| EasyEquities has continued its strong growth, with a sharp rise in funded retail accounts over the first six months of its financial year and a big increase in assets invested on the platform. Its performance more than made up for a weaker showing from derivatives grading platform GT247.com, resulting in an overall improvement in Purple Group's first half results. While Purple's share price came under pressure on Friday following the release of the numbers, they gained close to 10% last Wednesday when it issued a trading statement. RMB Holdings shares jumped on the announcement of a bigger-than-expected special dividend after a Romanian property development it planned to invest in failed to materialise. Meanwhile, Exxaro has joined the throng of mining companies scaling back their exposure to coal. It has sold a parcel of three coal mines to empowerment group Overlooked Colliery. More on those stories to follow, along with a trading statement from Hulamin ahead of the release of its annual results on Wednesday. Alphamin also released an update on Friday, guiding shareholders to expect a big improvement in quarterly earnings. In Episode 20 of Magic Markets, hosts The Finance Ghost and Mohammed Nalla (Moe-Knows) discuss property investing and their respective views on whether buy-to-let is a good idea. The Finance Ghost likes to call it "buy-toi-let" instead, which gives you a clue into what he thinks about the idea. Have a good week. Stephen Gunnion Managing Editor, InceConnect
The latest from Ingham Analytics Don't mess with the independence of a central bank by politicking. South Africa has a lesson to learn from Turkey in this regard. If you think the rand and South African government bonds are weak you ain't seen nothing yet as "Turkey shoot?" explains. Other notes of topical interest include "Archegos goes down, banks blow themselves up", "Is there an attachment point for equities?", "South African bond yields - COVID-19 infected?", "Rate accelerator" and "A fifteen-year gulf". | 