Bumper dividends

Good morning Voornaam,

Greetings from Dubai! I've now been awake for 24 hours straight, having failed miserably to sleep on the first flight. Just as I was about to nod off after binging Dune 1 and Dune 2, the cabin lights went on and they served breakfast. That was at 2am SA time. I've never been unhappier to see eggs in my life. In retrospect, I should've been grateful for them, as everything in Dubai feels twice as expensive as the last time I was here. Having spent nearly R100 on a bottled water after traversing the entire length of the airport (including needing a train) to catch the next plane, I'll wait for the next flight before eating anything else. Anyway, onto the markets we go while I wait to board for London!
Fresh out the oven:

Ghost Bites: Alexander Forbes, Oceana and Omnia are all showing substantial jumps in dividends, with special dividends also making an appearance. In other news, RCL Foods has released the pre-listing statement for Rainbow. Get all the details in Ghost Bites>>>

There's a brand new Ghost Wrap podcast that I put together just before leaving. You need just five minutes to get up to speed on Capital Appreciation, MultiChoice, Spar and The Foschini Group, thanks to Mazars. Find it here>>>

Elizabeth Magie invented Monopoly in 1903. It just took a long time and a decade-long court case for the world to remember that. This is the story of how Parker Brothers monopolised Monopoly - and how one man took them down. Told by Dominique Olivier, you can read it here>>>

In case you missed it:

There is only one free lunch in investing, as this Ghost Stories episode with Kingsley Williams shows. We had an excellent general conversation about investing. Brought to you by Satrix, you can enjoy it here>>>

Fedgroup thinks differently about portfolio construction and how important elements like yield and inflation protection can be brought in. Michael Field joined me to discuss their approach. Find it here>>>

This year, SA is set to become the tenth-largest solar market in the world. In episode 4 of The Current brought to you by Investec, Iman Rappetti spoke with Investec's Melanie Humphries, Bernard Geldenhuys and De Wet Taljaard from the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) to explore SA’s apparent solar boom. Enjoy it here>>>

In Magic Markets, we went back to our roots and covered local topics around the rand, South African bond yields and the state of play for South African consumers. Are we facing coalition politics, or collision politics? The podcast and full transcript are available at this link>>> ​

The only free lunch in investing

Local company news:

I'll keep it short and sweet here during my trip as all the details are in Ghost Bites anyway. The TL;DR for today's update is that we are seeing more optimistic outlooks from some of the companies on the JSE, leading to surprisingly high dividends and increases in the payout ratios. In some cases, we are also seeing special dividends.
Alexander Forbes, Oceana and Omnia are all in the category of companies that just ramped up the dividend significantly, with the quality of underlying results varying significantly.
And aside from the Little Bites that are also important, you'll find the pre-listing statement for Rainbow that has been released by RCL Foods.
These stories are all covered in detail in Ghost Bites at this link>>>

Steal, hustle and lie: the Monopoly story

International business news:

I'll give this a Dubai flavour today for obvious reasons (go back and read the intro to the mailer if you skipped it). The property market is a huge part of the Dubai story, with endless adverts on the Emirates flight about developments where people with rands need not apply. Well, people who earned their rands honestly at least.
Jokes aside, the Dubai property market hit an all-time high in May in terms of both volumes and value. While I'm eternally nervous of property bubbles, the place is clearly booming. People are moving their families here, with the article I found suggesting that 41% of buyers are looking for villas or townhouses vs. apartments.
The price of bottled water clearly isn't a problem for those earning real currencies.
We covered Foot Locker in Magic Markets Premium last week and our next report is on Lululemon. To get access to this research and the rest of the vast library, subscribe to the platform here.

Macroeconomic Update

Our friends over at TreasuryONE are still asleep while I'm writing this, so we don't have the benefit of their morning note.
Still, the picture in terms of upcoming data this week is unchanged, with US CPI due on Wednesday and an FOMC meeting later that evening. Locally, all eyes are on developments in the formation of the government of national unity.
Key indicators: USD/ZAR R18.77; US 10-year 4.46%; Gold $2,302; Platinum ZAR R18,239; Brent Crude $80.83
This macroeconomic update is based on TreasuryONE's morning update.