| Good morning Voornaam, Guess what? I have good news for you this morning! Isn't that exciting?
It also comes from the unlikeliest of places: Telkom. Their efforts to grow the prepaid mobile subscriber base are really paying off. There's also something to make you smile in terms of fibre stats, as well as the recent improvement to the balance sheet. In fact, over 12 months, Telkom's share price has outperformed both Vodacom and MTN! A quick look at the uplift in the EBITDA margin will help explain why.
Powerfleet had an even better day on the market, closing 23% higher after releasing quarterly results and issuing (slightly) upgraded guidance for the full year. The Fleet Complete acquisition has made a substantial difference here and all the metrics that US investors care about are heading in the right direction.
Of course, it can't be all rainbows and unicorns on the market. Sometimes, you have to kiss a frog. Pan African Resources is today's frog, with disappointing numbers for the first half of the year and little doubt that they need a strong second half. Luckily, as in most fairy tales, this frog has prospects.
Along with the Nibbles, you'll find all these details in Ghost Bites this morning>>>
Have you ever taken the time to research how structured products work? Luckily, the latest example from Investec is the perfect opportunity to do so. In this particular case, the investment tracks the Chinese index and offers 100% capital preservation if held until maturity. To further sweeten that deal, there's a 30% multiplier on growth over 5 years, up to a cap of 60% (and thus a maximum return of 78%). So, investors give up some potential upside in exchange for downside protection. In a risky market like China, that seems helpful. Find out more in this article>>>
Have a great day! |
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| INVESTEC: International Opportunities Limited - a Chinese equity structured product |
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| China is a land that is fraught with risk and brimming with opportunity. With enhanced upside as well as downside protection, International Opportunities Limited is a structured product that seeks to balance the risks and rewards available in Chinese equity markets.
International Opportunities Limited offers 1.3x geared exposure to the CSI 300 Index, capped at 60% growth for a maximum return of 78% in USD. In addition, there is 100% capital protection at maturity in USD.
Japie Lubbe of Investec Structured Products joined me to discuss the structure in detail. Get it here>>> |
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| SATRIX: 2025 kick-off and fresh views on rent vs. buy |
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| | | Covering a range of personal finance topics and emerging trends in investing, your 2025 kick-off with Duma Mxenge from Satrix is here.
And of course, we couldn't resist talking about property. This led to an in-depth discussion on how I'm approaching the rent vs. buy conundrum.
Enjoy it here>>> |
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| GHOST WRAP: Retailers on sale on the JSE - a review of the first few weeks of 2025 |
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| | | The retail sector got off to a very poor start in 2025. With practically the entire sector down, are there stocks that were punished more than they should've been?
This podcast is a useful summary of recent retail updates across the clothing and grocery sectors, as well as other relevant areas.
You can find the recording and the transcript (with charts) at this link>>> |
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| GHOST STORIES: Sustainability, the Spar way |
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| Kevin O’Brien is incredibly passionate about his work as the Group Sustainability Executive at Spar. Having stuck with the group through tumultuous recent times, Kevin is focused on Spar’s role as a corporate citizen in South Africa and the European markets in which it operates.
There’s an important difference between governing sustainably and the governance of sustainability. Kevin does a great job of explaining it in this podcast>>> |
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| GHOST BITES - Making sense of SENS on the local market |
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| | | Telkom has a great story to tell around mobile subscriber growth and EBITDA margins. Powerfleet raised its earnings guidance. Pan African Resources hasn't been so lucky and needs a strong finish to the year. Get the details in Ghost Bites>>> |
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| DOMINIQUE OLIVIER - Spotify: mafia tactics that work! |
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| What does the world’s most popular music streaming service have in common with the mob? Aside from some playlists of Italian classics, only its (very effective) conversion strategy. Dominique Olivier explains why subscribing to Spotify Premium feels like paying protection money and why that works so well. Read it here>>> |
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| MAGAnomics: Trump and the global economy |
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| International Business Snippet: |
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| McDonald's managed to close 4.8% higher despite missing sales expectations particularly in the US. This was driven by an E. coli outbreak in the quarter, which certainly makes many of the already-gross menu items even less appetising. Despite sales pressure, McDonald's managed to meet earnings expectations, so that would've contributed to a positive market response.
But perhaps most of all, the share price was driven by an expectations of sales improvement in the coming year. McDonald's is pushing hard on the value strategy (as they must), which means offering cheap combo meals to try and attract customers at times of day other than 1am. Jokes aside, it's not easy to grow at this scale, which is why the McDonald's share price is up 42% over 5 years - way off the S&P500 at 79% over that period.
Our latest research in Magic Markets Premium is on 3M as a company with a proud history of innovation in the industrials space. Having previously lost its way, a strong turnaround effort is taking place and is already showing strong results. Our subscribers can enjoy our detailed work on this company, complementing some of our other recent reports with similar turnaround opportunities. |
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| Magic Markets: Tariff Tantrum |
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| | | Magic Markets: Remember the "taper tantrum" that people used to talk about in the markets over 10 years ago? It was based on a major change to monetary policy and the market didn't like that. These days, the uncertainty seems to be related to Trump's tariff strategies and the related chaos. We discuss how each country has retaliated (and South Africa's relative strength or weakness in that regard) in this podcast>>> |
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| US equity markets have remained firm, while European indices have etched into new high territory. There is some optimism that Trump will meet with Putin shortly and that a ceasefire in the Russian / Ukraine war could be nearing. Trade uncertainty remains, although we are also expecting a meeting between US and Chinese leaders soon to help mitigate some of the tension.
The dollar and US Treasury Yields are marginally firmer this morning.
The rand remains firm while the JSE All-Share Index hovers around near term highs.
Oil prices have continued to rebound from oversold territory, following news of lower than expected production from Russia.
Gold has moved further into new high territory as inflationary concerns meet Trump's new 25% imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Traders will want to keep an eye out for today’s public addresses from central bank officials which include the Bank of England’s Carney and Federal Reserve Chairman Powell.
Key Indicators: USD/ZAR R18.43/$ | US 10yr 4.50% | Gold $2,927/oz | Platinum $987/oz | Brent Crude $76.090
As often as practically possible, insights from the IG Markets morning macro update by Shaun Murison will be featured here. Where this isn't possible, only indicators will be provided. If you want to learn more about trading, refer back to The Trader's Handbook, a podcast series that takes you through many of the important principles in trading. |
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