Before we dig into today's juicy content, there are two upcoming events you need to be aware of:

• If you would like to attend the Money Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre on 14 September for no cost, then you simply need to register at this link and use Ghost as the code. Easy as that. When last did you truly get a free lunch? That's what I thought.
• Speaking of insightful things, you're also invited to attend the Grovest webinar on 7th August (that's next week Monday) at 4:30pm. With the provisional tax period upon us, Grovest and a tax expert from ENSafrica will be focusing on the Twelve B Green Energy Fund and how investing in this fund shields your taxable income. Sign up here and be quick, as spaces are limited.

Today marks the transition of Ghost Wrap from a weekly podcast to a twice-weekly show. Those of you who have been enjoying this podcast will know that it delivers the most efficient way to get on top of the interesting recent stories on the local market. By splitting it into two shows each week, I can deliver even fresher insights to you. Made possible by Mazars, the latest show looks at the gold sector (AngloGold, Sibanye-Stillwater, Gold Fields and Pan African Resources), the telecoms sector (MTN and Telkom), Ellies and Curro. You can enjoy it here>>>

What's in a name?

There's a new Ghost Global article for you to enjoy, focusing on the Twitter rebrand to X and how this compares to Facebook - Meta or Google - Alphabet. We are covering Meta in Magic Markets Premium this week (the research went out to our subscribers today), so social media is highly topical in our world right now. Written alongside Dominique Olivier, I think you'll enjoy this article>>>

You should also consider subscribing to Magic Markets Premium to help you learn how to research companies with my partner (highly experienced markets professional Mohammed Nalla) and yours truly. At just R99/month, this is the most affordable finance education you'll ever get. Like, ever.

Good news from Curro

I would say that Curro was my surprise of the day yesterday. Despite finding itself at the centre of a very painful Venn diagram of problems in South Africa, the company has somehow managed to grow HEPS by between 26.5% and 45.5%. That's certainly better than anything we've seen lately from the gold sector, Gold Fields included.

If you're new here, it may surprise you to learn that the JSE is listed on the JSE. No, this isn't a glitch i n the Matrix. In fact, Matrix (the tracking company) is owned by MiX Telematics, another company that reported yesterday. The JSE is a public listed company that effectively makes use of its own product, hence the stock ticker JSE: JSE and the associated confusion whenever the company releases results.

Other important updates came through from Astoria, Investec, OUTsurance, Workforce and 4Sight. Get everything you need and save yourself tons of time by reading Ghost Bites every day>>>

Someone call the doctor

Risky assets (like SA equities) got absolutely smashed yesterday on t he news that Fitch has downgraded the US long-term debt rating from AAA to AA+. Yes, we aren't the only country that gets a credit rating downgrade. In fact, the US is also trying to put its ex-president in jail, so that's another thing in common with South Africa!

Jokes aside, we certainly don't share any currency strength in common with the US. TreasuryONE notes that the rand moved above R18.50, so that's a depreciation of almost R1 in the space of a week. All emerging markets are under pressure, as is spot gold pricing.

The ADP jobs survey in the US suggests that employment surged last month, well ahead of the projected 200k job growth in non-farm payrolls due to be released on Friday.

Volatility is the name of the game in this market. Keep reading Ghost Mail and give yourself the best possible chance to navigate it.

Have a great Thursday!