Category: Stock Market

Australia’s key benchmark, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fallen 5% in early trade today amid a widespread sell-off with multiple stocks hitting 52-week lows.

The ASX 200 is now trading at its lowest level since March 2020 – when the pandemic began – as trading resumed following the Queen’s birthday public holiday.

What happened to US stocks overnight?

The ASX 200 sell-off comes after US stocks fell hard overnight. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP: .INX) closed 4% lower at 3,749 and the NASDAQ (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC) finished 4.7% in the red.

Meanwhile, digital assets also incurred heavy losses, with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) losing 15% by the end of the US session.

According to S&P Global data, all 11 US sectors retreated. That included energy – the leading sector this year to date – which slid by more than 5%.

The US Federal Reserve is set to meet on Wednesday. US inflation data released last Friday revealed the highest reading in 40 years. So, there’s speculation the Fed could raise its planned interest rate hike of 0.5%.

With investors shifting focus to inflation and higher interest rates, yields on the Australian 10-year government bond yield have ticked up to more than 4%. That’s the highest level in more than five years.

Meanwhile, oil continues to rally with Brent Crude surging 11 basis points higher overnight to US$122 per barrel. It’s held that level for several days now.

Zooming out to late 2020, the trends are clear. Each of these instruments – including US inflation – has swept upwards over the past 12-18 months, as shown in the graph below.

Wall Street’s sell-off on Monday prompted local investors to dump ASX 200 shares en masse at the open.

The post ASX 200 slumps 5% following Wall Street sell-off appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Waiting to start investing in ASX shares? Today could be a brilliant time to do it
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• ASX 200 has its worst week in two years

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow 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 Bitcoin. 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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Experts are always trying to find buying opportunities amongst ASX shares.

Today we look at two ASX shares selected by Ord Minnett. The broker rates these shares as a buy with price targets more than 40% higher than where the shares are trading now.

A price target is an estimation of where the share price will be in 12 months.

Of course, Ord Minnett doesn’t have a time machine. It’s impossible to know where a share price will actually be in 12 months. However, brokers can certainly make predictions of where they think the share price will be (or should be) in a year based on their research and analysis.

With that in mind, here are the two ASX shares that Ord Minnett is recommending today.

Centuria Capital Group (ASX: CNI)

Centuria is an investment manager that has more than $20 billion worth of assets under management. This includes listed and unlisted funds as well as tax investment bonds.

Ord Minnett has a buy rating on this ASX share with a price target of $2.80. That’s a possible rise of about 40%.

The broker thinks the real estate investment trust (REIT) sector is more attractive as bond yields stabilise. In recent times, bond yields rose as expectations that global central banks would raise rates increased.

The Centuria Capital Group share price has dropped 43% since the start of the year. So, the broker is simply predicting that the ASX share will regain some of that lost ground.

Centuria recently announced that it was growing its institutional-backed healthcare and retail portfolios with $223 million of acquisitions. This included the $163 million private hospital development in Alexandria, Sydney. The business said that 43% of the development is leased on a 15-year term.

In FY22, Centuria is expecting to generate 14.5 cents of operating earnings per share (EPS). This would represent growth of just over 20% year on year. The distribution is expected to be 11 cents per share, representing a dividend yield of 5.5% for ASX investors.

Straker Translations Ltd (ASX: STG)

Based in New Zealand, Straker describes itself as providing “next generation language services supported by a state-of-the-art technology stack and robust AI layers to clients around the world. By combining the latest available technologies with linguistic expertise, Straker’s solutions are scalable, cost-effective and accurate.”

Ord Minnett currently rates this business as a buy with a price target of $1.85. That implies a possible rise of about 60%. The broker thinks the ASX share can keep growing at a good pace.

The broker noted Straker’s FY22 result, which showed revenue growth of 78.5% to $55.9 million thanks to “strong organic growth”.

It generated positive adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $1.2 million in the second half of FY22 and $200,000 for the full year.

The company said that translation volumes from the IBM strategic partnership continue to grow in line with expectations and new partnership opportunities are developing.

Straker also said that customers looking for technology-led solutions for localisation are driving a strong enterprise pipeline.

