Quick links: -
City Lodge has been doing all the right stuff to adapt to a post-pandemic world, yet pricing power into the business-focused travel market remains a concern. You'l also get the latest from AngloGold, Bytes, Dis-Chem, Mustek, Quantum Foods, Sibanye-Stillwater and Thungela in Ghost Bites, brought to you by Fedgroup. -
Dominique Olivier brings you the incredibly interesting story of Vantablack (literally the blackest black) and asks the question: can you own a colour? -
Futureneers has limited space left for the 12BA Renewable Energy Partnership that achieves a 125% tax deduction if you get your money in before the end of February. To explain this further, Deon Lewis and James Rothmann joined me on a podcast. Listen to it here. -
Ever wondered how the ETF product design process works? Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix joined me on a Ghost Stories podcast to talk about the approach to designing ETFs and the latest products from Satrix: the Satrix MSCI ACWI Feeder ETF and the Satrix JSE Global Equity ETF.
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LISTEN: The ETF product design process
with Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix |
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| | Delving into the ETF product design process and with a discussion on the latest ETF product launches at Satrix, Siyabulela Nomoyi joined me for this insightful conversation.
Don't miss it! |
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READ: Vantablack - can you own a colour?
(by Dominique Olivier) |
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In a story of an extraordinary feud in the art world that features the blackest black and the pinkest pink (literally), Vantablack sits at the centre of a controversy around whether you can own a colour. Dominique Olivier tells the story. |
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Local company news:
Ghost Bites is brought to you by Fedgroup.
City Lodge has done some impressive things with its business. For example, the focus on the food and beverage side seems to have worked out really well, with a meaningful contribution to group revenue and at solid margins. Occupancy has also moved higher, which is great. Despite all this, something is bothering the market and I think it's the problem that I raised a while ago when most people were celebrating the chances of a recovery: pricing power in business-focused travel in a post-pandemic world.
We also saw the extent of the undisclosed trades by the now ex-CEO of Bytes laid bare. It's shocking, frankly.
In the mining sector, numbers came in from AngloGold and Thungela, with an update from Sibanye on the s189 retrenchment process in the PGM business.
Finally, updates from Dis-Chem, Mustek and Quantum Foods did a good job of rounding out an interesting day of news.
Get all the details in Ghost Bites here>>>
For an efficient and insightful update on local news, the Ghost Wrap podcast should be a staple on your favourite podcast player. Made possible by Mazars, the latest episode needs just 6 minutes of your time to update you on Sasol, ArcelorMittal, Sappi, Curro and British American Tobacco. Get it here>>>
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LISTEN: Magic Markets podcast |
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In Episode 163 of Magic Markets, we dug into platform businesses Airbnb and Shopify.
There's always a lot to learn about how these businesses move from losses into profitability - and sometimes back again.
Get the latest on these global giants in this podcast, brought to you by data and process automation specialists B2IT. |
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LISTEN: Turning Tax into Solar Power (with Futureneers) |
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| | There's still time to take advantage of the 125% deduction available for solar investment, but you have to move quickly! Learn more from the team at Futureneers about their S12BA Renewable Energy Partnership opportunity in this podcast. |
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Currencies, commodities and rates: TreasuryONE Market Update The SARB released a document detailing how the transfer of funds from the GFECRA account to the National Treasury will occur, filling in some important blanks around the technical details. The SARB will not be selling foreign exchange reserves. Instead, the transfer will be financed by new SARB liabilities, mainly bank reserves. The rand didn't like this at all, trading close to R19.40 on Friday at one stage. The critical technical level of R19.23 has been breached.
The scope of the move in the rand can be seen by the lack of movement in the US dollar, indicating that this is a SA-specific issue. Even the S&P 500 hitting new highs and a general risk-on environment couldn't help the rand.
If you would like to watch the recording of the panel discussion around the Budget Speech, then you'll find it on the TreasuryONE YouTube channel here.
Key indicators: USD/ZAR R19.32; US 10-year 4.23%; Gold $2,032; Platinum ZAR R17,248; Brent Crude $81.25 |
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READ: Stability doesn't always have to come at a cost
with Fedgroup |
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| | Fedgroup believes that a combination of fixed-term investments can do more than just withstand a battering. In fact, they cann offer solid returns as well.
Learn more here. |
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International company news:
It's not every day that I can guess what much of the asset management community was doing on a specific weekend, but this time I can. The Berkshire Hathaway annual letter to shareholders was released for the 2023 year and the investment world paid attention, especially as it included many important words from Warren Buffett to his late partner in the business, Charlie Munger.
Buffett's first stock purchase was on March 11th, 1942. I would be born on March 11th, 46 years later. He's been doing this for significantly longer than I've been alive, which is why he is so revered and respected among investors - especially those with a value tilt.
You could certainly do worse today than read the letter, especially with its candid style. The extent of fiscal conservatism is quite something to behold, with the company holding a record cash pile of over $167 billion. |
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READ: Satrix launches Satrix JSE Global Equity ETF |
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| | 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. |
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Disclaimer
Our content is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. You must do your own analysis before executing any investments or strategic decisions, based on your own circumstances. We do not provide personalised recommendations or views as to whether an investment approach or corporate strategy is suited to the needs of a specific individual or entity. You should take independent financial advice from a suitably qualified individual who gives due regard to your personal circumstances.
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