Stock Pick

Month: October 2022

  • Why is the Sayona Mining share price having such a rocky start to the week?

    A man jumps over a river, bouncing from one rock to another.A man jumps over a river, bouncing from one rock to another.

    The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) share price is off to a bad start to the month. Its shares are down 4.26% in late afternoon trade today.

    Shares in the lithium producer currently trade for 22.5 cents, but earlier touched an intraday low down 8.5%.

    While there’s no news today from the company to explain the sell-off, there’s some evidence to suggest it’s falling lower along with most of the market. Let’s investigate.

    Rising interest rates pose a threat

    We’re in uncertain times, and the market can’t seem to decide if it wants to trend up or down, thus leading to volatility in individual share prices. The market could be feeling antsy amid United States jobless claims numbers coming in lower than expected last week. It’s feared this will help the Federal Reserve to continue attempts to hammer down inflation through aggressive interest rate hikes.

    A knock-on effect of rising interest rates in the US is a stronger US dollar and more attractive yields from treasury bills, thus giving people another viable alternative to investing in shares.

    The other side to this is that as the US dollar becomes stronger, other countries may be tempted to hike their own interest rates to help keep their currencies competitive, which could spiral their economies into recession, as reported by Reuters.

    ASX shares and indices fall

    This uncertainty could be reflected in the behaviour of ASX shares on Monday.

    The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) is almost flat this afternoon at just a 0.13% gain. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also flatlining at a 0.13% loss.

    It’s worth mentioning that the ASX 200 hit a low of 6,411 a few minutes before midday. That’s a 0.97% loss from the index’s opening of 6,474, which suggests significant volatility.

    Some of Sayona Mining’s peers are also struggling on Monday. This includes Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS). These companies are down 3.62% and 0.66%, respectively.

    Sayona Mining share price snapshot

    The Sayona Mining share price is up around 75% year to date. Meanwhile, the ASX 200 is struggling at a 13% loss over the same period.

    The company’s market capitalisation is $1.95 billion.

    The post Why is the Sayona Mining share price having such a rocky start to the week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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  • Here’s how ASX tech shares fared in September

    A young woman with glasses holds a pencil to her lips as she is surrounded by the reflection of data as though she is being photographed through a glass screen project with digital data.A young woman with glasses holds a pencil to her lips as she is surrounded by the reflection of data as though she is being photographed through a glass screen project with digital data.

    It was another lousy month for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) as the benchmark index shed 7.3% to finish at 6,474 points.

    But as concerns over rising interest rates and inflation linger, it was no surprise to see ASX tech shares at the centre of the sell-off.

    The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) suffered a steep 11.5% fall, extending its loss to 35% in the year to date.

    Some ASX tech shares defied the weakness to punch higher while others languished at 52-week lows.

    Let’s check out the top risers and fallers from the ASX All Tech index in September.

    ASX tech share gainers

    The CogState Limited (ASX: CGS) share price went into overdrive in September, leaving other ASX tech shares in the dust. CogState shares rocketed 34.2% after one of the company’s partners announced positive clinical trial results for an experimental drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

    The next best performer was the Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price, which racked up a monthly gain of 7.3%. Curiously, the last piece of market-sensitive news from Megaport came on 9 August when the company released its FY22 results. However, Megaport could be benefitting from bullish broker sentiment from the likes of Macquarie and Goldman Sachs.

    The Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR) share price also made it onto the podium with a 6.6% rise across the month to finish at $1.30. It was a busy month for Tyro as it rejected a takeover offer at $1.27 per share, an offer that the board believes “significantly undervalues” the company. During the month, Tyro also named its new CEO. Jon Davey has been internally promoted to the top job, which he will start today.

    ASX tech share fallers

    While the bright spots were few and far between, it wasn’t hard to find major detractors in the ASX tech sector in September.

    Amongst the ASX All Tech index, the biggest laggard was the Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK) share price. Link shares were crunched by 33.5% across the month as the company’s $2.5 billion takeover deal with Dye & Durham finally collapsed.

    The Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) share price also had another month to forget, tumbling by 27.3% to finish at $1.76. This takes the company’s year-to-date fall to a harrowing 81%.

