Yum! Brands is shedding Pizza Hut’s drag to sharpen its Taco Bell and KFC focus, unlock billions in capital and fuel shareholder returns.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Read online Dropping the Dough: Yum! Brands Strategically Trims the Fat Yum! Brands is shedding Pizza Hut’s drag to sharpen its Taco Bell and KFC focus, unlock billions in capital and fuel shareholder returns. The 100 Year Old Market Signal That Called Every Crash Since 1929 (From Weiss Ratings) Key Points Yum! Brands sold its Pizza Hut business outside Mainland China to LongRange Capital for about $1.5 billion, with total carve-out proceeds reaching roughly $2.7 billion. The divestiture lets Yum! Brands shift toward a leaner, higher-margin franchising model concentrated on Taco Bell and KFC amid industrywide fast-food traffic declines. The company also authorized an approximately $4 billion share buyback and maintains an eight-year dividend growth streak, reinforcing shareholder returns despite short interest and executive turnover concerns. Special Report: Insiders Enter Here. The Public Enters Here. (From Weiss Ratings)   The fast-food industry is facing a severe reality check. Menu price hikes are pricing out the core lower-income demographic, causing a decline in foot traffic across the sector. Yet amid this crisis, one operator just executed a masterclass in corporate defense. Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) successfully offloaded its underperforming Pizza Hut asset outside Mainland China for about $1.5 billion. By allowing a private equity buyer to absorb the legacy brand's looming turnaround risk, Yum! Brands quietly transitions into a high-return, pure-play franchising model. With Yum! Brands shielding its remaining portfolio behind an approximately $4 billion stock buyback, investors are witnessing a strategic pivot deployed right at the onset of brutal macro headwinds. Shedding the stagnant pizza chain fundamentally changes the business's financial trajectory, setting the stage for a shift in how Wall Street values Yum! Brands stock. Here’s the stock symbol I’ve promised (Ad) Whitney Tilson of Stansberry Research has long recommended Berkshire Hathaway as a core retirement holding - but now he believes he's found something better. This under-the-radar company sits at the intersection of America's two most important industries, including AI, pays massive dividends, and attracted a famous money manager who put 60% of his multi-billion-dollar fund into it. Tilson is revealing the name and ticker symbol completely free - no credit card or email required. Get the stock name and ticker symbol free of charge today Addition by Subtraction: Cutting the Crust Corporate restructuring often looks messy on the surface, but the financial mechanics underneath reveal a clear path to value creation. The sale of the Pizza Hut brand to LongRange Capital serves as a textbook example of addition by subtraction. Factoring in the separate Mainland China transaction, the total Pizza Hut carve-out proceeds reach approximately $2.7 billion. For years, Pizza Hut operated as a chronic drag on system-wide metrics, actively suppressing the growth generated by Taco Bell and KFC. Public markets historically penalize parent companies burdened by capital-intensive turnaround projects. Investors saw this reflected in the numbers, with the return on equity for Yum! Brands recently dipping to -24.57%. That figure signals severe capital inefficiency prior to the asset sale. By transferring the operational weight of Pizza Hut to private equity, Yum! Brands protects its consolidated margin profile. Private equity buyers can pursue extensive operational restructuring without the immediate pressures of quarterly public-market reporting. For Yum! Brands, removing this drag clears the path for a re-rating of its stock. The business is now heavily concentrated in higher-margin, faster-growing assets. Its streamlined franchising model will require less overhead, allowing management to deploy capital much more aggressively toward concepts that actually drive unit growth. Starving the Crisis: Insulating Taco Bell and KFC Investors should connect the macro environment to the catalyst to understand why this sale is so critical right now. The broader quick-service restaurant space is experiencing significant demand reduction. Fast-food operators long believed their business models were recession-resistant, leaning on aggressive pricing power to offset inflation. That strategy has hit a wall. Anecdotal channel checks reveal localized traffic drops, with some Taco Bell locations reporting foot traffic down by about half in late summer. Coinciding with the ownership change, Pizza Hut chief executive officer Aaron Powell abruptly resigned, leaving Eduardo Luz to serve as interim chief executive. While executive transitions regularly accompany private equity buyouts, a sudden departure at a flagship property highlights the internal volatility and execution risk that legacy chains face. The consumer base is retreating. Short interest in Yum! Brands rose over 14% by mid-August as retail skepticism grew. However, the retail panic misses the genius of the timing. Management pegged the demand trends early. Selling the pizza chain right as traffic falls off a cliff helps to insulate the surviving KFC and Taco Bell portfolios from the heaviest capital requirements. Yum! Brands traded an operational headache for a substantial influx of liquidity, passing the execution risk of a turnaround to LongRange Capital just as the broader consumer environment deteriorates. 