The ASX share is expecting revenue growth of 20% in FY23, with a positive adjusted EBITDA.

The post Buy these 2 ASX shares with more than 40% upside: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX 300 shares slumping to 52-week lows on Tuesday

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. 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 no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Straker Translations. 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 are suffering a barrage of turbulence today after Wall Street tumbled into bear market territory overnight.

The S&P 500 ­– the United States (US) benchmark index – plunged 3.88% on Monday, leaving it 21.8% lower than its early January high.

Its suffering came amid increasing fears the nation could enter a recession. This also likely spells bad news for ASX 200 shares. They were tipped to potentially suffer a “double hit” on Tuesday.  

Right now, the ASX 200 is down 5%, an even greater dip than that predicted by SPI futures earlier.

Here’s what market watchers need to know about international markets’ recent volatility.

ASX 200 shares tumble on a turbulent Tuesday

Wall Street is officially in a bear market amid fears the US Federal Reserve could kick off a recession. Of course, it was always unlikely that ASX 200 shares would dodge the global carnage.

Inflation in the US increased 8.6% year-on-year according to data released on Friday (US time). That’s the fastest the measure has risen in 41 years.

It’s left many believing the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates higher than previously expected, beginning in coming days, reports the Wall Street Journal. By hiking interest rates, whether in one foul swoop or through many smaller boosts, the Fed could spark a recession.

Suffering alongside the S&P 500 overnight was the Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The major indexes fell 4.68% and 2.79% respectively overnight.

The Australian dollar also slumped 1.21% on Monday to reach 69.33 US cents. Finally, cryptos were hit hard overnight as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) fell 16.39% to US$22,203.90.

All that is putting pressure on ASX 200 shares on Tuesday. Particularly, as they get back to business after the three-day weekend.

“The Australian holiday yesterday may mean the local market suffers a double hit today,” Tiger Brokers chief strategy officer Michael McCarthy said prior to market open.

The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XJI) is the index’s worst performing sector today, likely on the back of the tech-heavy Nasdaq index’s stumble. It’s down 8.05% at the time of writing.

Tech favourites Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) are the ASX 200’s worst performing shares, falling 17.7% and 16.6% respectively.

The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) is the best performing sector. That’s despite it recording a 3.24% drop.

Uniti Group Ltd (ASX: UWL) and Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) are the only ASX 200 shares in the green.

The post Wall Street tumbles into bear market. What does that mean for ASX 200 shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Waiting to start investing in ASX shares? Today could be a brilliant time to do it
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week

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 Bitcoin, Block, Inc., and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. 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 BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price has come under significant pressure on Tuesday.

In morning trade, the mining giant’s shares are down over 6% to $43.16.

Why is the BHP share price sinking?

Investors have been selling down the BHP share price following a horror start to the week for the local share market. In early trade, the benchmark ASX 200 index was down over 5% amid broad market weakness.

The catalyst for this has been a selloff on Wall Street on Friday and Monday, which saw BHP’s NYSE listed shares lose almost 7% of their value over the two trading session.

This has been driven by higher than expected US inflation data, which has sparked fears that the US Federal Reserve will be forced to increase interest rates at a quicker than anticipated rate to tame inflation. If this is the case, there’s a real possibility of it causing a recession in the United States.

Combined with similar central bank action across the globe, there are concerns that the global economy could also fall into a recession. This could impact demand for commodities, which led to a range of base metals taking a tumble overnight and has not helped the BHP share price today.

The post Why is the BHP share price sinking 6% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Brokers name 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy with big fully franked yields
• Is the BHP share price really trading on an 11% dividend yield right now?
• How is the BHP share price performing so far in June?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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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The ASX says there are 11 upcoming IPOs in June, mostly made of metals and mining companies.

In 2021, capital raised from IPOs in Australia more than doubled in comparison to 2020, data from Herbert Smith Freehills found.

“However, the increase in capital raised in 2021 is mainly a result of the higher number of IPOs,” the HFS team found.

There have been 24 new floats on the ASX over the last 2 months says Listcorp, an average of 12 per month.