    There wasn’t any news from Novonix in September but as an early-stage, loss-making business, it’s more vulnerable to concerns around rising interest rates. The battery materials company handed in its FY22 results at the end of August, delivering revenue of $8.4 million and a net loss of $71.4 million.

    Finally, the Silex Systems Ltd (ASX: SLX) share price took a breather in September, retreating by 27.1%. With no real news from the company, it appears investors were taking profits off the table. Silex has been one of the standout performers on the ASX this year, doubling its share price amid the global energy crisis.

    The post Here’s how ASX tech shares fared in September appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has positions in Tyro Payments. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CogState Limited, Link Administration Holdings Ltd, MEGAPORT FPO, and Tyro Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended CogState Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO and Tyro Payments. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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  • Can Shiba Inu reach $1?

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    a cute young shiba inu dog smiles at the camera in a park setting.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    After a monster return in 2021, dog-inspired cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) has come crashing back to Earth. In 2022, SHIB, the native token, has lost 68% of its value (as of this writing). General weakness in the overall crypto market, coupled with more realistic expectations about this specific digital asset, are the reasons for the price drop. 

    After all this, Shiba Inu is still the 14th most valuable cryptocurrency, with a market value of $6.1 billion. But can it one day reach $1 per token from today’s $0.000011? Continue reading to find out if Shiba Inu can make its biggest supporters rich along the way. 

    What is Shiba Inu? 

    Seeing limitations in how Dogecoin was structured, the anonymous founder of Shiba Inu wanted to add greater functionality, so it was built on top of the Ethereum network. This makes it compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem, a strategy that was designed to draw more interest from developers and users in the crypto world. 

    Shiba Inu’s initial supply of 1 quadrillion tokens (that’s 15 zeroes) is absolutely mind-boggling. Half of this amount was sent to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who sold $1 billion worth to donate to India’s pandemic relief fund. Buterin then burned, or sent to a dead wallet, another 40% of the tokens. These moves helped bring Shiba Inu into the spotlight. 

    However, Shiba Inu has no real competitive advantage in the world of cryptocurrencies, and there are more promising projects like Ethereum and Cardano when it comes to use cases like decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens. These blockchains also have attracted much greater interest from speculators, users, and developers. This makes the possibility of Shiba Inu ever reaching $1 very unlikely. 

    Why a $1 price target is unlikely 

    There are three specific developments that could help push up SHIB’s price. Continuing to burn tokens, as Vitalik Buterin did, is one of these catalysts. The premise of this tactic is that reduced supply, coupled with higher demand, will boost SHIB’s price. I see this as nothing more than financial engineering. And with such a gargantuan supply of tokens, 549 trillion to be exact, a lot of burning would need to happen. 

    Another catalyst is the development of the network. A Layer-2 solution, known as Shibarium, is supposedly in the pipeline as a way to increase the functionality of the network while lowering transaction fees. Additionally, ShibaSwap 2.0, an upgraded decentralized exchange, and a Shiba Inu metaverse are in the works. The overarching goal is to bring on more users, which would support demand for SHIB and drive up its price. But again, these updates can’t compete with Ethereum’s dominance. 

    And lastly, like many meme-inspired cryptocurrencies, Shiba Inu’s price could receive a boost by way of another huge hype cycle on social media. This has propelled other cryptos, most notably Dogecoin, to prominence. But it isn’t something to bank one’s hard-earned savings on. Trying to predict a specific cryptocurrency’s price moves based on how much buzz it might get on the internet seems like an impossible task. 

    If Shiba Inu were ever to reach $1 per token, this would mean that the cryptocurrency network’s entire market value would be a whopping $549 trillion. That’s more than the amount of total global wealth, as estimated by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. Clearly, this aspirational price target is all but impossible.  

    Buying SHIB today would be akin to gambling, and therefore, it’s best for investors to stay away from this token. 

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    The post Can Shiba Inu reach $1? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Neil Patel has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia owns amnnd has recommended Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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  • Here were the 3 worst performing ASX lithium shares in September

    A man in a business suit hangs in mid air facing the floor as he plunges to the ground.A man in a business suit hangs in mid air facing the floor as he plunges to the ground.

