THROUGH THE STORM
By Evan Pickworth
One of SA's big four banks, Absa, reported its full-year results to December this week and in doing so ticked off a number of the correct boxes for investors. The big question of a new chairman remains unchecked, but the view from the ...

A WHOLE NEW PACKAGE?
By Andrew McNulty
Packaging group Nampak has disappointed investors for many years. It's now working on changing its pattern of weak performance. It has new management, its board is being rejuvenated - with former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni joining as chai...

SUPPORTED BY THE DRAGON
By Matthew Hill
Julius Malema, take heed. Last week BHP Billiton chief Marius Kloppers cautioned: "At the point where you're putting the capital into the ground, having a reasonable expectation that things are not going to change throughout the life o...

VALUE IN ZISCO
By Matthew Hill
Some might say the company's gone mad, with all the rumblings about the "indigenisation" of companies in Zimbabwe, but ArcelorMittal SA (Amsa) remains keen to find out whether its bid for Zimbabwe Iron & Steel Company (Zisco) has come ...

INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
By Sasha Planting
While JD Group waits for the furniture business to recover, its cash business, in particular Incredible Connection, is propping up the group. Luckily there seems to be no limit to its ability to generate cash and profits. Incredibl...

DON'T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS
By Evan Pickworth
It was almost a year ago that Standard Chartered was said to have been sounded out as a likely buyer of Old Mutual's 54% Nedbank stake. The talk was quickly quashed when Old Mutual said Nedbank was not for sale. The rumour mill is g...

NO WORD ON CHAT SITES
By Matebello Motloung
Media group Naspers is keeping mum about reports that it's in talks with its Russian business partner to consolidate their Polish online assets, thereby strengthening their penetration of Poland's Internet market. Naspers owns Gad...

SA BANKS IN THE CLEAR
By Evan Pickworth
Bank executives can breathe a sigh of relief. The proposed introduction of new taxes and levies on banks in the US and the UK is unlikely to have any direct tax implications in SA. The indirect implications, though, should be weighed carefully...

LIFELINE UNDER THE SEA
By Larry Claasen
It's been a tough few months for telecommunications companies, but the landing of an undersea cable has given them something to smile about. The US$280m East Africa Submarine Cable System (Eassy) arrived at Mtunzini, on the KwaZulu ...

CRISIS WATCH
By Andrew McNulty
Dogmas and fears can change in unexpected ways after a crisis. Peak oil theory has been around since the 1950s, when it was created by M King Hubbert, a US petroleum engineer, but became popular during the commodities boom of the past...

THE UGLY DUCKLING
By Larry Claasen
IFCA TECH 1. Cash positive 2. Revenue up DIAMONDS & DOGS
Jamie Carr's picks of the week
Diamond - Lonrho Lonrho will always be associated with the mildly controversial Tiny Rowland, whose reputation as an African businessman is approximately equivalent to Captain Jack Sparr ow's in Caribbean nautical circles. All the sig...

INVESTOR'S NOTEBOOK
By Stephen Cranston
It has always puzzled me to see that unit trust managers can decide how to categorise their funds. There are 10 funds in the value category, each with its own definition of "value". You will often find, for example, that the RMB Value...

GOLD DISAPPOINTS

The JSE gold mining index has been a disappointing performer over the past year, given how high the gold price has been. When you take into account the fact that the rand has been so strong, it becomes evident that the rand price of go...