ASX June listings

According to ASX listing data, these are the companies set to float in June:

Company/ticker	Listing date	Issue	Cap raise
Cavalier Resources Limited (CVR)	10 June	20 cents	$7 million
Chalkos Metals Limited (CKM)	30 June	20 cents	$8 million
Coolabah Metals Limited (CBH)	22 June	20 cents	$6 million
Kingsland Minerals Ltd (KNG)	14 June	20 cents	$5.5 million
Leo Lithium Limited (LLL)	23 June	70 cents	$100 million
MetalsGrove Mining Ltd (MGA)	27 June	20 cents	$7 million
OD6 Metals Limited (OD6)	22 June	20 cents	$8 million
Sarytogan Graphite Limited (SGA)	30 June	20 cents	$8.5 million
Southern Palladium Limited (SPD)	8 June	50 cents	$19 million
Synergen Met Limited (SH2)	30 June	20 cents	$25 million
Uvre Ltd (ASX: UVA) [Completed]	7 June	20 cents	$6 million

A total of $191 million will be raised from this equity round in June with Leo Lithium at the upper limit seeking to raise $100 million.

For further information on each upcoming float, contact the respective company or the company’s share registry.

In broad market news, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has continued its struggles on Tuesday morning, currently trading close to 5% in the red.

The post Interested in upcoming IPOs? These ASX shares will make their debut in June appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the BHP share price sinking 6% today?
• Why the Dow Jones Industrial Average Has Avoided the Bear So Far
• Pro Medicus share price tumbles despite $47m contract renewal news
• Watch out Domino’s! Pizza Hut is coming for a bigger slice of the pie
• Get ready for the bear market headlines

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow 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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The Asian economy is huge and billions of people live there. So it stands to reason that businesses that succeed there can tap into the very large addressable market. We can gain access to that through Asian shares.

According to the Asian Development Bank, GDP in the Asian region will expand by 5.2% in 2022 and 5.3% in 2023 on continued recovery in domestic demand and solid exports. Inflation will rise to 3.7% in 2022 and 3.1% in 2023.​

There are two different ways to try to get exposure to the Asian economy on the ASX. We can look at ASX shares that generate some profit from Asia, such as Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL), A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) or Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (ASX: DMP) as just a few examples.

However, we can also indirectly invest in Asian businesses through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that own Asian shares, like the two outlined below.

Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index (ASX: VAE)

This ETF is provided by Vanguard, one of the world’s largest asset managers that aims to provide investment funds at a cheap cost. The VAE ETF has an annual management fee of 0.40%.

It is invested in around 1,500 Asian shares that are listed in Asia, outside of Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The following countries are represented in the portfolio: China, Taiwan, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

While there are well over a thousand holdings in the ETF, there are some positions that have the biggest allocations because of their relative size: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Samsung Electronics, Tencent, Alibaba, Reliance Industries, AIA Group, Meituan, Infosys, China Construction Bank and Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing.

Has it done well? Looking at the five years of performance to April 2022, the net return was an average of 6% per annum, with 2.6% per annum of that coming from distributions.

Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

The ASIA ETF is a more specialised investment than the VAE ETF.

It’s about the 50 biggest Asian technology shares in Asia, outside of Japan. The tech sector can be a high-performing industry when there is a combination of revenue growth and high profit margins.

Some of the holdings include Tencent, Alibaba, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturer, Meituan, Infosys, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Netease and SK Hynix.

Betashares says that “due to its younger, tech-savvy population, Asia is surpassing the West in terms of technological adoption and the sector is anticipated to remain a growth sector.”

This ETF costs a bit more, with an annual management fee of 0.67%.

The country allocation is focused on three to four places – China (51.4% of the portfolio), Taiwan (22.2%), South Korea (18.7%) and India (7.2%).

Just like other technology investments, the ASIA ETF has seen declines this year. It’s down by more than 30% in 2022.

In the five years to May 2022, the index that Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF tracks has returned an average of 8.5% per annum.

The post Get exposure to Asian shares with these 2 ETFs appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX ETFs for investors to buy next week
• 3 top ETFs to today in June
• 3 fantastic ETFs for ASX investors to buy next week
• Why is the Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF having such a cracker of a day?
• 2 beaten down ETFs for investors to buy now

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 JD.com and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended NetEase. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF and JD.com. 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 Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price is sinking with the market on Tuesday.

