Author: therawinformant

ASX 200 shares soared higher last week as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) continued its strong rebound.

It was a similar story overseas with the S&P 500 Index closing the week at 3,194 points – just 5.7% off its all-time high.

If coronavirus restrictions continue to ease and the economy hums back to life, could we see a new record high in June?

Will ASX 200 shares hit new record highs in June?

There have been a number of Aussie shares climbing higher in the last couple of months. The recent bear market seems like a distant memory as companies like Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) have roared back to life.

ASX bank shares have been another clear winner with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price surging 32% higher since 23 March.

Australia has so far beaten many of its own ‘best case’ scenarios regarding the pandemic. That means we’re seeing businesses re-open, Aussie workers regain employment and the economic burden on the Federal Government start to ease.

Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do. I think there is more volatility for ASX 200 shares to come in the next few months but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good time to buy.

There’s a lot of cheap money flying around in the economy right now. Central banks have lowered interest rates and pumped money into the global economy.

CommBank and Afterpay haven’t been the only ones to cash in on the recent run. 

The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price closed at $17.62 per share on Friday. I think the ASX 200 dairy share could charge towards its record high of $19.23 per share by the end of June.

Supermarket sales are strong and international sales could pick up again in the coming weeks. 

Foolish takeaway

There are a number of ASX 200 shares that are pushing higher in June. If the economy continues to pick up then we could see record highs before the end of the month.

More reading

• ASX 200 jumps 2.5%: Big four banks surge higher, CSL announces an acquisition
• 2 ASX 200 biotech shares to consider buying today
• 3 ASX 200 shares to watch this week
• Is the Webjet share price a cheap buy today?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points

Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. 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) has returned from the long weekend in fantastic form. At lunch the benchmark index is up 2.5% to 6,146.6 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

Big four banks surge higher.

The big four banks have been very strong performers on Tuesday and are helping to drive the ASX 200 index notably higher. At lunch all four banks are up no less than 5%. The best performer in the group has been the Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price with an impressive gain of 6%.

CSL acquisition.

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is trading lower today despite announcing a new acquisition. According to the release, the biotherapeutics company has agreed to exercise its right to acquire Vitaeris. It is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the phase 3 development of a treatment for rejection in solid organ kidney transplant patients.

G8 Education rockets higher despite childcare changes.

The G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) share price is rocketing higher on Tuesday. This is even after the Federal Government revealed plans to end its free childcare scheme and stop JobKeeper payments to childcare workers in July. This morning G8 Education revealed that it won’t be impacted negatively because of the way the government is structuring other support packages. Management notes that these support packages will put it in no worse a position relative to the prior support measures. This is even if occupancy levels were to deteriorate.

Best and worst performers.

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Tuesday has been the Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) share price with a 15% gain. Investors may believe the debt collector’s shares were oversold during the pandemic. The worst performer has been the Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) share price with a 6.5% decline. This follows a pullback in the gold price over the last couple of trading days.

More reading

• CSL share price drops lower despite announcing a new acquisition
• The ANZ share price has soared 37% in 2 weeks. Here’s why.
• Will ASX 200 shares hit a record high in June?
• Why Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, BWP, G8 Education, & Westpac are zooming higher
• Why CSL, Elders, Evolution, & Xero shares are dropping lower

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 CSL Ltd. 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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In late morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a very strong gain. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 2.7% to 6,158.9 points.

Four shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are zooming higher:

The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) share price has jumped 8% to $7.91. Investors have been buying the regional bank’s shares thanks to improving investor sentiment and a positive broker note. In respect to the latter, this morning Ord Minnett upgraded Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s shares to an accumulate rating with an improved price target of $8.10.

The BWP Trust (ASX: BWP) share price is up 3% to $3.88. This gain also appears to have been driven largely by a broker note out of Ord Minnett. This morning the broker upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $4.40 price target. It believes that BWP is undervalued based on its long weighted average lease expiry.

The G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) share price has jumped 12% higher to $1.16. This morning the childcare centre operator revealed that the end of the free childcare scheme would not necessarily be a bad thing. The company notes that the revised government support packages are structured in a way that means G8 expects to be in no worse a position relative to the prior support measures. This is even if occupancy levels were to deteriorate.

