Murray cashes in on mining upturn. The engineering and construction group's underground mining book has jumped 12% since June and it's the preferred bidder for other large contracts.

ArcelorMittal SA benefits from rising exports. The steel producer says strong international demand and the weaker rand have supported exports of its steel.

Diversification supports Afrimat through slowdown. The building materials supplier says its bulk commodities business helped offset weakness in the construction sector.

Pierre De Vos: On the many ways those implicated in corruption defend themselves without ever denying the accusations against them. One of the most telling signs that a person implicated in wrongdoing is guilty of the wrongdoing, is when that individual fails to deny the specific allegations or findings made against him or her, and instead complains about procedural irregularities in the investigation against them or raise counter-complaints about the behaviour of others in a transparent attempt at "whataboutery". Most politicians and businesspeople in South Africa are past masters of this technique which they use to distract attention from the original findings or allegations made against them. It is important for citizens not to be misled by this.

Who’s doing what in the South African M&A space? Weekly summary of M&A activity by South African companies...

Who’s doing what in the African M&A space? Weekly summary of all M&A activity from across Africa (excluding South Africa)...

Corporate finance activity of the week. Weekly summary of corporate finance activity by South African exchange listed companies...

Implats progresses with restructuring as production picks up. The platinum producer says it's in talks to sell or outsource its 1 Shaft at Rustenburg as it eliminates high-cost production.

Impala Platinum is proceeding with a restructuring of its operations as it sticks to its commitment to eliminate high-cost production. The platinum producer says it's already in talks to sell its 1 Shaft operation in Rustenburg.

In a first-quarter production report yesterday, Implats said it had entered a Section 189 restructuring process for 1 500 workers as it starts the process of outsourcing or disposing of the Rustenburg shaft, which is scheduled to be put on care an maintenance next April.

We remain steadfast in our resolve to eliminate high-cost production at this business, aligned with our lower future metal prices outlook," CEO Nico Muller said. "so it stands out better."

Tonnes milled across its operations rose 1.9% to 6.87-million tonnes over the quarter. It said the increase was largely due to a much stronger operational performance at Impala Rustenburg, which achieved its highest first-quarter mill tonnage of 3.15-million tonnes since 2013.

Platinum concentrate across its operations was maintained at 349 000 ounces as the increased production from its Rustenburg operations was offset by lower volumes from Two Rivers in the Bushveld complex and Mimosa in Zimbabwe. Gross refined platinum production increased by 8.2% to 369 000 ounces from the first quarter of last year when its Impala and Zimplats operations were affected by scheduled furnace maintenance.

Implats said revenues benefitted from a weaker rand and improved palladium and rhodium prices over the quarter, with a 14.2% increase in revenue per platinum ounce received. Its safety performance was also better, with a 9% improvement in lost-time injury frequency rate.

Its shares rose 10.3% to R27.02 yesterday.

Tonnes milled at Impala Rustenburg increased by 5.6% in Q1 2019 compared to the previous corresponding quarter, reflecting the positive outcomes of various initiatives implemented at the operation to improve safety, production and cost performance. #Implats pic.twitter.com/yXqTRpoxFv

-- Implats (@Implats) October 31, 2018

Naspers rally lifts the JSE. The JSE's largest share got some much-needed relief after MSCI said it wouldn't exclude shares with unequal voting structures from its benchmark indices.

Naspers led a rally on the JSE yesterday after MSCI Inc. said it wouldn't exclude companies with unequal voting structures in their shares from its benchmark indices. A strong rise in Internet and gaming giant Tencent also supported Naspers, which tends to move in tandem with its Chinese associate company.

MSCI Inc. compiles indices that are widely followed and mirrored by investors and inclusion results in tracker funds such as ETFs buying the underlying securities. The vast majority of Naspers's shareholders own its listed, non-voting N shares while its unlisted A shares control the group.

MSCI said while it supported the one share one vote principle, it said its indices should aim to represent the broadest investment opportunity set available based solely on the inevitability of the underlying markets.

Current market benchmarks have served the investment community well over the past decades as an objective reflection of the investable investment opportunity set available to international institutional investors," said Remy Briand, MD and chairman of the MSCI Index Policy Committee. "As of today, we do not believe that preferences and constraints on voting rights, among other governance considerations, should impact the definition of the investable universe underpinning these benchmarks as equity securities with no or unequal voting rights are still investable for most investors."

Tencent rose 5.8% in Hong Kong, paring its losses for the year to 34%. The share has been under pressure due to changes to online gaming rules by China's authorities, while the trade war between the US and China has also weighed on the stock. However, US President Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance this week, saying there could be "a great deal" with China, although he stands ready to impose more tariffs on Chinese imports if there isn't.

Naspers closed 9.4% up at R2595.68 yesterday. The stock has shed 25% this year.

Naspers bounces big time on news that MSCI will retain the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes UNCHANGED and launch a new Index Series reflecting the preferences of investors on unequal voting structures.

-- Michael Avery (@MichaelJAvery) October 31, 2018

Trump said maybe he can be friends with China = Tencent boom = NPN boom = Indi25 boom

-- Simon Brown (@SimonPB) October 31, 2018

That will put some fire back in Naspers

-- Roeloff Horne (@RoeloffHorne) October 31, 2018

Turning points are hard to call. Well, turning points are not that hard to call... when you are looking back. Retrospect is the most amazing analytical tool. Sadly, it's not a real tool and it is completely useless to us. We live life going forward, as we experience markets one moment at a time.

Turning points are important though, because it is at those points in time, or in the market, that both maximum opportunity and maximum risk is present. Now, there is no shortage of people out there who claim to know exactly when the market will turn, but there is a very limited number of people out there who have actually got a solid track record of getting that right. I am not one of those.

Too many times have I stood on my soapbox and announced that 'this is it'... whatever 'it' was at the time. Trying to learn from my past mistakes, at least, means that I will be a lot more careful before I dig out that wobbly old soapbox in future.

So this time, I don't want to say that the market IS at a turning point, but I want to say that the market MIGHT be at a turning point. In other words, the market is presenting a us with an opportunity to take a small, measured amount of risk for the possibility of a rather handsome reward.

The S&P500 index is currently down around 9.5% for the month (and just slightly more from the all time highs made at the beginning of this month). The chart above indicates a potential support level for the index. The level has held on two previous occasions and there is a rather good chance that it may hold again. If the S&P500 tests that support level today it will be down just over 11% for the month.

Looking at the local Top 40 Index, we can see a similar (sort of) picture. The market is now down around 15% for the year and has come down to test a previous support level. If this support level holds, just as is the case with the S&P500, it would be a great place to put on some long positions on Index Futures.

In both cases, the risk is somewhat contained as a break below the respective support levels would negate the trade and stop you out, but it the support holds and the market moves back into a bull trend, the reward could be tremendous.

That said, there is no guarantee that this recent rout we have seen is not the start of a much larger and longer term market correction or bear market. For now though, we cannot say. So no soapbox preaching from me today. Just the acknowledgement that there is a high probability trading opportunity present.

I will give some detail as to what I believe is driving the market at present in another blog post in the second half of this week. There are many, many things happening that are creating fear in the marketplace. I think that unpacking them will help us piece together an action plan during these trying times.

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