In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is being weighed down by profit taking in the banking sector. At the time of writing the benchmark index is down 1% to 5,792.5 points.

Four shares which have not let that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are charging higher:

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is up almost 2.5% to $47.15. Investors appear to be taking advantage of a pullback in the payments company’s share price on Thursday to top up their positions. Profit taking led to Afterpay’s shares sliding around 7% yesterday.

The Austal Limited (ASX: ASB) share price is up over 5% to $3.20 after upgrading its revenue and earnings guidance. This morning the shipbuilder advised that its FY 2020 revenue will hit ~$2 billion, while its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) will be “no less than $125 million”. As a comparison, the company was previously expecting revenue of at least $1.9 billion and EBIT of no less than $110 million.

The Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has jumped 7% to a record high of $11.32. This is despite there being no news out of the ecommerce company on Friday. However, its shares have been on a tear this month after it revealed very strong sales and profit growth during the pandemic. Investors appear optimistic that the crisis has accelerated the structural shift to online shopping.

The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price has surged 7.5% higher to $14.78. Investors have been buying the gold miners today after the price of the precious metal rebounded overnight. This was driven by escalating tensions between the United States and China. It isn’t just Northern Star rising strongly. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is up a solid 3.2% at the time of writing.

More reading

• ASX 200 down 1.2%: Westpac tumbles, Appen reaffirms guidance, Costa CEO to retire
• The best performing ASX 200 stock today may have more room to climb
• 10 quality ASX shares to buy in June
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 4 ASX fintech shares to make you rich

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 Austal Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T 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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Investing your first $1,000 into the share market is a very exciting event in anyone’s life. But it can also be nerve-racking. Where to put it? There are literally thousands of investments to choose from, just on the ASX alone.

That’s why I’ve found 2 ASX shares that I would be very happy to recommend to a beginner with their first $1,000 to spend. Both shares can be bought and held with very little active management or effort, which I think is a perfect arrangement for anyone wanting to dip their toes into ASX shares for the first time.

Magellan High Conviction Trust (ASX: MHH)

This share is actually a listed investment trust (LIT), which is a collection of underlying shares that is managed on investors’ behalf. In this way, I think it’s a great option for a beginner’s first $1,000 investment. Magellan High Conviction Trust aims to amass a concentrated portfolio of 8–12 of the shares that Magellan’s management team views as the ‘best in the world’. These currently include well-known names like Google-owner Alphabet, Microsoft, Visa and Alibaba.

These companies are world-class and have a truly global presence. As such, I think this is a great investment for your first $1,000 – or for any investor, in truth. MHH also aims to pay out a 3% cash distribution each year, which can either be taken in cash as some passive income, or else re-invested for a discount.

VanEck Australian Equal Weight ETF (ASX: MVW)

One of the criticisms I hear most of your typical S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is regarding their high concentration towards ASX banks and miners.

Whilst this is true of a conventional ASX 200 ETF, this fund from VanEck operates a little differently. That’s because it assigns each company in the ASX 200 an equal investment, rather than giving larger companies a bigger slice of the pie. As such, your larger shares like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) get the same slice of this ETF as your smaller companies like WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC).

Since this ETF’s inception in 2014, it has comfortably outperformed the ASX 200 index, so that’s enough validation for your first $1,000 investment in itself, in my view.

As such, I think this equal-weighted ETF is a great choice for any beginner investor, who wants an equally cut ‘slice of Australia’. Again, it’s managed entirely on your behalf – meaning you can just ‘set and forget’ it if you so wish.

More reading

• 3 cheap ASX 200 shares I’d buy today
• ASX 200 down 1.2%: Westpac tumbles, Appen reaffirms guidance, Costa CEO to retire
• Will the Wesfarmers share price climb higher in 2020?
• 2 ASX 200 tech shares I’d like to buy today
• Why I think the CSL share price is a strong buy today

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Magellan High Conviction Trust, and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares). 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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Investors in the share market can be sent into a flurry of worry by geopolitical events. Should you worry about them when it comes to investing?

There is growing concern about what’s happening with the two superpowers of the world, China and the US.

Western countries aren’t happy with how things are going in Hong Kong with a new security law passed by China. The Chinese don’t like that Australia was pushing for an inquiry into the coronavirus. The US election could turn out to be a real mess with how things are going with the ongoing spread of the coronavirus.

Geopolitical events can cause big shudders in the share market. Just look what happened during the trade war. Each tweet from President Trump caused the market to react negatively or positively.

Keep geopolitical events in mind

I do think it’s important to be aware of what’s going on. Sometimes an event can cause the earnings and valuation of shares to move dramatically higher or lower. Look what happened with Bellamy’s. Look how changing oil prices have an obvious huge effect on shares like Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO).

Politics can have a big effect on returns. The decisions about the NBN were decided by politicians and this has had a huge effect on Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS).

But don’t give it too much weight

We also need to keep in mind that geopolitical events will keep happening. There probably isn’t going to be a time when we all agree with what the leaders of Australia, the US, China are all doing. 

Geopolitical events have been happening for many centuries. We should expect that things will keep changing. There wouldn’t be any share market volatility if there were no surprises.  

The share market reached an all time high in February 2020 despite all previous (and ongoing) problems. As investors we need to stay optimistic for the long-term or else we’ll end up missing out on gains.

More reading

• 3 cheap ASX 200 shares I’d buy today
• 3 dirt cheap ASX shares to buy before it is too late
• Is the Telstra share price a buy?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Where will the Telstra share price be next year?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra 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.

The post Should you worry about geopolitical events in investing? appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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