The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has stormed a further 6% higher to $19.97. Investors have continued to pile into the banking sector again on Tuesday on the belief that they have been oversold. All the big four banks are trading notably higher at the time of writing and are helping drive the ASX 200 higher.

More reading

• ASX 200 jumps 2.5%: Big four banks surge higher, CSL announces an acquisition
• 3 ASX 200 shares to watch this week
• G8 Education share price jumps higher despite the government ending its free childcare scheme
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• ‘Westpac share price undervalued’, says analyst

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. 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.

The post Why Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, BWP, G8 Education, & Westpac are zooming higher appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned from the long weekend in fine form. In late morning trade the benchmark index is up over 2.5% to 6,150.9 points.

Four shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping lower:

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is down 2.5% to $277.77. This appears to be down to concerns that the company’s plasma collection network has been disrupted by the pandemic. This could have a knock-on effect on its FY 2021 performance. These concerns have offset an announcement that reveals that CSL has agreed to acquire biotech company Vitaeris this morning.

The Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) share price has fallen over 3% to $9.22. This decline could be down to profit taking after a strong share price gain year to date. Prior to today, the agribusiness company’s shares were up over 47% since the start of the year. Investors have been buying agriculture shares due to improving trading conditions and their defensive qualities.

The Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price is down 3% to $5.43. The catalyst for this decline was a sharp pullback in the gold price on Friday night. And although the precious metal rebounded last night, it wasn’t enough to stop the gold miners from being sold off today. Especially with investors switching to risk on assets en masse today. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is down 1.75% on Monday.

The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price has fallen almost 3% to $85.05. Investors may be taking profit off the table after some strong gains by the business and accounting platform provider’s shares in recent weeks. In fact, last week the Xero share price climbed to a record high of $91.49. When its shares hit that level, they were up 15% year to date.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 biotech shares to consider buying today
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• ASX shares could be the best way to grow your wealth in 2020
• Could these ASX shares be the future dividend stars that make you rich?
• 10 ASX 200 shares that are fit for the Queen

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 CSL Ltd. and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Elders 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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There are a couple of ASX 200 biotech shares that could be in the buy zone right now. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down -10.25% this year but many Aussie healthcare companies have surged in value.

This is partly due to the nature of the coronavirus pandemic. Many healthcare services are in high demand even as the economy falls on hard times.

While not all Aussie biotech companies are created equal, here are a couple of my top picks to buy today.

2 ASX 200 biotech shares to buy today

I like the look of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) right now. CSL is one of the largest companies by market capitalisation on the ASX and weighs in at $129.55 billion.

The ASX 200 biotech share doesn’t always look like good value. However, CSL shares have dropped below the $300 per share mark and are trading at $276.45 at the time of writing.

We’ve seen some strong investor support around the $270-280 per share mark in recent months. That could mean now is a good chance to buy CSL at a 16.75% discount to its all-time high.

It’s not just the Aussie biotech giant that is in the buy zone. I also like the look of Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) shares right now.

Polynovo designs develops and manufactures dermal regeneration solutions using its patented NovoSorb BTM biodegradable polymer technology.

In plain English, the ASX 200 biotech share develops solutions for burns, skin grafts and similar medical issues.

The Polynovo share price crashed hard in the recent bear market. In fact, shares in the company fell 56.29% from 25 February to 23 March. 

However, Polynovo’s value has surged higher in recent months. The ASX 200 biotech share boasts a market capitalisation of $1.75 billion and has climbed 94.70% since that March 23 bottom.

Foolish takeaway

I think for buy and hold investors, both CSL and Polynovo could be good value buys.

Both ASX 200 biotech shares have a track record of success and a solid growth outlook.

I would say CSL is more of a tactical buy for $285.33 per share. In contrast, the Polynovo share price has already rebounded but I think it’s a potential ASX 50 share in the coming decade.

More reading

• Why CSL, Elders, Evolution, & Xero shares are dropping lower
• 3 ASX 200 shares to watch this week
• Is the Webjet share price a cheap buy today?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• Cheap ASX 200 retail shares to buy today

Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. 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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It was a strong week for ASX shares as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) surged 4.22% higher last week to close just shy of 6,000 points.

The benchmark Aussie index finished the week at 5,998.70 points and was led higher by many Aussie blue chips including the banks.

Last week I was watching Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN), Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM).