    While some ASX lithium shares performed strongly in September, most of those with a market capitalisation of more than $100 million ended in the red.

    Out of the 28 lithium shares we compared to create this list, only six of them reported positive movements in their share prices, with the rest either recording a loss or a neutral price movement.

    As could be expected, some companies reported greater losses than others.

    So let’s cover September’s biggest losers in the lithium space.

    Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX: NVA)

    The biggest loser for the month of September was Nova Minerals, which recorded a 31.38% decline in its share. While primarily a gold explorer, Nova Minerals also has a 37% stake in Snow Lake Resources Ltd (NASDAQ: LITM), a company that’s exploring lithium at the Thompson Brothers Lithium Project in Manitoba, Canada.

    Shares opened for 94 cents on 1 September and closed for 65 cents at the end of the month.

    This may surprise those who follow the company, as Nova Minerals reported largely positive results in its annual report for FY22 on 20 September. One highlight for the financial year is that its total comprehensive income grew to $38.09 million, which is up from a $4.3 million loss in the previous corresponding period.

    The company also posted a positive update for its lithium business to the market on 16 September. A resource upgrade was issued for Snow Lake Resources amid drilling of 20,000 additional metres. This drilling effort reportedly “accelerates Snow Lake’s path towards commercial production”.

    Snow Lake is pursuing plans to make its lithium extraction site the world’s first renewable energy-powered electric mine.

    Lepidico Ltd (ASX: LPD)

    Shares of Lepidico also had an atrocious month in September as they lost 26.66% of their value. The Lepidico share price opened at 0.03 cents on 1 September. It closed at 0.022 cents at the end of the month.

    The miner’s shares were sold off following the company reporting a total comprehensive loss of $7.78 million for FY22 on 23 September.

    Other updates for the company included drill results from its Helikon 4 pegmatite at its Karibib project in Namibia. Assay results from the drilling effort uncovered high yields of lithium oxide.

    The release also stated that front-end engineering and design (FEED) for its Phase 1 chemical plant is due to complete in November 2022.

    Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE)

    Finally, the Lake Resources share price dropped 21.49% in September. Shares opened for $1.14 on 1 September and closed at 90 cents each at month close.

    A large part of the sell-off unfolded over the course of a week. The company lost 17% during this time.

    The miner has been contending with interest from short sellers. Its short interest ratio shot up to 9.9% on 26 September.

    As the Fool reported earlier, J Capital believes that its lithium extraction technology is unproven and could generate toxic waste as part of the production process. Lake Resources denies these claims. Though this commentary by J Capital has seemingly done nothing to improve the sentiment around Lake Resources’ shares.

    On a greater level, ASX lithium shares could be feeling the pinch of rising interest rates, which has led to more volatility than usual in the market over the past couple of weeks.

    The post Here were the 3 worst performing ASX lithium shares in September appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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  • 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares defying today’s sell-off to surge higher

    A graphic showing a businessman running up a white upwards rising arrow symbolising the soaring Magellan share price todayA graphic showing a businessman running up a white upwards rising arrow symbolising the soaring Magellan share price today

    The All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is 0.48% in the red today, but three ASX All Ordinaries shares are surging higher.

    Energy Resources of Australia Limited (ASX: ERA), Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX: URW) and Beacon Lighting Group Ltd (ASX: BLX) shares are all in the green.

    Let’s take a look at why these three shares are rising.

    Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

    Unibail shares are soaring nearly 6% today. The company advised it has appointed Audrey Arnoux as Group Director of Investor Relations. Arnoux will work with the company and local teams to develop and expand relationships with investors and financial analysts.

    Commenting on the news, Chief financial officer Fabrice Mouchel said:

    I am excited to welcome Audrey to lead our Investor Relations function. Her significant capital markets and investor relations experience will be a tremendous asset for URW and I look forward to working with her to further strengthen our relationships with the financial
    community

    Energy Resources

    Energy Resources shares are surging 7% today. The company produces uranium from the Ranger Mine in the Northern Territory. Energy Resources advised that chairman Peter Mansell and independent non-executive directors Paul Dowd and Shane Charles are intending to resign from the board of the company.

