Do you want to "do your own research"? Of course you do. Unlock the Stock is here to help you do exactly that, with the latest recording featuring the management team of CA Sales Holdings. This is a solid mid-cap business with proper growth prospects and no shortage of ambition. You can listen to the recording here and you can also refer to the recent event with the CEO of PPC Limited, an impressive example of a business turnaround in action. Unlock the Stock is brought to you by A2X.

Are you about to exit a Section 12J investment? With a capital gains tax liability applicable on exit, there are options to help you minimise or delay that liability. To learn more about the alternatives available to you, Jaltech is inviting you to register for a webinar on either 25th April or 5th May. You can register here>>>

Nice try, Glencore

I love corporate finance at the sharp end of the market. Basically, a lot of very highly paid people write letters to each other that are thinly-disguised instructions to take a hike. Several arguments and letters later, they sometimes agree to do a deal and issue a joint press release about how in love they are with each other. In most cases though, there's no deal.

It's a lot like unhealthy dating, actually.

Glencore has sent a marriage proposal to Teck, a huge Canadian mining group with businesses in copper, zinc and steelmaking coal. Teck is having none of it, despite Glencore suggesting that the merged entity would then demerge its "dirty" assets - coal and the like. Glencore is trying to get its hands on transition metals (like copper) in this deal, making a play for Teck at a time when the company is busy with a major restructuring that shareholders will vote on later this month.

Will the offer get sweetened? We don't know yet. Will it even matter? I'm not convinced, based on Teck's reasons for saying no.

In other news, Pick n Pay isn't doing well. Earnings are lower, with the company blaming load shedding as the major dr iver of the decrease. I would remind everyone that Shoprite managed to grow earnings over a time period with even more concentrated load shedding than Pick n Pay's latest results, so I don't think Eskom is entirely to blame here.

We also saw important updates from EOH about its balance sheet, Industrials REIT about a huge potential offer for the company and Sirius regarding sales of assets above book value, something that Hammerson can only dream of. AYO released a "voluntary announcement" about the PIC settlement, Advanced Health needs to find a solution to local profitability and Investec Property Fund's ridiculous ManCo buyout doesn't seem to be the easiest sell to shareholders. Finally, I was rather chuffed to see that many s mall shareholders got in there and took advantage of the odd-lot arbitrage opportunity at Cashbuild.

It's a busy edition of Ghost Bites with several really interesting updates. Find it here>>>

Also be sure to listen to episode 18 of Ghost Wrap, brought to you by Mazars. In this fast-paced podcast, I covered the latest news on Absa, RCL Foods, Metair, York Timber, Nampak, EOH, Bell Equipment and Barloworld.

The equity layer in solar

With demand for solar assets exploding in South Africa thanks to Eskom and what is essentially the creation of a decentralised grid on private balance sheets, Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management joined us on Magic Markets to discuss the equity layer in these investments and why Westbrooke is playing in that space.

This is an interesting approach to the capital stack, something we've become accustomed to from Westbrooke. Learn about it in Episode 118 of Magic Markets.

US data keeps printing lower

The team at TreasuryONE has been alerting us to data in the US that points to a slowdown in inflation. We had another example yesterday, with the release of ISM Manufacturing PMI that came in lower than expected. The rand moved from around R17.95 to R17.80 after the release of that data. There's no shortage of event risk this week, with Fed speakers in coming days, Non-Manufacturing PMI on Wednesday and payroll data on Friday.

A surprise production cut by OPEC+ drove Brent Crude more than 6% higher in morning trade. That's a big jump in a single day.

Why do discounts to NAV exist?

In a recent article I wrote for EasyEquities, I explained why investment holding com panies trade at a discount to NAV. I also touched on the danger of chasing the names that everyone is talking about, particularly when the best returns are sometimes found in unusual places.

You can read my article at this link>>>

Have a lovely Tuesday!