After an exceptionally rough period for the industry, it's wonderful to see that tourism is heating up. I've spoken to people with businesses in the sector both here and abroad. I've read the commentary in results announcements of global firms like Visa. I've seen it now in recent updates from Growthpoint and City Lodge.

The message is consistent: people have an exceptionally strong desire to travel. Despite inflation and economic challenges, there will always be a demographic of consumers who have the money to climb on a plane and enjoy their lives. Of course, there are far cheaper travel options available as well. We are lucky to live in a gorgeous country that is full of road trip opportunities, even if the petrol price is 3.2 gold bars per litre!

In a detailed update, City Lodge noted that occupancy in May 2022 was in line with May 2019 levels. This is a huge milestone, not least of all for the staff who are no longer suffering with salary reductions. Of course, there's still a long way to go to repair the damage to the sector. I cover the City Lodge update along with all the other news from the JSE in this morning's edition of Ghost Bites.

When it comes to the JSE mid-caps, I've got you covered in Ghost Mail. There are feature articles this morning on Stor-Age'sfinancial results for the year ended March 2022 and Omnia's results covering the same period. These are both such interesting groups, with Stor-Age offering a defensive play of note for shareholders and Omnia bringing a cocktail of cyclical exposures and special dividends to keep you on your toes.

Moving on to the rand, Wichard Cilliers (Head of Market Risk at TreasuryONE) notes that the rand traded sideways for most of yesterday, a direct result of the US being out of the market and liquidity being low. For those of you who enjoy cars with big engines (like me), it's good news that the oil price has taken a knock since Friday. The TreasuryONE team highlights $109.50 as a key level to watch, with a break below this level giving us a signal for a potential move lower. Looking ahead this week, the two-day testimony by Fed chair Jerome Powell at Congress will start on Wednesday. The market will scrutinise the Fed's thinking and movements could be swift depending on what emerges from this testimony.

As ever, you should reach out to the team at TreasuryONE to assist you in managing market risk in your business or investment portfolio.

There was quite a buzz yesterday in response to Fedgroup's Secured Investment, which offers 11.7% per annum over five years on the assumption that interest is reinvested. With a low minimum lump sum of R5,000 this is an interesting way to introduce a yield underpin to your investments. Of course, you must do your own research and you should speak to your financial advisor as well. To empower yourself to do just that, check out this sponsored article from Fedgroup with information on the product.

If you haven't listened to it yet, you're really missing out on the inaugural episode of Ghost Stories with Charles Savage, the founder of EasyEquities. This investment platform truly changed the landscape for retail investors, offering an exceptionally low-cost way to build your wealth. I do all my investing on EasyEquities, so this is a sincere endorsement. In this conversation lasting more than an hour, Charles and I talked about the story behind the business and how they reached such incredible milestones. We also talked about what the future holds for the business. Make the time and listen to it at this link - I promise that you won't regret it.

If you aren't already using EasyEquities as your investment platform, then rectify that situation by signing up here.

Another podcast you certainly won't regret is Episode 80 of Magic Markets, in which we had a great conversation with the team from AnBro Capital Investments about hot stocks vs. hot air and how to distinguish between the two. The tech sector has been through a great deal of pain in the past few months. This doesn't mean that you should suddenly ignore it, as these are the companies shaping the way we live and work over the next decade and beyond. In this show, we looked at two interesting healthcare companies as good example s of the types of investments that the team at AnBro looks at.

Have a lovely Tuesday and enjoy all the learning opportunities that it brings to you!