    Rio Tinto had called for Mansell to resign to allow for board renewal. Rio Tinto is the majority shareholder of Energy Resources.

    Energy Resources also provided a table responding to recent media reporting.

    Beacon Lighting

    Beacon Lighting shares are lifting 5.7% today. This is despite no news out of the company. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary is down 0.19% today.

    Beacon is an ASX consumer share selling lighting, globes and ceiling fans. Beacon’s gross profit margin lifted to 69.1% in FY22. The company recorded record sales of $304.3 million and a record EBITDA of $92.7 million. Beacon is planning to open five new stores in FY23.

    Sales in the USA lifted 51.9% in FY22. In recent news, data from the USA shows spending increased 0.4% in the month of August in the USA, CNBC reported.

    The post 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares defying today’s sell-off to surge higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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  • Is now the time to buy Ethereum after The Merge?

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    Two people in business attire jump high above a city as if to join hands and merge.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    The Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary stance in 2022 has caused investors to reassess their appetite for risk, leading to a plunge in the most speculative assets out there, a category that cryptocurrencies undoubtedly belong in. 

    Even the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), hasn’t been immune to the general market’s weakness. The popular crypto is down 64% this year (as of this writing), but a recent catalyst could drive investor interest to new heights. 

    With The Merge now complete, is this a good time to buy Ethereum? Let’s take a closer look. 

    Changing the consensus mechanism 

    For its entire history (up until a couple of weeks ago), Ethereum operated what is called a proof-of-work (PoW) system. This requires so-called miners to use massive amounts of electricity to power computers to solve complex math problems, earning the right to validate new transactions on the blockchain. Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, operates with PoW. 

    Detractors point to the fact that PoW is energy-intensive and not really scalable. Bitcoin uses the same amount of energy as a small country. Furthermore, it can only process three transactions per second (TPS). 

    As a result of these perceived limitations, developers have transitioned Ethereum to run on a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. PoS allows token owners to lock up, or stake, their ether tokens to help validate new transactions and secure the network. Moving to proof-of-stake was seven years in the making, so its long-awaited completion demonstrates exactly how complex and groundbreaking the move was. 

    According to its official website, Ethereum’s energy use has now been cut by 99.95%, a statistic that is sure to please environmentalists in both the government and the crypto community. Additionally, moving to PoS paves the way for Ethereum’s network to implement sharding in 2023, an update that will split and distribute the network load across side blockchains. Think of it like adding more lanes to a highway. The result is a huge potential increase in throughput to the tune of 100,000 TPS. 

    However, a valid argument can now be made that PoS makes Ethereum’s network more centralized, as it is estimated that 43% of all staked Ethereum is held by two entities right now — crypto exchange Coinbase and Lido DAO, a decentralized staking solution designed for Ethereum. This could lead to problems down the road that are at odds with the core tenet of decentralization that blockchain technology promises. For example, Coinbase and Lido could have undue influence over Ethereum in the future, affecting things like transaction approvals and governance strategies. 

    Nonetheless, Ethereum is now in a position to scale better thanks to its switch to PoS. And this could lead to even greater adoption with the continued popularity of decentralized applications such as decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and non-fungible tokens. 

    Investors should weigh the options 

    Of the cryptocurrency networks out there that incorporate smart contracts, Ethereum is the most attractive for investors because of its deep developer ecosystem. According to venture capital firm Electric Capital, Ethereum had the most developers working on it at the start of the year. And with sharding on the horizon in 2023, it’s not hard to see even more developers flocking to work on advancing Ethereum. 

    Other popular cryptos that have already been operating a PoS system are Cardano and Solana. Both of these have their own special characteristics that investors could find appealing. Cardano is known for having a deliberate, calculated, and research-based development process. And Solana, with the theoretical capacity to process 50,000 TPS, could disrupt the payments industry. 

