The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) share price closed 1.79% lower on Tuesday at 27.5 cents.

That remains midway between its 12-month low of 11 cents per share that it hit in late February and the high of 39 cents per share it reached in mid-April.

Following that April high, the Sayona Mining share price proceeded to drop to 12 cents per share in late June before recovering to its current price.

It’s safe to say Sayona Mining shares have been on a rollercoaster ride this year. So what’s going on with this ASX lithium stock?

What’s been happening lately?

Of course, much of the share price movement is likely influenced by the price of lithium. Additionally, a prediction by Goldman Sachs at the start of June that demand for lithium would fall in the future sparked a sell-off in lithium shares that continued for much of the month.

However, Sayona’s strong recovery towards the end of the month could be attributed to a couple of discoveries. On 23 June, Sayona announced the discovery of lithium targets at the Mt Edon project in Western Australia.

On 27 June, the company revealed multiple new spodumene pegmatites had been identified at its Moblan Lithium Project in Quebec, Canada. The Sayona share price jumped 12% on the news.

The following day Sayona shares soared by another 25% on the back of plans to restart the company’s North American Lithium (NAL) operation.

The NAL restart meant Sayona Mining could resume the production of spodumene concentrate in the first quarter of FY23. This allows Sayona Mining to become the first North American local supplier of lithium concentrates.

In late July, Sayona Mining released an update for the quarter ended June 2022, which was met with optimism. However, Sayona remains unprofitable, as my Foolish colleague Zach Bristow pointed out.

More recently, Sayona Mining agreed with existing shareholder, Acuity Capital, to increase the size of its At-the-Market Subscription Agreement (ATM).

Originally, the ATM provided Sayona Mining with up to $50 million of standby equity capital with an expiry date of 31 July 2023. This has been revised to a limit of $200 million and an extended expiry date of 31 July 2025.

Subsequent to this extension, Sayona Mining has agreed to issue an additional 155 million shares at nil consideration to increase Acuity Capital’s total security holding to 250 million shares.

While this bolsters the financial base for Sayona Mining, it also means dilution of existing shareholders.

Sayona Mining share price snapshot

Year to date, the Sayona Mining share price has risen by almost 100%. It is also up 96% over the past month.

That is in stark contrast to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which is down 6% year to date and up 6% over the past month.

Sayona Mining has a market capitalisation of $2.3 billion based on its current share price.

The post Why is the Sayona Mining share price so volatile? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why are ASX lithium shares having such a cracking start to the week?
• Why is the Lake Resources share price up so much more than other ASX lithium shares today?
• Why has the Sayona Mining share price rocketed almost 100% in a month?
• Why is the Sayona Mining share price surging 15% on Monday?
• Why Appen, Centuria Industrial, NRW, and Sayona Mining shares are pushing higher

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. Motley Fool contributor Raymond Jang has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) shares are known for many things. For one, Lynas is by far the largest pureplay rare earths company on the ASX, with a market capitalisation of close to $9 billion.

The strategic importance of the company has led to renewed interest in Lynas and its future-facing rare earths operations over the past few years.

Back in March, we covered how Lynas could stand to benefit from the efforts of both the United States and Australian governments to shore up supply chains of critical minerals like rare earths.

But Lynas is also famous for its stellar share price run in recent months and years. Back in early 2020, you could buy one Lynas share for just $1.20. Today, the company has closed at $9.95 a share after hitting an all-time record high of $11.59 back in April.

Lynas shares: where are the dividends?

But one thing Lynas is not known for is its dividends. Unlike many ASX 200 shares, Lynas has never paid a dividend. Back in February, we looked at why this is the case. It’s not from a lack of profits for one. That’s the usual primary suspect for a lack of dividends on the ASX.

As we covered back then, Lynas brought in $235.3 million in earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) over the 2021 financial year. That works out to be around 18.08 cents in earnings per share (EPS). 

Now Lynas is a company that is still investing heavily in future growth. Despite the positive earnings of FY21, Lynas still went to investors for a $425 million capital raising. It earmarked these funds for its Kalgoorlie Rare Earths Processing plant, as well as upgrades for its Lynas Malaysia plant.

Because Lynas is investing so heavily in its future capabilities, its management has probably come to the conclusion that paying out a dividend (which nets no returns for a company) is not a wise use of capital at this time.

Now perhaps the picture will change when Lynas reports its FY22 numbers on Friday next week (26 August). If Lynas reporters even higher earnings for FY22, it’s possible (although perhaps unlikely) that a dividend could be declared. But we shall have to wait and see.

The post Will Lynas shares pay a dividend in 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Lynas shares and one other ASX 200 rare earths miner are in this expert’s ‘core basket’
• Why has the Lynas share price surged 22% in the last 3 weeks?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why BWP, Lynas, Pilbara Minerals, and Pinnacle shares are charging higher
• ‘Essential foundation for success’: Lynas share price leaps on $500 million expansion

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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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S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares pushed through another day of big earnings news as the index lifted for a third consecutive day. It closed Tuesday’s session 0.58% higher at 7,105.4 points, marking a new nine-week high.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) led the way today, gaining 1.7%. Its top-performing constituent was BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) after the iron ore giant posted a US$21.3 billion underlying attributable profit and a US$1.75 final dividend.

