Magic Markets

The world order is shifting – the US is playing a global-scale game of Risk, the rand is getting stronger, and AI can’t count its ABCs. Amidst the chaos, it’s hard to know which market indicators to listen to. In this episode of Magic Markets , The Finance Ghost and Moe-Knows dive deep into why US Treasury yields aren't necessarily the best indicator of risk, while highlighting that the rand has c...

With a new calendar on the wall, there's a lot to consider this year. The world doesn’t behave the same way that our calendars do, with the themes and risks of 2025 bleeding into 2026. Aside from the obvious (like AI), what can we learn from some of the best-performing sectors in the final quarter of 2025 and over the past 12 months? What regional outlooks are relevant? And perhaps most importantl...

In the final Magic Markets show of 2025, we looked back on a watershed year for geopolitics and the technology sector. With Moe focusing on the macro story and the performance of the various global asset classes, our resident ghost took a bottom-up approach and highlighted the performance of certain stocks in the portfolio. From US banks through to energy counters and FMCG stocks that threw us a l...

With news breaking of Netflix joining the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery and looking to potentially make a huge cash offer to get their hands on the studios, this was a good opportunity to look back at the streaming wars that we've recently covered. It also gave us the perfect opportunity to discuss general M&A concepts, especially the risks that come with the opportunities. This is to...

With the G20 in the rearview mirror in South Africa, we took the opportunity to discuss Moe's views on the geopolitical shenanigans from a North American perspective (for the benefit of new listeners: he has lived in Canada for several years). We also talked about the other big theme at the moment: AI and technology stocks, particularly in light of some pretty nasty sell-offs. Having just covered...

On Holding might have an awkward name, but the company counts Roger Federer among its early investors and biggest endorsements. Thanks to Nike's missteps during the pandemic, ON was able to win market share in core categories like running and tennis shoes. Once that foundation is established, the opportunity is there to expand into apparel. With On Holding as our research topic in Magic Markets Pr...

Specialty retail is a fascinating sector on the global stage. It includes companies like Dick's Sporting Goods and Build-A-Bear, with the latter being our latest research topic in Magic Markets Premium. But what is it about these retailers that makes them both interesting and risky? And in South Africa, what is the lay of the land with specialty retailers and why don't we see more of them on the J...

When it comes to understanding the Westbrooke investment philosophy and approach, there's no better way to do it than through looking at deal case studies and seeing examples of exactly how the team deploys client capital into alternative assets. To walk us through examples of recent property deals in the UK, James Lightbody (Head of Real Estate at Westbrooke UK) joined us on this show. He was acc...

The content and distribution game is a hotbed of competition, with leading lights like Netflix, Disney and of course YouTube within the Alphabet (Google) stable. There are many others trying to get a piece of the action, like Amazon and Apple. And of course, there are the legacy names in entertainment that are desperately trying to cling to market share. While the streaming players are investing b...

Property is a vibrant asset class in South Africa. From convenience retail centres through to mixed-use developments, property is a popular way to earn yield and achieve real returns in excess of inflation. 27four Investment Managers has partnered with Mesh. Trade to bring private property investment opportunities to a retail investor audience. There are at least two opportunities that will be mad...

There's a  lot  of nervousness out there at the moment around global asset prices, leading to discussions around whether the top is in. Naturally, this drives investors and traders to think about hedging strategies to mitigate the impact of a correction - or worse, a crash. In this episode, we discussed why hedging is used as a strategy instead of just selling down positions. We looked at differen...

The quality (and track record) of corporate M&A ranges from incredibly smart deals through to corporate disasters. One thing is for sure: results may vary when you see companies announcing large transactions. After dedicating Magic Markets Premium this week to the proposed Keurig Dr Pepper - JDE Peet's transaction, which has all the makings of a mess, we decided to use our free show to discuss...

The concept of "shovels in the gold rush" is really useful in investing, as it speaks directly to thematic opportunities where the approach is to pick a stock as far up the value chain as possible. A perfect example is Coinbase, which is really a play on the broader crypto market. A less pure-play example is Accenture, which is an attempt to get a slice of the action in AI and cloud investment by...

With the news of NVIDIA investing in OpenAI and with our focus this week in Magic Markets Premium on the truly wild forecasts being put out there by Oracle, we use our recent real-world experience with AI to comment on where it works and where it horribly fails to add any value at all. Or worse, where it confidently "hallucinates" and gives completely the wrong answer. Of course, there's a much bi...

In the US market, companies are required to report quarterly - for now, at least. The latest utterances by President Trump suggest that quarterly reporting is being viewed in a negative light, with the SEC noting that they will be looking at whether reporting should move to align with most of the rest of the world i.e. results every six months. We don't like this idea. Although there are lots of a...

What causes share prices to move? Are there always sensible reasons, or does the market sometimes dish up crazy things? There are academic arguments and practical considerations for most things, ranging from dividend signalling through to technical indicators and even the pandemic-era phenomenon that is meme stocks. In this podcast, we covered a number of price catalysts and what they really mean,...

As a follow-on show from the previous week where we talked about how to analyse retailers, we decided to cover the biggest trend right now in the sector: the rise of omnichannel retail. Digital isn't the future, it's the present! Retailers without proper digital strategies are being left behind at an alarming rate. We touched on global statistics around eCommerce penetration before diving into spe...

The retail sector isn't just a critical source of employment and consumer goods in every economy in the world. No, it's also a major contributor to stock indices and portfolio strategies that look for strong underpins that can give protection against inflation. Analysing retailers requires a nuanced approach that includes an understanding of margins, working capital and other balance sheet concept...

Stablecoins are highly topical at the moment, with important new legislation in the US and many discussions taking place around the world with regulators. But why do they matter so much in the world of blockchain and crypto? To explain the importance of stablecoins and to talk through critical concepts like yield-bearing stablecoins and the various use cases of this technology, Connie Bloem of Mes...

Stocks like Microsoft, Meta and Netflix have been strong winners in our portfolios (although we've had different exposures to them at different times). These stocks are great case studies to deal with two important questions. The first relates to letting winners run. How do we think about having long-term vs. tactical positions and potentially trimming them over time? The second relates to winners...

Earlier this week, Mpact gave the South African market a positive surprise. The packaging group is a major supplier to the agri sector, particularly for the export of agricultural products from South Africa like citrus. At a time when the market was expecting doom and gloom thanks to US tariffs, Mpact gave a positive outlook around agricultural activity and the share price rallied in response. To...

Are consumers still having fries with that, or have changes in consumer preferences (like more awareness of health and nutrition) given fast food stocks a knock? Quick-service restaurants are businesses that can scale quickly, usually through a franchise model, which is why they've historically done well. They don't all take this route though, as evidenced by Chipotle that we just covered in Magic...

After covering the financials sector on the JSE last week and with our latest Premium research being on Goldman Sachs, we decided to talk about bank balance sheets and some of the key concepts. This includes elements like capital adequacy, non-performing loans and portfolio tilts across various products. If you've ever wondered why mortgage originators even exist in the first place, you'll enjoy t...

The financials sector on the JSE is a substantial contributor to the overall index. Although banks make up the bulk of the sector, there are also major businesses in areas like insurance and wealth management. With South Africa's difficult macro backdrop, there isn't a rising tide that lifts all boats in this sector. Instead, it tends to reward stock pickers who understand the nuances across the v...

The "capital stack" refers to the mix of debt and equity that provides the funding for a business. With so many options on the spectrum from senior debt to pure equity, companies and investors come together in search of optimal solutions for all involved. Westbrooke's approach makes use of various funding mechanisms, with hybrid capital as a particular favourite. This aims for debt-like risk and e...