Make sure you register for these events this week:

On Wednesday 21st June at 12pm, you can join the bizval team and special guests from the UK who will discuss how to prepare a business for sale, with the added benefit of insights from the UK private company market and a Q&A at the end of the session. Founders, this is for you. Register here>>>

Bringing it back to the listed space, Thursday 22nd June at 12pm sees Attacq and Tharisa as our feature companies on the next edition of Unlock the Stock. Brought to you by A2X, this is a fantastic way to learn about both companies and to practice your equity analyst skills in the Q&A. Register here>>>

New week. New stuff.

There's some great new content and analysis to kick off your week:

• Ghost Wrap brings you a fast-paced update on PPC, Sephaku Holdings, Naspers, Prosus, Spar, Alexander Forbes, Glencore, MultiChoice and Telkom. Brought to you by Mazars, you'll find the podcast here>>>
• Trive South Africa has delved into another Chinese tech company, this time Baidu and its positioning for artificial intelligence. Including technical and fundamental analysis, you can read it here>>>
• Magic Markets was a "guestless" show in the past week, which means yours truly and Mohammed Nalla got to discuss a variety of market topics ranging from the recent relief rally on the JSE through to the power of US consumers vs. South Africans. Listen to it here>>>

Cement: a reason to worry about South Africa

It's funny how competing companies tend to release updates on the same day. There were a few examples of this on Thursday, like PPC and Sephaku Holdings, or Visual International and Acsion. The latter is quite messy, with Visual hanging on for deal life to a balance sheet that is in serious trouble and Acsion trading at a discount to NAV that even the Oriental Plaza wouldn't offer.

While I reminisce about my Joburg childhood and samosas (one "o" is correct - despite the way everyone pronounces it), the cement companies are where I want to focus. South Africa's position as an economic powerhouse among emerging markets will only be maintained if we are investing ade quately in infrastructure. We know that we are falling behind on this, but seeing the growth achieved by cement groups in other African countries vs. South Africa really drives the message home.

Sephaku Cement, the local business, is now breakeven. PPC is still making a lot of money in South Africa but the trajectory is negative in the latest numbers, with Rwanda as the star of the show. It tells you a great deal about the level of investment in the local economy that cement groups are struggling even when the rand is weak and cement imports are less competitive as a result.

For these updates and news from Blue Label Telecoms, Clientele and Motus (including some excellent charts on EV adoption in South Africa - or lack thereof), read Ghost Bites this morning>>>

The ECB hikes as expected

TreasuryONE notes that the ECB hiked interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, giving support to the euro against the US dollar. Further rate hikes are expected in July unless significant changes occur.

Recent data in the US has been mixed, with robust consumption and employment but other signs of a slowing economy as well.

The rand seems to be consolidating around the R18.30 level, which suggests a return to the broader R17.75 to R18.50 range that prevailed from February to mid-May before "Oh, ship!" was the theme for our currency.

Fro m a very stormy Cape Town, I wish you a great Monday!