It's Rugby World Cup time! I honestly don't know who is more excited right now - me, or the executives at MultiChoice waiting to see how many new subscribers they get. I can tell you that Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix (who will definitely go by Siya this month, I'm sure of it) is as excited as anyone, because he's written an article about what investors can learn from the tactics used by rugby coaches. It's a fun read and you'll find it here>>>

There's a lot of rugby to watch and this will make you even busier than usual. Thankfully,Ghost Wrap is so quick that you can listen to it during the halftime break. The latest episode is on Bowler Metcalf, City Lodge, Shoprite, The Foschini Group, Bidvest and AVI. This podcast is brought to you by Mazars and is available here>>>

Like rugby, investing is a game of strategy and tactics

I fully agree with Satrix's Siya and the slightly more famous Siya in green and gold: rugby is a game of strategy, tactics and mindset. The more you learn, the better your chances of success. Here are a few podcasts to keep that momentum going:

• In episode 141 of Magic Markets, we look at the recent results from Lululemon and Ulta Beauty, both consumer facing stocks that are telling us interesting things about demand in the wellness, health and beauty industries. Find it here>>>
• Episode 20 of Ghost Stories features Nico Katzke of Satrix and a discussion on whether dividends are always a good thing. Spoiler alert: they aren't. Intrigued? Find out more here>>>
• Episode 19 of Ghost Stories is f or those among you who enjoy more unusual investment opportunities with a touch of flair. If Lukhanyo Am was an investment product, there's a good chance he would be an index tracker with a layer of derivatives thrown in to make things more interesting. Learn about the Investec USD S&P 500 Autocall here>>>

And if you're going to learn about strategy and tactics when it comes to companies, shouldn't you take every chance to engage directly with the CEO? The recording of the recent Unlock the Stock Barloworld event is available, featuring CEO Dominic Sewela and a vibrant Q&A session. Unlock the Stock is brought to you by A2X. Find it at this link>>>

Let DealMakers bring you up to date

Every Friday, we are treated to excellent summaries from the team at DealMakers on the corporate and M&A activity of the week. This includes local M&A, local corporate finance and deals in Africa.

Ther e's also an article on sustainability-linked financing by Webber Wentzel as well as the growth potential in Africa by PSG.

Bell Equipment: a lesson in trading statements

On the JSE, the trigger for the release of a trading statement is a move in earnings of at least 20% vs. the comparable period. This is why you'll often see a trading statement that uses precisely that language, like we've just seen at Trellidor. It can often be the case that the increase (or decrease for that matter) is a much higher percentage. If you look at Trellidor's profitability over the past few years as I've done in Ghost Bites this morning, you'll see that the company should be delivering earnings that are multiple times higher than last year, nevermind 20%. The company hasn't done anything wrong here. This is just typical of how trading statements are used.

Another great example is Bell Equipment, which set the market on fire yesterday with an updated trading statement reflecting a far more exciting earnings range than the initial trading statement suggested. When you see the words "at least" in a trading statement rather than a range, there's every chance of a much bigger move than just 20%.

In addition to these stories, we saw updates from Brikor, British American Tobacco, Delta Property, Merafe and Gle ncore in their joint venture, Sanlam and finally Transaction Capital.

You can get everything you need with just one click in Ghost Bites, the perfect summary of the day's news on the local market available here>>>

Are all the forex traders watching rugby doccies instead?

It was a relatively calm day for currencies yesterday, with the rand in a narrow band between R19.10 and R19.28. That might not sound very narrow, but sadly 18 cents really isn't much on a number that high.

In terms of data releases, TreasuryONE notes that Q2 growth figures in Europe fell short of economic growth expectations, yet this had minimal impact on the euro's performance. The more important data release was weekly jobless claims in the US, which came in lower than market forecasts. The data continues to reflect the strength of the US labour market. This was the market-moving data of the day, with sentiment remaining hawkish around US interest rates in anticipation of next week's inflation report.

The Bloomberg dollar index is poised to achieve its eighth consecutive week of gains, the longest winning streak since records dating back to 2005!

Check out the TreasuryONE YouTube channel for regular insights on the currency markets and macroeconomic indicators.