| Good morning Voornaam, Welcome to a new week, one in which the news is going to be focused on the latest developments in Iran and what happens to the oil price. Buckle up.
In company news, Gemfields had positive updates from both its ruby and emerald operations. The announcement is a reminder of how difficult it can be to implement large projects in countries like Mozambique.
Capital Appreciation's updated trading statement gives a tighter range for earnings growth and there's plenty for investors to smile about here. Now if only the Software division could match the results of the Payments division!
In other updates, we saw MAS release the notice for the Extraordinary General Meeting and the advisory resolutions put forward by PK Investments. This remains a very interesting story to follow from a corporate finance perspective. Finally, we saw Master Drilling increasing its stake in A&R, as well as poor results from Vunani.
Get the details on all these updates and the Nibbles in Ghost Bites at this
link>>>
Ready for Unlock the Stock this week? We will be welcoming the management team of property group Attacq on Thursday. As ever, attendance is free, but you need to register here to attend. If you want to see what Unlock the Stock is all about, you can watch the recent example with Greencoat Renewables at this link>>>
In a country with such a high unemployment rate, it's amazing to think of talent scarcity as a concept. Of course, unemployment is an overall measure, while scarcity relates to specific skills and the gap between supply and demand for those skills. Forvis Mazars in South Africa has released many great insights in their C-Suite Barometer: Outlook 2025 report. In this piece, Daniella Frank and Susan Truter take you through the skills shortage insights.
Finally, Dominique Olivier's latest piece is a cautionary tale for companies that don't nurture their top talent. Even more so, it's a lesson in what happens when corporate politics lead to particularly dumb decisions. Enter DreamWorks: a competitor born out of Disney pushing their best talent out of the group. Read the story here>>>
Good luck out there today! |
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| FORVIS MAZARS: Talent Scarcity: How South African Businesses can Overcome the Skills Shortage |
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| | | With talent rising as a strategic priority in 2025, just under half of organisations in the Forvis Mazars C-Suite Barometer: Outlook 2025 continue to report a struggle to recruit talented people, with the emphasis shifting to high-quality employees at more junior levels. Daniella Frank and Susan Truter give more details. Get the details in Ghost Bites>>> |
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| SATRIX: Life after COVID - a five-year review of the markets |
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| | | Five years ago, the world was a wild place. We were "staying home and staying safe" - and global central banks were cutting rates dramatically in an effort to stimulate economies under impossible circumstances.
With a great selection of statistics to share with the listeners, Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix was a wealth of knowledge in this podcast about how markets have performed in recent years, particularly in terms of which indices did well and which were disappointing.
Get a healthy dose of market insights at this link>>> |
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| PODCAST: Capital Markets in South Africa - the Think Big South Africa Competition |
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| PSG Financial Services is the proud sponsor of the Think Big South Africa competition, in collaboration with Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA).
PSG wants to encourage South Africans to get involved in their country at the highest level, bringing forward policy ideas and constructive solutions to drive conversations and real change in our country. PSG CEO Francois Gouws joined me to explain why they are such strong supporters of this initiative.
Enjoy it here>>> |
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| GHOST BITES - Making sense of SENS on the local market |
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| | | Capital Appreciation enjoyed a much better financial year. Gemfields has good news from Mozambique. MAS released the notice of the EGM. Master Drilling is increasing its stake in A&R. Vunani's results are poor. Get the details in Ghost Bites>>> |
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| Unlock the Stock - Greencoat Renewables |
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| In the 55th edition of Unlock the Stock, Greencoat Renewables joined us for the first time ahead of their debut on the JSE. The recording of the management presentation and interactive Q&A is available at this link>>> |
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| DOMINIQUE OLIVIER - DreamWorks: when collaborators become competitors |
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| | | When you sideline a rainmaker, you can’t act surprised when they start making it rain somewhere else. This is the story of how one botched promotion led to the creation of a real thorn in Disney’s side - and set a whole new direction for the animation industry. Welcome to the tale of DreamWorks, as told by Dominique Olivier in this piece>>> |
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| INVESTEC PODCAST: No Ordinary Wednesday - a 20-year perspective on global investing |
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| | | Twenty years on, the managers of the Investec UCITS World Axis Core Fund reflect on what two decades of global investing have taught them and what investors should expect next. Join Investec Investment Management’s Head of Multi-Manager Investments Ryan Friedman and Fund Manager Bronwen Trower in conversation with Jeremy Maggs in this podcast>>> |
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| International Business Snippet: |
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| All the focus is going to be on oil this week, but that doesn't mean that company announcements aren't important. The latest such example is Kroger, the famous supermarket operator. The shares were up more than 9% on Friday in response to an upgrade to the full-year sales outlook.
Interestingly, one of the drivers of this performance is that the group believes that shoppers are turning to home cooked meals as an alternative to eating out. Another notable point is that eCommerce sales grew by 15%, so the trend of online shopping shows no signs of slowing down.
Recent research in Magic Markets Premium has covered Intel, Waste Management (possibly the best company you've never heard of), Novo Nordisk, Simon Property Group, TJX and NVIDIA. Our focus is on giving you broad exposure to global stocks, with enough underlying detail to help you make better decisions and learn tons along the way. The entire library is available for just R99/month, a deliberate strategy to make it as accessible as possible. Invest in yourself and give it a try! |
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| Magic Markets: Mesh.Trade and the Titans |
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| | | Magic Markets listeners have become familiar with AnBro’s approach to building global equity portfolios with different mandates. Titans is just one such example, focusing on an equal-weighted portfolio of best-of-breed stocks across various sectors.
With Titans now available on Mesh.Trade’s platform alongside the other AnBro offerings, it was the perfect opportunity for Craig Antonie of AnBro to join us to talk about the fund strategy, accompanied by Connie Bloem of Mesh.Trade to talk about the platform offering.
We covered these topics here>>> |
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| Macroeconomic indicators and macro update |
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| Stock futures in the US and Europe are slightly lower this morning following the United States’ weekend strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, marking its involvement in Israel’s conflict with Iran. This move by President Donald Trump has pushed oil prices higher and raised concerns about a potential escalation in the Middle East.
Markets are now preparing for possible Iranian retaliation, which could include attacks on US forces stationed nearby or the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil shipments, potentially causing significant supply disruptions.
After a cautious start driven by geopolitical uncertainty, Chinese stock markets have begun to recover.
The risk-averse mood this morning has led to some weakening of the South African rand, and the JSE All-Share Index is expected to open lower.
The US dollar index has rebounded from Friday’s lows as investors seek safety amid the tensions. However, the stronger dollar is weighing on gold prices, which have declined today.
Oil prices remain elevated due to the threat of supply disruptions in the Middle East, although gains are somewhat limited by reports that Saudi Arabia may increase production to help cover any shortfall.
This update is provided by Shaun Murison. Connect with him on LinkedIn here.
Key Indicators: USD/ZAR R18.07/$ | US 10yr 4.39% | Gold $3,358/oz | Platinum $1,269/oz | Brent Crude $73.00 |
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