    Therefore, investors are presented with the option of buying a basket of these interesting cryptocurrencies, all with their own unique attributes and potential use cases, or perhaps putting their entire crypto allocation into Ethereum. Experts believe that it’s too early to tell what the exact implications of The Merge will be, but it certainly could prove to be a long-term catalyst that drives the price of Ethereum higher over time. 

    With Ethereum’s price down 25% over the past couple of weeks, investors who have been on the sidelines might want to jump in and buy some of this top cryptocurrency. 

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    The post Is now the time to buy Ethereum after The Merge? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Neil Patel has positions in Coinbase Global, Inc. and Ethereum.  The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin, Coinbase Global, Inc., Ethereum, Lido DAO, and Solana. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin, Coinbase Global, Inc., Ethereum and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.



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  • Why is the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF lagging the market on Monday?

    A woman puts up her hands and looks confused while sitting at her computer.A woman puts up her hands and looks confused while sitting at her computer.

    The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is see-sawing today in what’s been a rather quiet day on the ASX as many states enjoy a public holiday.

    After climbing by as much as 0.5% in morning trade, the ASX 200 has since given back these gains. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has slipped 0.12% to sit at 6,466 points.

    The S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) is more or less mirroring its larger index counterpart with a 0.17% fall.

    But the same can’t be said for the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS). The VAS ETF aims to track the ASX 300 index, but it’s currently sporting a 1.5% decline.

    Why is the Vanguard Australian ETF sliding today?

    This underperformance can be explained by VAS going ex-dividend today.

    Just like many ASX shares, the VAS ETF pays out dividends (also known as distributions) to investors.

    After all, the VAS ETF provides exposure to companies in the ASX 300 index, and many of these companies pay dividends. So, the fund collects these dividends on behalf of investors and returns them on a quarterly basis.

    Last week, Vanguard announced estimated distributions for its various ASX ETFs for the September quarter.

    The cut-off date for these distributions is today, so any investors buying units in the VAS ETF won’t be eligible for the upcoming payments.

    As a result, the VAS ETF is falling disproportionately to the market today as the value of the distribution leaves its unit price.

    What’s the latest on the VAS ETF dividend?

    This morning, Vanguard announced updated estimated distribution amounts for its funds.

    As it stands, the VAS ETF is set to pay a distribution of 145.0577 cents to investors on 18 October. Investors wishing to participate in Vanguard’s distribution reinvestment plan (DRP) must elect to do so by 5pm tomorrow.

    This latest distribution is slightly higher than VAS’ payment in last year’s September quarter, which came in at 140.7340 cents.

    Including this latest distribution, the VAS ETF has declared total distributions of roughly $6.30 over the last 12 months. 

    With units in VAS last changing hands at $80.40, this represents a trailing dividend yield of 7.8%. 

    However, it’s important to note that this yield reflects what’s happened in the past. And as we’re often reminded, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

    Dividends from ASX shares can swing wildly in any given year. And since the VAS ETF is exposed to around 300 of these shares, the swings in its distributions tend to be more pronounced. 

    The VAS ETF has backpedalled by 16.14% in the year to date. In comparison, the ASX 300 index is showing a 13.53% fall.

    The post Why is the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF lagging the market on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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  • Is it possible the Pilbara Minerals share price has topped out?

    A kid stretches up to reach the top of the ruler drawn on the wall behind.A kid stretches up to reach the top of the ruler drawn on the wall behind.

    The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price has been running hot over some important timeframes, including beating the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) by a significant margin over the past year.

    Shares of the company are up:

    • 38.75% year to date
    • 128.87% over the past year, and
    • 124.94% versus the materials sector over the past year

    When shares rise quickly like this, some investors fear that they could be overvalued. This can cause some hesitancy for investors to buy them over the short term.

    The Jefferies Group investment bank has taken a stab recently to answer the question of whether Pilbara’s shares have topped out in an article posted by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) last Thursday.

    Let’s cover what the broker said.

    Pilbara could have additional upside

    Pilbara’s shares were rated as hold by Jefferies Group. Contrary to what some believe, a hold rating doesn’t necessarily mean that its shares are expected to flatline for the projected period. Instead, a hold rating generally means a company’s shares are expected to perform in step with companies in its peer universe. And with ASX lithium shares expected to rise across the board, Pilbara’s shares are also expected to lift higher.