The Bendigo share price was one of last week’s biggest moving as it rocketed 19.02% higher including a 4.72% gain on Friday. Flight Centre shares also surged, gaining 17.66%, while St Barbara shares were sold-off in the bullish ASX 200 share market and closed the week down 3.85%.

After a big week for last week’s top picks, here are 3 shares I’ll be watching in the week ahead.

3 ASX 200 shares to watch this week

I always like to watch some of the biggest movers from the previous week. That means Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX: SGP) is in my sights.

The Stockland share price rocketed 10.92% last week and is up another 4.04% at the time of writing. The Aussie real estate investment trust (REIT) seems to be climbing thanks to investor optimism.

Stockland has interests in retail, office and residential real estate. There are a lot of factors at play in all of those areas right now. I think this ASX 200 REIT could be set to recover further if the re-opening of the economy continues at a cracking pace.

Another ASX 200 share I’ve got my eye on is SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (ASX: SKC). SkyCity operates a number of hotels and wagering businesses that are starting to see eased restrictions.

That could be good news for SkyCity earnings in FY20 and FY21. The entertainment share is up a whopping 8.96% in morning trade so far and will be well worth watching this week.

I also think it’s hard to ignore the ASX banks right now. The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is one I’m watching this week.

The big four bank’s shares have some strong momentum after rocketing 9.12% higher last week. Westpac shares have shot out of the gates this morning to be up more than 5% at the time of writing.

I’d expect investors to continue buying high-quality shares this week. Westpac shares are still down 22.45% for the year and could have further to go in 2020.

Foolish takeaway

These are just a few of the ASX 200 shares I’m watching at the moment. It’s important to focus on the long-term investment horizon rather than getting too caught up in daily or weekly moves.

There might be tactical buying opportunities on offer from time to time. However, I believe a buy and hold strategy is still the ticket to long-term wealth.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 biotech shares to consider buying today
• Is the Webjet share price a cheap buy today?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• ‘Westpac share price undervalued’, says analyst
• Cheap ASX 200 retail shares to buy today

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Sky City Entertainment Group Ltd. 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 share price of Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) will be on watch this morning after it provided the market with a retail trading update for its performance in 2H20 so far.

The group revealed today that it has witnessed particularly strong demand from both its Bunnings and Officeworks stores.

The Wesfarmers share price has bounced back strongly since late March. The group’s share price has risen from $31.02 on 23 March to close at $41.71 last Friday. That’s an impressive increase of 34.5%.

Bunnings and Officeworks sales grow strongly

Compared to sales in the first half of the year (1H20), sales for Bunnings have risen very strongly so far in the current half (2H20). Bunning’s sales have risen 19.2% since the beginning of the year. This compares to only 5.8% during 1H20.  For the FY2020 year-to-date, sales have also risen strongly for Bunnings. They were up by 11.3% compared to the prior corresponding period.

As a result of the coronavirus crisis, Australians have continued to spend more on goods to assist them in working and learning in a home environment.

The performance of Officeworks was also very strong. Sales were up by 27.8% for 2H20 to date, compared to only 11.5% in 1H20. FY2020 sales to date were also strongly up by 19.3% for Officeworks.

I believe that the strong performance of both Bunnings and Officeworks has made a significant contribution to Wesfarmers’ recent strong share price growth.

Pure online retailer Catch sees sales surge

The star performer for Wesfarmers in recent months has been its pure online offering in Catch.

Online sales for Catch have risen by a massive 68.7% in the half-year to date. This compares to only 21.4% in 1H20.

There has been a recent surge in online sales due to the coronavirus. All of Wesfarmers’ retail businesses witnessed massive combined total online sales growth of 89% for the half-year to date.

Wesfarmers’ online offerings have seen strong growth over the past few years.

It is quite likely that consumer habits are changing permanently. Many Australians may continue to choose the online channel over bricks and mortar stores in the years ahead due to its convenience and price competitiveness.

Where to now for the Wesfarmers share price?

As already mentioned, the group’s share price growth since late March has been very strong. However, I believe that Wesfarmers will be challenged to keep growing at this pace in the months ahead. Wesfarmers itself acknowledged today that it is uncertain if this sales growth can continue for the rest of the year. As government lockdown measures continue to ease, shopping patterns are likely to continue to get back to normal sooner rather than later.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• 3 high quality ASX dividend shares you can buy today
• Want high-paying dividends? Try Wesfarmers shares and these 2 other ASX options
• How to replace your entire wage with dividends
• Is this ASX small cap the best placed to benefit from the $700m HomeBuilder grant?

