Eskom's new tricks; Remgro's 36% discount mystery

Overnight global mood

Wall Street and London will be watching inflation data and earnings season progress. Asia wrapped with cautious optimism; tech stocks holding their ground but nothing spectacular. The rand will wake up to its usual job of deciding whether this is a good day for South African exporters or just another Thursday.

Today's big stories

• Eskom's data centre and EV ambitions. Eskom is hunting new revenue streams before the great unbundling happens, eyeing power contracts with data centres and electric vehicle charging networks. It's a sensible move, though let's not forget Eskom's track record with diversification. Read more.
• Remgro trading 36% below intrinsic value. Fund managers are asking why the conglomerate's shares languish at such a discount; the answer appears to be "capital allocation" — a polite way of saying they've been sitting on cash and making questionable calls. Read more.
• Retail real estate gets a 32,000 m² boost. A new shopping mall in Pretoria East is coming with Shoprite, Boxer, Pick n Pay, Dis-Chem and Clicks all signed up; retail property investors and the big grocers should be paying attention. Read more.

Sector watch

Energy and utilities will be in focus thanks to Eskom's revenue diversification play; investors will wonder if this is genuine strategy or just sound bites ahead of unbundling. Retail and property stocks should track that Pretoria mall news too. Industrials like Remgro will draw scrutiny from anyone asking whether holding patterns and discounts are really the best use of shareholder capital.

One thing to watch

Remgro (REM) opens the conversation about value traps vs. genuine discounts. If you own it, today's discount story is worth thinking through. If you don't, it's a good reminder that cheap isn't the same as good.