    This is further reflected in the fact that Jefferies gave Pilbara’s shares a price target of $4.75 each. That’s an appreciable upside of 7.4% at the time of writing.

    Earlier this month, Macquarie gave Pilbara’s shares a price target of $5.60, representing a sizable upside of 26.6%. My Fool colleague James notes that analysts were impressed with its most recent battery material exchange auction results, receiving its highest ever bid of US$6,988 per dmt in September.

    So with these recent ratings in mind, it appears that Pilbara’s shares could continue to rally to new heights, and might not have hit their ceiling just yet.

    Pilbara share price snapshot

    The Pilbara share price is down 2.96% this Monday afternoon.

    Shares of the lithium producer currently trade for $4.43. Earlier today, shares made an intraday high of $4.59 and a low of $4.37.

    The Pilbara share price is up 38.28% year to date.

    Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 13.05% over the same period

    The company’s market capitalisation is around 13.61 billion.

    The post Is it possible the Pilbara Minerals share price has topped out? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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  • These were the 3 best performing ASX lithium shares in September

    Three happy miners standing with arms crossed at a quarry.Three happy miners standing with arms crossed at a quarry.

    ASX lithium shares have been in the spotlight extensively over September, but which shares performed the best?

    In this post, we’ve rounded up the three best performers for the month of September, with the prerequisite that they are traded on the ASX and have a market capitalisation of at least $100 million.

    Let’s cover which ASX lithium shares beat their peers over the last month.

    Global Lithium Resources Ltd (ASX: GL1)

    Global Lithium was the biggest winner in September, gaining 26.31%. Shares opened for $1.71 on 1 September and closed for $2.16 at the end of the month.

    Several developments helped keep Global Lithium’s share price buoyant, including signing a memorandum of understanding with battery manufacturer SK On Co on 29 September. My Fool colleague James notes that the memorandum will see the companies cooperate on developing downstream integrated battery-grade lithium assets, among other ventures.

    Earlier in the month, the company gave a project update for its Marble Bar Lithium Project in Western Australia. High yields of lithium spodumene concentrate were announced at the site with high lithium recoveries.

    Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

    Pilbara takes the silver medal for September, with its shares increasing 25.27% for the month. Shares opened for $3.64 on 1 September and ended at $4.56 when the month finished.

    One standout development for Pilbara was the result of its lithium auction posted on 21 September. When the Fool reported the news, the company’s shares made a new all-time high of $5.03.

    The company also received a record bid from the auction of US$6,988 per dmt. That’s up from the previous bids of US$6,188 per dmt in July and US$6,350 per dmt in August of this year.

    Pilbara also received some positive coverage from brokers throughout the month. This included Wilsons making positive statements about the company on 26 September.

    Wilsons is bullish on the expectations of Pilbara’s production increasing in the future, stating:

    Spodumene production is expected to increase to ~1 million tonnes by FY28, up from 360 kilo tonnes in FY22.

    Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY)

    And finally, there’s Argosy Minerals, whose shares increased 24.69% in September. Shares opened for $0.405 on 1 September and closed for $0.505 at the end of the month.

    Like other ASX lithium shares on this list, Argosy also had some positive developments to help end September with a substantial share price gain. This included an update for its Rincon Lithium Project in Argentina on 23 September. One highlight is that its rotary drilling program progressed better than expected, drilling to 350 metres at its PRP-03 production well and 253 metres at its PRP-04 well.

    And on 13 September, the company was included in a roundup post of companies that engage in the production of graphite, which goes hand in hand with the demand for lithium as a critical element in the creation of batteries for electric vehicles, among other uses.

    Argosy has a graphite project in Namibia, and production of the material is currently pending further review from the company while it considers funding opportunities.

    How did other ASX lithium shares perform?

    Below is a table of ASX lithium shares with a market cap of at least $100 million and their share price performance in September.

