In under 9 minutes of your time, you can get up to date on Karooooo, Quantum Foods, RFG Holdings, Sappi, MTN, Southern Sun, Richemont and Transaction Capital. It can only be the Ghost Wrap podcast, brought to you by Mazars. Find it here>>>

You keep reading about Artificial Intelligence (AI), but which companies are at the forefront of this trend? In Episode 124 of Magic Markets, Alexander Weiss of Trive South Africa joined us to discuss five stocks that have enviable positions in the AI world. Listen to it here>>>

LVMH: success, but what about succession?

We covered LVMH in the latest research report in Magic Markets Premium. The company has been dominating the headlines and with good reason, now a top ten market cap company globally.

Success is clear. Succession? Less so.

More than just a bingeable series on HBO, succession is a problem for family-owned businesses everywhere. At 74 years of age, LVMH kingpin Bernard Arnault isn't the youngest leader around. Whilst we could argue that he's still a good decade off being suitable for a role as US President, there's no debate that his time at the helm of LVMH needs to start winding down.

The problem is cle ar: who will replace a man dubbed the Pope of Fashion?

As a fun example of what is possible as a family business, Zildjan is a brand that any rock music fan will know. The business is over 400 years old, having kept the recipe for the special alloy a close family secret. Take that, KFC! The famous manufacturer of cymbals has been passed down over 14 generations, with only one noteworthy split along the way that led to the excommunication of a brother and the creation of Zildjan's biggest rival - Sabian!

At the other end of the spectrum, we find Gucci. From bitter infighting to tax fraud and a CEO with far too much personal debt, the Gucci succession story was so wild that it eventually inspired a movie.

It's little wonder that we highlighted succession as the biggest risk to LVMH in our Magic Markets report. You can subscribe for this report and the entire library here>>>

From a global giant to local giants

The local news on Friday was dominated by AngloGold's decision to take a big step away from South Africa. Although the listing on the JSE will not disappear, it will change from a primary listing to a secondary listing. The company will also redomicile to the UK, truly putting the Anglo in AngloGold. The primary listing will be on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with AngloGold looking to deep pools of capital in the US for its future.

Another local giant that released an update was Richemont. Having now researched LVMH in detail, it's amazing how different Richemont actually is. Although both companie s are focused on the luxury industry, they take completely different approaches. Both are working, with Richemont releasing terrific results if we ignore the huge non-cash charge for the recognition of the YNAP business as held-for-sale.

For details on these stories and the latest from Ascendis Health, Eastern Platinum and Lewis, read the latest Ghost Bites here>>>

Breaking all the wrong records

The rand is a record-breaker. Yay. It touched R19.50 at its worst against the dollar on Friday, recoveri ng slightly to R19.30. The world is focusing heavily on the rand after the allegations of supplying ammunition to Russia and the related diplomatic fallout. The technical indicators that suggest that the rand is oversold are out the window until the dust has settled on the political issues.

TreasuryONE is looking out for the course of action that the SARB and our government will take to calm the markets and give some confidence back to the rand and the local market.

And in case you haven't gotten to it yet, the most recent episode of Ghost Stories is a discussion with Nico Katze of Satrix about the eternal debate of local vs. offshore exposure. If you're looking for objective analysis on this concept, listen to this show>>>

With that, I wish you luck for a new week!