100% overnight gains? (Ad) Rumors are circulating that Elon Musk is preparing to acquire three publicly traded companies. Dr. Mark Skousen, who met Musk in person and called the SpaceX listing months early, says he has identified all three targets in what he calls Elon's $2.1 Trillion Hit List. See the three companies before the rumors become headlines. Get the details on all three companies now Serving Up Yield: A $4B Capital Diet Yum! Brands' leaner operational model generates excess free cash flow, which management is routing back to shareholders. The board of directors recently authorized an approximately $4 billion share repurchase program. At current valuations, this provides the capacity to retire roughly 9.4% of outstanding equity. When a company shrinks its share count by nearly a tenth, it artificially boosts earnings per share, even if top-line revenue suffers. This buyback serves as a structural defense mechanism against current macro headwinds. Income investors also gain a highly predictable asset. Yum! Brands maintains an eight-year consecutive dividend growth streak, boasting an 8.6% five-year annualized growth rate. Supported by a highly conservative payout ratio of 37%, the annual dividend provides a sustainable yield of near 2%. This capital return profile remains highly durable despite the broader industry volatility. While retail traders and short sellers seem to be fixating on the executive departure and recent insider selling, institutional money is rotating into the stock. Recent filings show concentrated block buying by multiple institutions. These sophisticated allocations indicate a strong long-term appetite for Yum! Brands' streamlined corporate structure. Digesting Yum! Brands New Strategy The fast-food industry will likely face prolonged discounting wars as operators scramble to win back alienated customers. Margin compression across the sector appears inevitable as companies sacrifice pricing power for transaction volume. However, companies that proactively shed underperforming assets and aggressively shrink their equity float position themselves to survive the downturn and emerge significantly stronger. Cautious investors may prefer to wait for a broader market pullback before taking a position, while those with a long-term horizon might consider adding Yum! Brands to their watchlists as the financial benefits of the streamlined franchising model take effect. Read this article online › Read More Zscaler’s Strong Quarter Still Left Investors Waiting on 1 Key Signal One AI Fund Holding Every Big Name Pays Weekly (From Investors Alley) Is Duolingo the Next Netflix-Style Comeback Story? The $15 Gold Fund That Pays Up to $1,152/Month (From Investors Alley) GitLab’s AI Tools Are Starting to Turn Developer Demand Into Real Revenue GTA VI's Console Problem Isn't Take-Two's Problem Merchants Bancorp’s Rally Is Testing How Much Risk Investors Will Overlook     Stay Ahead of the Market The best investment opportunities don't wait. Get our research and stock ideas delivered straight to your smartphone—so you never miss a market-moving opportunity. Our text alerts ensure you see timely stock ideas and professional research reports instantly, whether you're in a meeting, commuting, or away from your desk. Get Text Alerts from American Market News (free)   Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 Ticker Talk | MarketBeat Media, LLC 345 N Reid Place, Suite 620 Sioux Falls, SD 57103, United States

Next Africa: Landmark listing

The Dangote refinery IPO will be Africa’s biggest ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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Welcome to Next Africa, a daily newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here. In today’s edition, we look at: Plans to list Aliko Dangote’s refinery in Nigeria Sierra Leone’s ex-president returns after charges dropped UN-backed plans for more accurate world maps A Mega IPO for a Mega Refinery The countdown to Africa’s biggest initial public offering has begun.  Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, which operates the continent’s largest refinery and is controlled by billionaire Aliko Dangote, plans to sell 4.1 billion shares priced at $0.40 each. That will bring in more than $1.6 billion to help fund its expansion, adding to the $2.5 billion it raised in a private placement.  The offer will open in a week and the stock is expected to begin trading on the Nigerian exchange in November. The firm will use the money to almost double the facility’s existing crude-processing capacity of 700,000 barrels a day. WATCH: Bloomberg’s Anthony Osae-Brown reports on the IPO. The listing will be a significant milestone for Nigeria’s capital markets and extend a growing continental trend. Other companies that have sold shares to the public this year include Ghana’s ZEN Petroleum, Moroccan healthcare technologies distributor T2S, premium grocer Gourmet Egypt and Kenya Pipeline Co. The Dangote offer will value the refinery business at almost $50 billion, equivalent to the combined market capitalization of the three biggest firms that currently trade on the Lagos bourse.  The timing is opportune. Nigerian equities have been surging, with the main index up more than 70% in dollar terms this year — the world’s best performance after South Korea’s Kospi. The West African country is also due to regain its frontier-market status in FTSE Russell’s equity indexes on Sept. 21. The reclassification will boost its visibility among international investors and could spur purchases by funds that track the benchmarks. The refinery listing will help deepen liquidity and attract even more foreign capital.  For Africa’s richest person, a successful IPO will further validate his decision to personally put up most of the $20 billion it cost to build a plant that’s now a critical supplier of refined fuel to the region and beyond. — Nduka Orjinmo Dangote during the refinery’s commissioning ceremony in 2023. Photographer: Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg What Everyone’s Reading  MTN has been meeting with international bond investors after a decade out of the eurobond market as Africa’s largest mobile-network operator pursues a major acquisition and a significant debt comes due next month. The meetings were part of a non-deal roadshow, indicating no specific transaction was being marketed, while laying the foundations for a new issue should MTN pursue one, sources say. South African agricultural exports rose 10% in the second quarter from the same period a year ago, buoyed by higher volumes and better prices, and as shipments to the US surged. Agriculture has been a rare bright spot for the economy, with exports rising steadily over the past two decades thanks to a growing citrus industry and a diversification into other types of fruits and nuts. A farm in Citrusdal, South Africa. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg Former Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, accused of plotting to overthrow the government in 2023, has returned from Nigeria after criminal charges against him were dropped. Koroma was accused of treason and placed under house arrest following the coup attempt in which at least 21 people died. He was later granted bail on medical grounds and allowed to leave for Nigeria. Spain’s government has taken over Ceuta’s port to shelter hundreds of migrants living on streets and beaches more than a month after a mass influx from Morocco overwhelmed the North African enclave. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is still grappling with the fallout from the late-July incident, in which about 80,000 people illegally crossed into Ceuta, with dozens dying in the attempt. Angola plans to raise as much as $228 million from the sale of a 34% stake in Standard Bank de Angola previously held by a jailed former insurance tycoon. The Angolan government in 2020 seized a 49% stake in the lender from Carlos São Vicente, who was later convicted of crimes including embezzlement and tax fraud. Thank you for your responses to our weekly Next Africa Quiz and congratulations to Jacob Lubner, who was first to correctly identify Egypt as the nation that’s home to the recently built tallest building in Africa. Behind the Numbers South Africa has a raft of data out this week. Firstly, the Iran war’s oil shock likely slowed GDP growth in the second quarter as it squeezed demand, writes Bloomberg Economics’ Yvonne Mhango. The print will be published on Tuesday. Thursday’s current-account data is expected to show the balance swung into deficit in the three months through June, reversing two quarters of surpluses, as higher fuel imports swelled the import bill. Manufacturing and mining data for July will offer the first glimpse of third-quarter output. Monthly production probably picked up modestly, but likely fell from a year ago. Last Word The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for world maps to more accurately reflect the relative size of Africa and other regions, over the objections of the US. The so-called Mercator projection, in use since the 16th century, makes Africa look comparatively small while inflating the size of land masses further away from the equator. As a result, the continent appears to be roughly as big as Greenland, even though it’s about 14 times as large. The US opposition echoed the Trump administration’s broader campaign against what it calls “woke” policies. The 16th century Mercator projection. Source: Daniel R. Strebe/Wikimedia Commons We’ll be back in your inbox with another edition tomorrow. Send any feedback to nextafrica@bloomberg.net. More From Bloomberg Enjoying Next Africa? You might also like: Businessweek Daily for fresh perspectives on business, economics, politics and tech Markets Daily for what’s moving in stocks, bonds, FX and commodities Balance of Power for the latest political news and analysis from around the globe Bloomberg Money for insights, ideas and tools for doing more with your money AI Today for a chronicle of the disruptions and threats of AI on businesses, workers, finance and economies We’re improving your newsletter experience and we’d love your feedback. If something looks off, help us fine-tune your experience by reporting it here. Follow Us You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg’s Next Africa newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox. Unsubscribe Bloomberg.com Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 |

The Trading Rule That Separates Winners From Everyone Else

The Trading Rule That Separates Winners From Everyone Else The smartest traders take a small profit every day – and let it compound. Here’s how discipline and consistency build real capital… Written by Larry Benedict Published on Sep 7, 2026 Trading is a business. And like any business, you need a goal of what you want to make and a plan to hit that goal. When I was running my hedge fund, that was the way I did business. I had clients write down a number on a piece of paper, and that’s what I made for them. Similar to those clients, anyone who’s serious about trading should have a goal of what they want to make. A number on a piece of paper that they’re going to make in one month, two months, or whatever time frame it may be. And there’s one specific way to achieve that. You should always look to put a P (profit) on the page…

Recommended Links FREE Ticker: Profit from Rising Bills? What if you could PROFIT when your bills go up? Sounds crazy… But hedge fund legend Larry Benedict has given his readers a chance at gains like $8,704 in six days… from one ticker that could pay you when your bills rise. Click to get the FREE ticker. Did Elon Musk Just Open America’s Last Retirement Window? Jeff Brown believes by the end of this month, this Elon Musk new AI breakthrough will collide… With a powerful market prophecy that has correctly predicted some of the biggest market booms going back to 1950… Giving Americans a rare and perhaps last chance to turn a small stake into an entire six-figure nest egg in the next 12-18 months. The last time something like this happened, investors had a chance to turn a small stake of $10,000 into as much as $366,000 in just 14 months.