Motley Fool contributor Phil Harpur has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers 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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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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

2020 has been a wild year for investors. The stock market soared to new highs, only to plunge in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. After hitting bottom, markets have soared upward in a quick recovery, and at least a couple of stock benchmarks have reached new records once again.

When the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak led to one of the fastest bear markets in history, the best advice investors could follow was not to make any rash decisions with their investments. That advice served those who followed it well, as the bounce has helped many investors recover much or even all of their losses. Staying pat was hard, though, if you felt blindsided by the coronavirus crisis and suddenly became aware that the risk level in your portfolio was too high.

Fortunately, you now have your chance to reconsider your investing strategy calmly and objectively. If the bear market was a wake-up call that you had too much risk in your portfolio, then now that stocks have recovered most of their lost ground, you can adjust your asset allocation  without doing major damage to your long-term financial prospects.

Letting it ride

The 2010s were one of the most successful decades ever for stock market investors. The right strategy to follow was to get money into the market whenever you could, especially taking advantage of periodic dips to add to your positions. With very few extended downward moves in the market, it was easy to think that owning stocks didn’t really involve much risk.

However, the big gains from the 2010s set up some investors for a surprisingly painful shock. Not only did the coronavirus bear market remind investors that big downturns could happen, but it also came at a time when many investors hadn’t rebalanced their portfolios for a long time. As a result, many people’s stock allocations had risen above their past levels, leaving investors even more vulnerable to the stock market downturn.

Add to that the fact that yields on bonds and other fixed-income investments have fallen to such low levels that the income they pay is insufficient for most investors’ needs. That pushed people into dividend stocks, boosting overall allocations to the stock market and further adding to risk.

Avoiding the kneejerk reaction

Many people realized only after the fact that they were uncomfortably overexposed to stocks in their investment portfolios. The worst possible way to respond would have been to sell at the lows. With markets down as much as 30% between mid-February and March, selling out would have meant taking huge losses. Moreover, you would’ve missed out on the nearly 40% gain in some stock market indexes since those lows, repeating a mistake that millions of investors have made in past crashes and bear markets.

If you successfully held your ground and stuck with your strategy, you’ve probably seen a nice recovery in your portfolio. But that doesn’t mean that you should forget about your concerns regarding your risk tolerance. If you now know that you’re not inclined to deal with a drop of the magnitude we saw in early 2020, then you should adjust your investing strategy to be more conservative. Moreover, you can make those adjustments now, because reducing your stock portfolio won’t result in anywhere near the losses that you would’ve locked in just a couple months ago.

2 ways to get your portfolio in line

Investors have a couple of things they can do to adjust their portfolios to reflect their new risk tolerance. For some, it’ll be enough simply to rebalance your investments, getting your allocations to stocks, bonds, and other asset classes back in line with their long-term targets. Even though many stocks haven’t fully recovered their losses from the bear market, you might still find yourself needing to reduce your stock positions to rebalance effectively if it’s been a few years since you last did so.

The more extreme move is to reduce your target stock allocation. That will necessarily involve making sales and exchanges of various investments, with the usual tax and cash flow consequences. For many, the peace of mind you can get from reducing the future volatility of your overall portfolio is worth the losses you’ll lock in — especially since those losses are probably much smaller than they were back in March or April.

Don’t wait

Stocks can do anything in the short run. Waiting to take action could let your portfolio recover further, but it could also leave you vulnerable to another leg lower if it comes.

If you now realize your risk tolerance for stocks is lower than you thought it was, now’s the best time to adjust your portfolio to reflect your new needs. That way, you’ll be better prepared to deal with whatever comes next — and more likely to avoid mistakes that could cause long-term damage to your finances.

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

More reading

• Why CSL, Elders, Evolution, & Xero shares are dropping lower
• 2 ASX 200 biotech shares to consider buying today
• 3 ASX 200 shares to watch this week
• Can the Wesfarmers share price continue to rise after its market update today?
• Musgrave Minerals share price jumps 40% after revealing bonanza gold results

Motley Fool contributor Dan Caplinger 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.

The post If you need to protect your portfolio, do this now appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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

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