Rushing out of Russia

Good Morning Voornaam,

Ghost Bites:

In addition to these stories, there were some meaty director dealings on Friday. There's also a production update from Merafe font> and a circular released by Cognition Holdings for the Private Property disposal. Get on top of the JSE news with Ghost Bites>>>

Rushing out of Russia

In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, countless multinational groups have taken the decision to exit Russia. In some cases, this has been driven by sanctions that required an immediate response. In others, an orderly disposal has been possible.

When news of the war broke, the other thing that broke was the share prices of JSE-listed companies with Russian exposure. Mondi and Barloworld were two great example s, neither of which have recovered since the sell-off.

In a panic situation like this, the market tends to completely write off the value of the Russian assets. There was just too much uncertainty around whether they would be retained, sold or simply closed. We now have additional information, even though the market hasn't really reacted to it in my view.

Mondi has agreed to sell its Russian operations for EUR1.5 billion. There are just major regulatory approvals required to get the money out of Russia, so the market is being cautious. Hot off the press is the news of Prosus selling Avito to an oligarch-backed group for a substantial ticket price of R44 billion. That's a Price/Earnings multiple of 15x, which is hardly a desperate price!

Clearly, Russians are lining up to buy the local business units of global firms. Assuming the money actually flows to the sellers, there's perhaps an opportunity for a rebound in the share prices of companies that were smashed by the news of the war.

Time will tell.

Chris Gilmour gets the tools out

In this week's column, Chris Gilmour looks at some of the most interesting names in the DIY retail industry in the US, UK and locally. After these share prices have been hammered by slowing consumer demand, are there any opportunities?

In his usual candid style, Chris gives us his views on the sector. Enjoy them here>>>

Let's Unlock the Stock!

It's time for the next editio n of Unlock the Stock, the platform that lets you be a market analyst for a day. The management teams of Pan African Resources and Calgro M3 will join us to talk about the strategies and latest numbers in their respective businesses.

The event is free to attend, which makes it a no-brainer for anyone interested in these companies and learning more about fundamental financial analysis in general. All you need to do is register at this link>>>

Adding fuel to the Fed fire

The University of Michigan consumer survey showed an increase of one-year inflation expectations from 4.7% to 5.1%, which adds even more fuel to the raging fire around the likely aggression of the Fed in the two meetings to come this year.

The volatility in the rand continued, with the week drawing to a close at around the R18.20 mark after hitting R18.57 on Thursday. Looking abroad, the pound remains under pressure from the actions of the UK government, like the axing of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. In commodities, gold closed the week on the back foot in yet another example of its breakdown as an inflation hedge. The dollar is king at the moment.

In case you missed the TreasuryONE webinar last Wednesday, the recording is available for you to enjoy. Wichard Cilliers and Andre Botha tackled the major drivers of macroeconomic volatility and answered a variety of questions at the end of the presentation. Find it here>>>

The market mistakes we all make

In the latest episode of Magic Markets, we decided to talk about the mistakes that are commonly made by investors and traders alike. The topics ranged from diversification and checking your portfolio too often through to more technical issues like making bad assumptions about certain industries or focusing too much on dividends.

Honestly, as a Ghost Mail reader, this podcast is for you. It covers so many important topics with viewpoints that you won't hear anywhere else. Make time to listen to it at this link&gt ;>>

Have a great start to the week!