Aim to Take a Profit Every Day It doesn’t matter if the profit is small. If you have it, you take it. That’s the only reliable way to hit your trading goals. Most traders want to make a specific amount of money… but they want to get there in the fastest way possible. So they overleverage their positions, load up on risky bets, and get blown up. That’s a fast way to become poor, not rich. The smart trader – the one who’s in the vast minority – is taking small profits every single day. If you keep doing that over and over again, you’re going to accumulate a larger base of capital and can afford higher levels of risk on occasion… which inevitably leads to bigger rewards. Trading this way means your winners will outweigh your losers. You won’t be all-in on one high-risk idea. That’s the harbinger of death in the trading world. It seems obvious and easy to follow, but most new traders don’t think this way… First, they get attached to their losers. They sit on a losing position, hoping it will eventually become profitable… but it usually doesn’t. And second, they never take a profit unless it’s a grand slam. They’ll keep pressing on a winner, even when they’re losing money overall. They think that’s the only way to be successful. But that’s the wrong line of thinking… and it’s the #1 pitfall new traders tend to fall into. They don’t understand how to size their positions according to how they’re trading. They don’t earn their risk. And understanding how to do that is the most important thing in trading… Tune in to Trading With Larry Live Each week, Market Wizard Larry Benedict goes live to share his thoughts on what’s impacting the markets. Whether you’re a novice or expert trader, you won’t want to miss Larry’s insights and analysis. Even better, it’s free to watch. Visit us on YouTube to catch the latest! Learn From My Hard-Won Experience I’ve learned many of these lessons the hard way. Back in the 1980s, I started working on the trading floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange with $10,000 of my own money. Larry (right) on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange in the mid-1980s I would have a sum of money to trade and grow. But I kept losing all of it. At the same time, my buddy Andy was making money every day. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing differently. I called my mom and told her how Andy was making so much money, and I was losing all of mine. She said, “Just do what he’s doing.” Here’s what he was doing: Letting profits slowly trickle in. He wasn’t going all-in on a risky trade idea. He was slowly but surely building a strong base of capital. In other words, putting a “P” on the page no matter what. It took me a long time to grasp this concept. I chewed through all of my money probably two or three times by making silly mistakes: things like being too impulsive, going for the home run, or holding onto losers too long… All the basic “no-nos” of trading. But each time I chewed through all of my own capital, I learned something. I got closer to learning how to let go of losers and avoid impulsive trades. Then, I got picked up by another firm, and they gave me a shot with some money to trade. Gradually, I began to figure out proper money management. I was lucky because I made my mistakes early on in my career and was able to learn and bounce back. The reason I’m telling you all this is to inspire you. Anyone can start small and become a big-time trader – especially if I could… It all starts with learning how to slowly put profits on the page until you “earn” the ability to take on more risk. Happy Trading, Larry Benedict Editor, Trading With Larry Benedict Get Instant Trade Alerts on Mobile! Click the icon below from your mobile device to download The Opportunistic Trader app today for one-tap access to trade alerts, issues, and model portfolios for all of Larry’s services. Available in the app store on Android and iPhone. More stories like this Read the latest analysis on hot growth stocks, and market-moving developments Why High Conviction Isn’t Enough to Make a Good Trade High conviction in a stock isn't enough to make a good trade. Here’s why risk/reward – and asymmetric option payoffs – matter more… Sep 4, 2026 • 3 min read Why September Seasonality Spells More S&P 500 Volatility Interest rates are getting the blame for rising volatility – but September is the S&P 500's worst month on average. Here's what seasonality says comes next… Sep 3, 2026 • 3 min read Why the 10-Year Treasury Yield Matters More Than the Fed Everyone's watching the Fed's September rate decision. But another rate – the 10-year Treasury yield – could matter far more for stocks… Sep 2, 2026 • 3 min read 1125 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201 www.opportunistictrader.com To ensure our emails continue reaching your inbox, please add our email address to your address book. This editorial email containing advertisements was sent to reunisoft.cryptonews@blogger.com because you subscribed to this service. To stop receiving these emails, click here. The Opportunistic Trader welcomes your feedback and questions. But please note: The law prohibits us from giving personalized advice. To contact Customer Service, call toll free Domestic/International: 1-888-208-6550, Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm ET, or email us here. © 2026 Omnia Research, LLC. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution of our content, in whole or in part, is prohibited without written permission from Omnia Research, LLC. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use