| Good morning Voornaam, Sometimes, a listed company's stock behaves more like a call option. This means that there is potentially enormous upside, but also the very real risk of the thing expiring worthless like an option - or in the case of a stock, going to zero. It happens. It hurts, but it happens.
One such stock is ArcelorMittal, which finds itself at the centre of a Venn diagram that nobody enjoys, with Chinese economic problems on one side and lack of infrastructure investment in South Africa on the other. This leaves it with weak markets for steel, which means huge losses. How huge? Well, I explore this in Ghost Bites this morning, along with the latest on AB InBev, Capital & Regional, Mondi, Mpact and MTN Ghana. Spoiler alert: MTN Ghana is at least much better than MTN Nigeria. Get everything you need in Ghost Bites here>>>
Ready to learn about the local property sector and expose yourself to genuinely institutional-level research? On a recent Unlock the Stock with a difference, highly respected analyst Keillen Ndlovu presented on the REIT sector and engaged in a vibrant Q&A. Brought to you by the SA REIT Association, you'll find the recording here>>>
For those of you who enjoy keeping your finger on the pulse of the local corporate finance industry, DealMakers is back with the weekly summaries of local M&A, local corporate finance and African deals. They've also published pieces on the removal of a director (always a juicy topic) and strategic partnerships between South African entrepreneurs and China.
Have a great start to your weekend - I'll see you on Sunday morning for a dose of fun insights in Weekender! |
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| FEATURED: The Trader's Handbook Ep 3 (NEW) |
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| IG Markets Episode 3: For a review of the trades in my demo account and a discussion on how to choose the right brokerage, I was joined as usual by Shaun Murison of IG Markets South Africa. Learn about trading at this link>>> |
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| FEATURED: Unlock the Stock - SA REIT sector with Keillen Ndlovu |
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| | | Unlock the Stock: In a session with a different format to the norm, Keillen Ndlovu joined us to present his institutional-quality research on the REIT sector, followed by a vibrant Q&A. Brought to you by the SA REIT Association, you can watch the recording here>>> |
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| FEATURED: Investec Structured Products new product applications close on 8 August |
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| | | Investec Structured Products: Applications for the Nikkei 225 Autocall and Euro Stoxx 50 Autocall close on 8 August. Don't miss the opportunity to learn about these offshore investment opportunities. |
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| FEATURED: Is the automotive sector a good investment? |
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| Magic Markets: Just because there's a brand in your garage, should it be in your portfolio? If most people buy cars when they can afford them, does that make automotive companies a good investment? Find out in this podcast>>> |
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| Ghost Bites: Get the latest on AB InBev, ArcelorMittal, Capital & Regional, Mondi, Mpact and MTN Ghana, along with various Little Bites in Ghost Bites here>>> |
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| | | Ghost Wrap: Get the latest on Balwin, British American Tobacco, Mr Price and Vodacom, all in just a few minutes in the Ghost Wrap podcast. |
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| Magic Markets: Even down here in South Africa, we need to keep a close eye on US elections. In this podcast, Mohammed Nalla shared his views on Democrat vs. Republican policies and how they can impact us, along with how the Trump Trade works. Find it here. |
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| Investec No Ordinary Wednesday podcast: The market may be unpredictable, but your investment strategy doesn’t have to be. Investec Investment Management experts share their insights on what approaches are winning, common mistakes investors make, and why staying the course is important. Enjoy it here>>> |
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| International Business Snippet: |
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| Apple released results for the quarter yesterday and managed a flat share price amidst broader carnage on the US market. That context is important, as Apple actually beat earnings and revenue expectations. The performance was strong across the product suite, at least vs. estimates. The all-important Services revenue line was up 14%, helping to drive a higher group gross margin.
Over at Amazon, the share price could only dream of a flat performance. It took a 7% bath after hours, driven by a miss on revenue and a disappointing forecast, even though earnings expectations were beaten in the latest quarter. Amazon is still a growth business and investors don't like it when growth slows down. The eCommerce business only grew sales by 5%, with competition from Chinese players like Temu and Shein as a concern. Growth in Amazon Web Services was slower than we've seen at some cloud competitors, so that didn't help either.
Our latest Magic Markets Premium report covers Take-Two Interactive, the gaming group that has grown substantially in the past couple of decades. To get access to this research and the rest of the vast library, subscribe to the platform here. |
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| IG Morning Call: daily macroeconomic update |
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| US equity markets have sharply erased the previous days significant gains, in what has been bipolar market behaviour. Short term weakness does seem to correlate with weaker than expected ISM manufacturing data yesterday. While bad economic data has been good as of late for equity market gains in lieu of the prospect of increasing the probability of rate cuts in the world’s largest economy, this was not the case yesterday. Markets now seem to be drawing concern around an economic slowdown.
The dollar firmed overnight while Treasury Yields gained.
The rand has weakened and we are expecting a softer start for the JSE All-Share Index this morning in lieu of global risk off trade.
Oil prices are trading softer this morning as demand side worries emanate from weak economic data.
Gold has gained despite a firmer dollar, finding some impetus from ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Markets will look to this afternoon's US jobs and unemployment reports for short term directional guidance.
Key Indicators: USD/ZAR R18.25/$ | US 10yr 3.95% | Gold $2,462/oz | Platinum $970/oz | Brent Crude $80.04
The macroeconomic update is based on IG's morning call update |
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