In morning trade, the rare earths producer’s shares are down 9% to $7.81.

What’s going on with the Lynas share price?

Investors have been selling down the Lynas share price on Tuesday amid a broad market selloff which has offset the announcement of a major US deal.

According to the release, the company has signed a contract for approximately US$120 million with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

This contract will see Lynas establish a first of its kind commercial Heavy Rare Earths separation facility in the United States.

The release notes that this mutually beneficial contract supports Lynas ambitions of establishing an operating footprint in the United States, including the production of separated heavy rare earth products to complement its light rare earth product suite.

Furthermore, the company highlights that the separation facility will give US industry access to domestically produced heavy rare earths which cannot be sourced today and are essential to the development of a robust supply chain for future facing industries. These include electric vehicles, wind turbines, and electronics.

Following a detailed site selection process, the facility is expected to be located within an existing industrial area on the Gulf Coast of the State of Texas. Lynas is aiming for it to be operational in financial year 2025.

Management commentary

Lynas’ CEO and Managing Director, Amanda Lacaze, commented:

The development of a U.S. Heavy Rare Earths separation facility is an important part of our accelerated growth plan and we look forward to not only meeting the rare earth needs of the U.S. Government but also reinvigorating the local Rare Earths market. This includes working to develop the Rare Earths supply chain and value added activities.

The U.S. Government’s selection of Lynas for this strategic contract reflects our proven track record in Rare Earths production. The DoD’s decision to fully fund the construction of the Heavy Rare Earths facility demonstrates the priority that the U.S. Government is placing on ensuring that supply chains for these critical materials are resilient and environmentally responsible, and as importantly, their confidence in Lynas’ ability to execute, including access to quality feedstock and processing expertise.

The post Lynas share price sinks 9% despite major US deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why did the Lynas share price dive 8% today?
• ASX 200 midday update: Big four banks rebound, Atlas Arteria’s takeover update
• What’s dragging the Lynas share price 6% lower today?
• What’s the outlook for Lynas share price in June?
• Own Lynas shares? So do these big institutional investors

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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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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.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) appeared to catch the market by surprise when it recently announced plans to offer a buy now, pay later (BNPL) offering in its wallet app, another step into the financial services space for the consumer tech giant. Many have long feared that tech giants like Apple could one day become banks and offer traditional financial services because of their superior customer acquisition and tech capabilities. With Apple continuing to walk and talk more like a bank, could the company ever get a banking charter and become one?

The BNPL offering

Customers who use Apple’s wallet app to purchase items will have the option to put no money down and pay off the purchase through multiple installment payments with no extra fees or interest attached. The buy now, pay later payment format has become wildly popular among consumers and also has helped merchants increase sales.

To start, this will be a challenge to others in the BNPL space because of how well integrated the offering is. But Apple is also planning to fund the loans from its own balance sheet and make loan underwriting decisions through its own subsidiary, called Apple Financing. Typically, a lot of consumer tech companies will turn to partner banks to help them set up this kind of infrastructure, which is why this announcement has attracted so much interest.

Apple is still partnering with Mastercard to help it set up its BNPL offering. Mastercard has a white-label product and still communicates with the vendors to make the process possible. Goldman Sachs is the issuer of Apple’s credit card. Apple Financing has also apparently obtained all of the necessary state licenses to issue the BNPL loans.

Getting a bank charter

While it’s very uncommon for a large tech company to outright obtain a bank charter, large payments and tech company Block did manage to obtain an industrial bank charter after a very lengthy process. An industrial bank charter is for a state-chartered bank with insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), but it is a bit more limited in nature.

So, while Apple could try to pursue a bank charter, I doubt it would, given how long the process might take and the pushback it might receive from the banking industry and other regulators due to antitrust concerns. With more than 1.8 billion active iPhones, if Apple did ever pursue a charter and get more involved in traditional banking services, there could be concerns over data privacy.

A recent example that comes to mind is Meta Platforms‘ foray into stablecoins, which are digital assets pegged to a commodity or fiat currency. Meta for years sank time and resources into building a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin called Diem, but kept running into regulatory issues. The company tried partnering with an issuing bank for the token but eventually ended up selling the project. Many surmise that regulatory issues were the primary reason for the sale.