The sector’s strong performance was made more impressive by the struggling iron ore price. Iron ore futures slipped 2.8% overnight to reach US$106.79 a tonne. Meanwhile, some base metal prices fell as much as 4.5% and gold futures slumped 1% to US$1,798.1 an ounce.

The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) and the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) also outperformed, each gaining 1%.

It wasn’t all sunshine on the market today, however. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) slumped 1%. The Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price struggled for a second consecutive day to close down 3.95%. This is seemingly spurred by the company’s full-year results released yesterday.

All in all, nine of the ASX 200’s 11 sectors lifted on Tuesday. But which ASX share was the index’s top performer? Keep reading to find out.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Tuesday’s best-performing ASX 200 share was Life360 Inc (ASX: 360). The tech company released its first-half results this morning, revealing its revenue had more than doubled year over year. Find out more about what Life360 has been up to here.

Today’s biggest gains were made by these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)	$5.80	5.45%
Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)	$3.90	5.41%
Event Hospitality and Entertainment Ltd (ASX: EVT)	$15.35	5.07%
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)	$40.51	4.09%
Altium Ltd (ASX: ALU)	$31.73	3.66%
Amcor CDI (ASX: AMC)	$18.45	2.79%
NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF)	$7.12	2.45%
Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)	$3.99	2.31%
Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV)	$8.16	2.26%
Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: CUV)	$20.05	1.98%

Our top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why has the Panoramic Resources share price surged 40% in a month?
• Are Coles shares an ASX buy ahead of the company’s earnings next week?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• Why BHP, Life360, Tassal, and Temple & Webster shares are charging higher
• Shopping Centres Australasia share price slips on FY22 results

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Altium, Life360, Inc., and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Amcor Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aurizon Holdings Limited, NIB Holdings Limited, and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. 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 iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) has been a solid performer for investors over the last month, it has risen by 7%. That’s a stronger performance than the 6.2% return for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

As some investors may be aware, the performance of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is dictated by the underlying holdings.

If, collectively, the value of the businesses that an ETF owns go up, then this benefits the ETF’s value.

The same can happen going downwards as well. When the group of shares that the ETF owns go down in value, then this would hurt the value of the ETF.

The S&P 500 represents a portfolio of around 500 businesses.

What shares are in the iShares S&P 500 ETF?

These are some of the biggest holdings in the S&P 500 ETF on 12 August 2022:

Apple (7.3%)

Microsoft (6%)

Alphabet (3.9%)

Amazon (3.5%)

Tesla (2.1%)

Berkshire Hathaway (1.5%)

UnitedHealth (1.4%)

Nvidia (1.3%)

Johnson & Johnson (1.2%)

Of course, there are hundreds of other names like Costco, Disney and McDonalds.

How did those names perform?

Let’s have a look at how some of the biggest positions have performed over the past month, as these are the ones that would have the biggest influence on the overall iShares S&P 500 ETF performance.

Over the last month, Apple shares are up 17.75%, Microsoft shares are up 15.4%, Alphabet shares are up 12%, Amazon shares are up 25.9% and Tesla shares are up 28.6%.

These numbers indicate that the biggest shares actually performed much better than the overall S&P 500 index – it was other index constituents that didn’t do as well. For example, over the past month, the Johnson & Johnson share price is down 4.7%.

Why are the technology shares rising?

To truly know the answer to that question, you’d need to ask the buyers and sellers of those shares of the past month why they transacted at the price they did. This could explain what has happened to the iShares S&P 500 ETF.

There has been a lot of volatility in 2022. Investors have been trying to get to grips with inflation and rising interest rates. Central banks are increasing interest rates to try to bring inflation under control.

Warren Buffett once said this about interest rates:

The value of every business, the value of a farm, the value of an apartment house, the value of any economic asset, is 100% sensitive to interest rates because all you are doing in investing is transferring some money to somebody now in exchange for what you expect the stream of money to be, to come in over a period of time, and the higher interest rates are the less that present value is going to be. So every business by its nature…its intrinsic valuation is 100% sensitive to interest rates.

But, some iShares S&P 500 ETF investors may be thinking that interest rates may not need to go as high as previously expected. Monthly inflation in the US may have peaked after the latest figure was lower than the previous month. But, the next question is not ‘how high’ inflation goes, but ‘how long’ elevated inflation remains. Time will tell.

The post Here’s why the iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV) has climbed 7% in a month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 top ETFs for ASX investors to buy next week
• 2 quality ETFs for ASX investors to buy next week
• 3 things I love about the iShares S&P 500 ETF right now
• I rate these top ASX growth shares as buys in August
• 3 wonderful ETFs for ASX investors to buy today

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Costco Wholesale, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth Group and has recommended the following options: long January 2023 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), long January 2024 $145 calls on Walt Disney, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2023 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2023 $265 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2024 $155 calls on Walt Disney, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Nvidia, Walt Disney, and iShares Trust – iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. 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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