The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having another day in the green. After posting a solid day of gains yesterday (2.9%), the ASX 200 initially fell this morning on open before recovering and moving ever higher. At the time of writing, it’s sitting at 5,781 points – an impressive 27% above the lows we saw in March.

But with the coronavirus pandemic still wreaking havoc across the economy, many investors are starting to fear another market downturn after such a spectacular return to form for the ASX 200.

So if another market crash does hit the ASX, how should we as investors react? More importantly, which ASX 200 shares should we sell?

The first thing that might come to mind are cyclical shares – those companies that tend to outperform in good times but underperform in bad.

These include financials shares like the ASX banks and asset managers such as Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) or energy stocks like Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL). Organisations involved in the construction industry also tend to be cyclical. These include companies such as Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) and Boral Limited (ASX: BLD).

If the markets get choppy, should these companies be on your chopping block?

Should you sell ASX 200 shares in a market crash?

Well, here’s where people can be misled by emotion or a false idea of what successful investing is all about. I don’t think any company should be sold in a market crash on the grounds that you might lose money in the short-term.

Owning shares means owning shares of businesses, real businesses. These businesses operate within our economy, which is itself a very cyclical environment.  

If you are happy owning a company (be it a financial, energy or construction company) during good times, then you should be happy owning it through all economic climates. If you’re not, then perhaps you shouldn’t have bought in the first place.

One of the greatest investors of all time, Warren Buffett, still owns some shares that he bought 40 or 50 years ago. He once said his favourite time to sell is never.

That’s the kind of attitude I think all investors should have.

Yes, by all means, sell a company if you’re not happy with the decisions it’s making or if it can’t execute on its growth plans. Sell a company if is failing and you think it will continue to fail or if its values no longer align with your own. But the time to do this is not in the middle of a market crash – when irrational panic is driving market pricing.

Just remember that old phrase about fixing a leaky roof when the sun is shining!

More reading

• New to investing? Put $500 into these top ASX 200 shares
• Top broker says this ASX stock is a better buy than Afterpay
• After hitting $50, the Afterpay share price has pulled back. Is it good value?
• The ASX 200 stock hit by the Brazilian COVID-19 wave
• ASX 200 up 0.1%: Big four banks rocket, Afterpay sinks lower

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks. 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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Earlier today I looked at a few shares which have shaken off pandemic concerns and surged to record highs this week.

Unfortunately, not all shares have been so fortunate. A number are still trading materially lower than their 52-week highs.

For example, the two shares below are down very heavily from their highs. Here’s why I think they could be bargain buys:

Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

The Aristocrat Leisure share price has risen strongly this month but is still trading 30% lower than its 52-week high. Investors have been selling the gaming technology company’s shares because of the closure of casinos globally during the pandemic.

While these closures have been a blow, it is worth noting that it has given its lucrative digital business a huge lift. The company has millions of daily active users playing its games and generating significant recurring revenues. And with casinos now reopening, I expect demand for its poker machines will start to rebound. Overall, I feel it is well-positioned for solid long term growth once the crisis passes.

Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX: JIN)

The Jumbo share price has lost 56% of its value since peaking at $27.92 in October. The catalyst for this disappointing pullback was a surprise slowdown in the online lottery ticket seller’s earnings growth in FY 2020. After years of explosive growth, this year’s earnings are only expected grow at a reasonably modest rate due to a step change in expenses to support the increase in scale of the business and planned future growth.

However, I believe investors should look beyond this and focus on the future. These investments are expected to play a key role in the company achieving its “billion-dollar vision.” This will see the company grow its business to the point that it is processing $1 billion of tickets on the Jumbo software platform by 2022. This will be a significant lift on FY 2020’s expected ticket sales and should drive strong earnings growth over the coming years.

More reading

• 2 ASX growth stocks that could become 10-baggers in the next decade
• 3 outstanding ASX growth shares to invest $3,000 into today
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• Why didn’t Warren Buffett buy more shares in the recent bear market?
• 5 ASX 200 10-bagger shares of the decade

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Jumbo Interactive 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 Spirit Telecom Ltd (ASX: ST1) share price is storming higher today on the back of a new NBN service launch. After being up by as much as 10% throughout the day, Spirit Telecom shares are currently changing hands at 21 cents per share at the time of writing – up 5%.

About Spirit Telecom

Spirit Telecom considers itself a disruptor in the IT&T (information technology and telecommunication) industry. The company has developed its own advanced fixed wireless network, through which it provides Australians with ‘Sky-Speed Internet’. This super-fast internet ranges from 25 megabits per second (Mbps) to 500Mbps for homes and 25Mbps to 1 gigabit per second for businesses.

Along with providing internet access, Spirit Telecom offers a full range of managed IT services and cloud-based business solutions. It also offers internet products from Opticomm, NBN, DGTek, FG Telecom, Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC), and TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM).

What’s behind Spirit Telecom’s share price rise?

This morning, Spirit announced the launch of its NBN Enterprise Ethernet (NBN EE) range to resellers and direct customers via its sales platforms.

NBN EE is an enterprise-grade fibre service which, according to Spirit, offers superior performance to that of legacy internet products. Through the company’s Spirit X platform, Australia’s largest digital aggregator of business internet products, NBN EE can reach in the vicinity of 2 million businesses.

This new offering expands the market opportunity for Spirit X across Australia. The platform could previously service around 100,000 addresses with fibre internet products. Now it will be able to provide symmetrical data connections across a national footprint.

As a result, the company expects further organic growth for Spirit X as cross-selling opportunities emerge. Additionally, it has plans to move the platform from a data platform to a marketplace in FY21, offering cloud services, IT support and security. This shift will be another potential driver of growth. 

Commenting on the new service launch, managing director Sol Lukatsky said:

“The launch of the NBN Enterprise Ethernet product moves Spirit into a new phase of growth. Additionally, the Spirit X product range is being promoted via our first national marketing campaign. Spirit X has already generated over 6200 service qualifications and leads in a few months. With the ability to service a much larger number of businesses, Spirit can drive greater awareness of the platform and continue to fill the demand for bundled, high-speed internet links and IT services in one offering.”

More reading

• These beaten down ASX shares could be bargain buys
• After hitting $50, the Afterpay share price has pulled back. Is it good value?
• 2 outstanding ASX 50 shares to buy today
• Pro-Pac Packaging share price jumps 14% on COVID-19 trading update
• Should you ever buy into an ASX IPO?

Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended SPIRIT TC FPO. 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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