As most of us would be aware of by now, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (INDEXASX: XJO) had a fairly nasty market crash this year. Between 20 February and 23 March, the ASX 200 fell by more than 36%. It was the worst ASX crash since the global financial crisis and the fastest fall for the ASX 200 in history.

But since then, ASX 200 shares have rebounded strongly. Since 23 March, the ASX 200 has risen more than 30% and is now sitting 12.5% below where it started the year.

Now, before the March crash, there were a lot of investors (myself included) who thought ASX shares may have run away somewhat and entered ‘overvalued’ territory. The obvious solution to this problem was to stack cash in anticipation of lower share prices in the future.

But the March crash was so rapid that it took many investors (again, myself included) off guard. I managed to buy some ASX shares for some great prices, but in hindsight, I wasn’t able to take advantage of the situation as much as I would have liked to.

So that leads me to the question: should we always wait for a crash to buy a decent amount of shares? Or is this a fool’s game (and not the good kind of Fool).

Should we wait for an ASX 200 market crash?

In theory, it’s optimal to buy shares at the cheapest prices you can. In practice, none of us knows when this will occur. If you missed the bottom of the market during the crash in 2008–09, you would have had to wait until March 2020 for another real crash to take advantage of. That’s 11 long years to wait and a lot of gains to miss out on.

So what is an investor to do? Well, you can always have a foot in both camps; black and blue. I personally like to keep between 10-30% of my portfolio in cash at all times. If I get to the 30% threshold, I’ll usually start dollar-cost averaging into ASX shares until the 30% level is reached again or there is a significant buying opportunity (like we saw in March). If I don’t get to 30% I’ll just keep piling up cash and dividends until I do.

Now, everyone will have a different way of addressing this problem. You may like my way or find your own way better for your particular temperament. But, as long as you have a strategy that won’t leave you wanting something you don’t have if, and when, the markets do crash, you’ll be just fine.

More reading

• ASX 200 finishes higher, Afterpay hits new record
• The latest ASX 200 stocks to be slapped with a broker downgrade
• 3 ASX shares I’d buy if the market crashes again
• Is the share market facing another February 2020 moment?
• Can the Newcrest share price crest to new highs?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by another 0.2% today to 5,966 points.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price hits a new record

The Afterpay share price briefly soared above $62 this morning. It ended the day up 0.5%, finishing at around $59.50.

UK growth was the cause of the share price jump. Clearpay is the name of UK business.

Clearpay has seen customer purchasing frequency in the UK outpacing US customer purchasing frequency at the same stage of the lifecycle. UK customers are transacting more than eight times within the first year compared to US customers which purchase six times during the first year.

More than 1,100 brands and retailers are offering Clearpay, or are in the process of offering Clearpay, to their customers.

Some of the recent brands added to Clearpay are: Elemis, Bare Minerals, ISAWITFIRST, Apricot, Size, Koibird and Sana Jardin. Existing brands utilising Clearpay are ASOS, M&S, JD Sports and Boohoo.

In May 2020, Clearpay had more than 3 million app and site visits. Clearpay’s shop directory contributed over 1.5 million lead referrals to its retail partners. This represents an increase of 40% to 50% of the weekly run rate from January and February.

The ASX 200 buy now, pay later business has been on a strong run since March 2020. The Afterpay share price has gone up 567% in that time.

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) reintroduces purchasing limits

There has been increased supermarket buying again in Victoria as fears mount about COVID-19 spreading.

Can you guess what one of the products in high demand is? That’s right, toilet paper.

Other items to have purchasing limits include hand sanitiser, flour, sugar, eggs and rice.

But Victoria’s chief health officer and Woolworths have said there isn’t any need to panic buy.

CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) trading update

CSR held its AGM update today and gave an update.

For the first 11 weeks of FY21 the building products division has seen Australian revenue fall 3%. Including the impact of New Zealand COVID-19 restrictions, the decline is 5%.

Projects which started prior to COVID-19 continue to support the revenue. However, current lead indicators such as new home sales in Australia during April and May are down 19% compared to the same period last year. Lower activity is expected later in the year.