    Ticker September % change
    RIO -0.27
    PLS 25.27
    MIN 4.64
    AKE 0.00
    LTR -12.35
    SYA -18.96
    CXO -20.21
    DEG 9.47
    INR -1.55
    LKE -21.49
    VUL -9.31
    AGY 24.69
    NMT -18.47
    PLL -5.61
    GLN -7.36
    GL1 28.65
    ASN -18.05
    LPI -14.28
    LRS -19.99
    LPD -23.33
    POS -11.76
    AVL -26.08
    JRL -8.98
    1MC -16.00
    NVA -31.38
    ESS 2.22
    DEV -26.19
    EUR -9.41

    Below is a chart of this data in the table above.

    The post These were the 3 best performing ASX lithium shares in September appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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  • One of the smartest investors says buy the dip on Bitcoin

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    Something as simple as coffee could be paid for using cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    As her firm’s flagship fund, the ARK Innovation ETF, surged 148.7% during 2020, Cathie Wood rose to prominence as a widely followed voice in the investment community. Bets on major pandemic winners like Block, Teladoc, and Zoom paid off well but have since cooled off as a result of the current uncertain macroeconomic situation. Nonetheless, people pay a great deal of attention to what Wood says about stocks and investments. 

    The renowned investor, whose firm focuses on disruptive and innovative companies, recently reiterated her bullishness on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) in particular. And investors should take notice. 

    As bullish as ever 

    At the recent SALT Conference in New York, where investment professionals and policy makers get together to discuss a host of topics like alternative investments, healthcare, and sustainability, Cathie Wood spoke on stage about her belief in the promise of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. And to be specific, she cited Bitcoin as a huge winner over the rest of the decade, once again expressing more confidence in her belief in the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency.   

    Wood also talked about how Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have started to behave more like growth tech stocks as a result of investors putting them all in the same bucket of risky assets. And the aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, to curb soaring inflation, has put downward pressure on their valuations. 

    Bitcoin’s price drop of 59% in 2022 (as of this writing) might one day prove to be an extremely favorable buying opportunity for long-term investors, Wood believes. 

    Bitcoin has massive upside 

    Earlier this year, Ark Invest laid out the bullish case for Bitcoin in its Big Ideas 2022 report, which Wood spoke about at the SALT conference. The firm believes, according to its analysis, that Bitcoin’s price could exceed $1 million per coin by 2030. That’s quite a lofty target, but it hinges on Bitcoin achieving a certain level of penetration in eight different use-cases.  

    If Bitcoin’s network captures half of the global remittance market, that’s $300 billion in value. If Bitcoin commands 10% of the money supply in emerging economies (excluding the four biggest countries) by 2030, that’s $2.8 trillion. And if 25% of settlement volume between U.S. banks shifts to Bitcoin, that would create another $3.8 trillion in value. 

    Besides these three instances of actual utility, Ark sees Bitcoin becoming a mainstream asset for government treasury reserves, high-net-worth individuals, institutional investors, and corporate balance sheets at minor allocations. What’s more, Wood’s firm sees Bitcoin taking 50% of gold’s market cap by 2030. Add these scenarios up, and that’s another $21.6 trillion in value accruing to the Bitcoin network. 

    Based on the crypto’s market cap of $375 billion as of this writing, Ark’s target valuation of $28.5 trillion would equal a more than 70-fold gain between now and the end of the decade. This incredible hypothetical performance would without a doubt beat the S&P 500‘s total return during the same time, and it would make those investors who closely follow Cathie Wood’s words rich.   

    But putting your entire portfolio into Bitcoin would be a risky move, because the technology is still early in its adoption and development. Plus, it’s incredibly volatile. Therefore, it’s best to allocate to Bitcoin what you can afford to lose, say no more than 3% of your portfolio. By keeping the allocation that low, it will help investors sleep better at night. And if Bitcoin skyrockets, it will certainly have a major positive impact on the financial well-being of those who were bold enough to buy and hold over the years.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    The post One of the smartest investors says buy the dip on Bitcoin appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Neil Patel has positions in Bitcoin, Block, Inc., and Teladoc Health. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin, Block, Inc., Teladoc Health, and Zoom Video Communications. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Zoom Video Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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