Finally, keep in mind that banking is a very heavily regulated industry, with most banks having three regulators. Even Block, with its industrial charter, is still regulated by the FDIC and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. And then once a company is a bank, it has to raise and hold regulatory capital, which investors are not always so thrilled about.

Will it ever happen?

I find it unlikely that Apple would ever pursue a bank charter due to pushback from regulators, the lengthy application process, and the need to hold regulatory capital. But perhaps after setting up and running some of its banking infrastructure, Apple will get more interested, especially if it sees serious profit potential. But even without getting a charter, the fact that Apple is bringing its loan underwriting under its roof will give the company more data on its consumers’ finances, which could embolden Apple to offer even more financial services in the future.

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

The post Apple Is Starting to Walk and Talk Like a Bank. Could It Ever Become One? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Apple stock: The bull and bear cases today
• Apple Pay Later just crushed Affirm’s dreams, but it’s a nice win for 2 fintech giants
• Representing 40% of Warren Buffett’s portfolio, here is why Apple is a great stock to own today
• Why did ASX 200 tech shares fall today?
• Is Apple an excellent dividend stock to buy?

Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Bram Berkowitz 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 Apple, Block, Inc., Goldman Sachs, and Mastercard. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple and Mastercard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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

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Once a week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) remains the most shorted ASX share after its short interest jumped to 17%. Short sellers appear to believe the travel market recovery won’t be smooth sailing, particularly given the rising costs of living which could impact consumer spending.
• Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) has seen its short interest edge higher to 13.9%. This betting technology company’s shares may have been targeted due to the lofty multiples they trade on and the company’s ongoing cash burn.
• Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) has short interest of 12.2%, which is down slightly week on week. Short sellers have been going after this medical device company amid concerns over changes to its sales model in the United States. There are fears that it could be disruptive to sales and lead to higher costs.
• Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has seen its short interest jump to 11.4%. Not even high levels of insider buying has stopped short sellers from loading up. In addition, this medical device company’s shares will be dumped from the ASX 200 index at the next rebalance.
• Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) has seen its short interest rebound to 9.6%. This artificial intelligence data services company’s soft start to FY 2022 and concerns over disruption in the industry have been weighing on its shares. Appen will also be booted out of the ASX 200 index later this month.
• EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) has returned to the top ten with short interest of 8.9%. This payments company’s poor performance during the second half has been weighing on its shares. As has weakness in the tech sector and the derating of growth shares.
• Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) has short interest of 8.9%, which is up slightly week on week. This is largely in line with the short interest levels of its US listed shares. Short sellers will be pleased to see Block’s shares crash on Tuesday amid the market selloff.
• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) has short interest of 8.5%, which is down week on week. As with Flight Centre, there are concerns that the travel market’s recovery from the pandemic could be impacted by rising living costs.
• Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) has short interest of 8.5%, which is down slightly week on week. This gold miner has been targeted amid concerns over labour shortages, cost pressures, and lower grades.
• Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING) has returned to the top ten with 8.4% of its shares held short. This may have been driven by high input costs and concerns that this could impact margins.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 Appen Ltd, Betmakers Technology Group Ltd, Block, Inc., EML Payments, Nanosonics Limited, and POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc., EML Payments, and Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Betmakers Technology Group Ltd, Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and Webjet 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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A Sydney man has pleaded guilty in a Perth court to conspiring to manipulate the price of ASX shares.

Benjamin Heath Cooper of Brighton-Le-Sands made the plea to one charge at the Stirling Gardens Magistrates’ Court in Western Australia.

He now faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment. In 2019 the maximum penalty was increased to 15 years, but Cooper’s offence occurred in 2015.

The conviction was the result of an investigation by the corporate watchdog Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Cooper, on 16 November 2015, conspired with Quantum Resources Limited director Avrohom Kimelman and one other person to manipulate the company’s shares.

Quantum Resources Limited is now known as Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX: NVA).

Kimelman was convicted last year after pleading guilty.

Cooper’s case was adjourned to a directions hearing at the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 30 August.

The post Sydney man faces 10 years’ jail for manipulating ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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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