In the property division, the first tranche of the Horsley Park transaction remains on track to deliver $80 million in proceeds and $53 million in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in the second half of this year.

DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS) announces property sale

Dexus has announced the sale of 45 Clarence Street, Sydney for $530 million. This sale price matches the property’s book value at 31 December 2019.

It’s a 28-level officer tower with 32,000 square metres located in the western corridor of Sydney’s financial district. At 31 December 2019 the property was 100% occupied and had a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 3.3 years.

The ASX 200 property business decided to sell the building after receiving an off-market, unsolicited offer from Peakstone – a Singapore headquartered manager.

Dexus intends to initially repay debt with the money. But it could enable Dexus to recycle capital into higher returning opportunities which could become more prevalent over the coming period.

Freedom Foods Group Ltd (ASX: FNP) share price drops, goes into trading halt

The Freedom Foods share price has fallen 14.5% today. Today the food business announced that the managing director and CEO, Mr Rory Macleod, is on leave pending another announcement that’s expected to be made early next week.

Yesterday the market learned that the ASX 200 share’s chief financial officer and company secretary, Mr Campbell, Nicholas had resigned.

This afternoon Freedom Foods went into a trading halt pending an announcement about its financial performance. The trading halt will remain in place until the morning of 26 June 2020.

More reading

• Should you wait for another market crash to invest in ASX shares?
• 3 ASX payments shares that could double your money
• The latest ASX 200 stocks to be slapped with a broker downgrade
• Australian businesses are running out of cash
• 3 ASX shares I’d buy if the market crashes again

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Freedom Foods Group Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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The Bellevue Gold Ltd (ASX: BGL) share price hit record highs today. The $1.22 share price comes after an update on its Western Australia metallurgical tests. 

The test results

The company revealed what it called “exceptionally strong results” from metallurgical tests. These included overall gravity and leach recoveries from all lodes averaging 97.8%. The gravity-only component from all lodes saw results ranging from 73.6% to 91.7%. 

The announcement read:

The testwork confirmed that the Bellevue lodes are exceptional in respect to extracting gold using conventional gravity and CIL processing flowsheets. The testwork is also in line with original production at the Bellevue Lode between 1988-1996, which reportedly averaged ~96% recovery from the gravity and CIL circuits.

Bellvue also completed geotechnical, visual inspections and test work programs to prepare for underground re-entry of the WA site. According to the company, testwork revealed favourable conditions for standard ground support requirements. Tender reviews assisted in preparation for underground rehabilitation and development requirements.

The company announced that it had appointed industry-recognised mining consultant, Entech as study manager to advance the project.

According to the company; “Bellevue is also pleased to advise that it has made significant progress on several fronts as part of its preparation for development.”

Strong results across the board at Bellevue

A 10,000-metre regional discovery drilling also commenced along the highly-prospective 20km Bellevue mineralised corridor.

Bellevue Managing Director Steve Parsons said, “We have established a 2.2Moz resource at 11.3gpt, we have just hit high-grade gold 7km away from the resource and we are now finalising a maiden indicated resource,

These exceptional recovery rates, combined with the economic studies and other preparations underway, will position us to develop a project in a Tier One location with very high grades and a host of other extremely attractive features.

“All work that has been conducted on the underground infrastructure, points to a very low level of capital intensity for mechanised re-entry which is an amazing result given underground entry has not occurred in over 23 years. The 3D LIDAR survey highlights the competency of the surrounding ground conditions.

The company reported the dewatering program would allow it to drill underground in Q4 of 2020.

The Bellevue Gold share price

The Bellevue Gold share price is up 13% on Wednesday to $1.22 at the time of writing. It has recovered 325% from its 52-week low of 28 cents with its WA project news likely coming into play. The share price is up 118.5% year to date. 

More reading

• Why I think Bellevue shares are ‘gold’ for your portfolio
• Gold mining shares – these are the facts and myths
• ASX winners and losers from last week
• My share investing journey during the pandemic
• High gold price a boon for Silver Lake after latest drilling results

Motley Fool contributor Chris Chitty has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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