally, foreign holders continue to sell off South African assets, with the JSE experiencing outflows. Risk-off sentiment could worsen further for the rand and local equities leading up to the budget speech at the end of the month.

The rand is at R18.89 this morning, the US 10-year yield is 4.10%, gold is at $2,031 and platinum ZAR is way down at R16,612. Sorry, PGM fans. Brent Crude is at $79.54.

As a Ghost Mail reader, you have a wonderful early bird opportunity to register for the 2024 post-budget panel discussion hosted by TreasuryONE, Econometrix and ETM Analytics. I absolutely cannot recommend this enough and I will also be attending to learn from the panel. Get it in your diaries now already by registering at this link>>>

LISTEN: Magic Markets podcast

In Episode 161 of Magic Markets, we dug into Meta and Microsoft as two of the most important names in the Magnificent Seven growth stocks that continue to dominate headlines (and portfolios for that matter). What can we learn from recent earnings updates and the share price trends? Find out in this podcast, brought to you by international data and automation specialists B2IT.

Listen to Magic Markets Episode 161 here (22 minutes long)

READ: Mazars announces record global revenues

Mazars has announced record global revenue, building on its global ambition. Find out more in this article from the group that makes the Ghost Wrap podcast possible.

Learn about Mazars' impressive results in the past year

READ: Satrix launches Satrix JSE Global Equity ETF

Satrix is releasing a new product that gives a higher weighting to local companies with international listings. In other words: more of an offshore component. Find out more in this article.

Learn about this new product from Satrix in this article

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