Ghost Bites:There's momentum at Momentum, with the life insurance business driving a solid recovery in earningsRoyal Bafokeng Holdings has increased its stake in Transaction CapitalThe cash payment under PSG's scheme of arrangement has been confirmed as R23 per shareFor detailed updates on these stories and others, pour yourself a bowl of Ghost Bites this morning>>> Retail feels realThe great thing about the retail sector is that you can test out the things you read about in company results. Regular readers will know that I recently bought shoes directly from Nike. The entire experience was lovely, so I can see exactly why direct-to-consumer is growing quickly. Similarly, Mrs Ghost and I try out the different grocery store on-demand offerings to see how things are developing. I've decided to rename Woolworths Dash to Woolworths Slow Jog, reflecting the reality that every single order has been late. Literally, no exceptions. The latest one was even missing an item and the wait to report it on the call centre line was nearly 10 minutes, so that's hardly a Dash either. It's a great reminder that every time someone touches your brand, they need to have an experience that turns them into an ambassador. Woolworths is working hard on a turnaround and I have a lot of faith in the current CEO. They face growing competition in the food business from the likes of Checkers, so they really need to get the basics right here. Speaking of retail, Chris Gilmour uses his Monday column to dig into the July 2022 retail sales statistics. They show how severely our local market was impacted by the riots in July 2021. The charts are quite incredible, showing how erratic things have been during the pandemic vs. long-term averages. Read it here>>> Going on a hikeIn today's daily marke t wrap with TreasuryONE, the focus is on the September FOMC meeting where the market is pricing in a 100% chance that the Fed will hike by 75 basis points. Yes, 100%! The market will closely watch the commentary after the meeting, which could well be a catalyst for further pain. This comes after a week where riskier assets (like the rand) got off to a decent start before US CPI data stopped the party. The rand traded in a 70-cent range last week and briefly broke above R17.70 to the dollar on Friday. Other emerging market currencies were also sold off aggressively. The SARB is also meeting this week, with a local hike of 75 basis points possibly on the cards. It's not the news you want to hear I'm afraid: a sustained break above R17.70 could be on the cards. If you need help managing the currency risk in your business, then reach out to the team at TreasuryONE. They also offer a variety of treasury and cash flow management services. Read more here>>> A week of webinars - come and learn!There's something for everyone this week! If you are interested in private company valuations, then you can join me and the rest of the team from bizval for a discussion on Wednesday at 12pm about how to build a more valuable business. We will talk about concepts like independence from the founder and quality of revenue. Register for free at this link>>> For those interested in learning more about JSE-listed companies, Unlock the Stock is a terrific platform. I'm so proud of what has been done here, with management teams making time to present their strategies to retail investors. We always leave plenty of time at the end for questions, so be sure to put on your analyst hat and join us! The next company is CA&S Group (an FMCG company that was unbundled from PSG) and the event is on Thursday at 12pm. You can register for free at this link>>> Macro mayhemIf there's one thing that the last couple of years should've taught you, it's that macroeconomic conditions are huge drivers of share prices. Last week's CPI print is another great example, sending equity markets into the red despit e only being slightly different to market expectations. To help you make sense of it all, the latest episode of Magic Markets is a discussion on the US CPI number as well as macro pressures in Europe. We also mention a couple of JSE-listed companies that have material exposure to Europe. Listen to the episode here>>> Have a great Monday and try to smile today, even if you have to do it in the dark! | 