Category: Stock Market

The Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price is on track to exit 2021 on a positive note. But investors will be left wondering if its shares could be soaring higher if the bank wasn’t losing the mortgage war.

ANZ Bank is the only one of the big four ASX banks to lose share of the mortgage market in October, reported the Australian Financial Review.

ANZ Bank losing mortgage market share

The data from the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) showed that ANZ Bank’s market share dropped another 8 basis points to 13.09% in October.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) also underperformed on this front in October, but it still managed to grow its loan book.

There are a few possible reasons to explain ANZ Bank’s poor performance in winning new mortgagees.

ANZ Bank share price is a silver-lining

To be sure, this isn’t a new issue for the bank either. This is why supporters can still hold their head high as the ANZ Bank share price is up over 18% since January 2021.

In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index’s (Index:^AXJO) gain for the year is half that of the bank.

Further, ANZ Bank isn’t the worst performing big ASX bank share. The wooden spoon goes to the Westpac share price as it’s only 7% above breakeven.

The increase in the ANZ Bank share price also matches that of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price. CBA is widely regarded as the premium ASX bank share, so matching its share price performance is still a notable feat.

Why ANZ is losing the mortgage battle

But investors can only ponder how much higher the ANZ Bank share price could be trading if wasn’t losing out on the mortgage market.

The bank’s long lead-time in processing mortgages is one big reason for this, according to the AFR. ANZ Bank takes 51 days (median) to process third-party applications.

Mortgage brokers would rather put their client loans through another bank with National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) and CBA only taking around 10 to 11 days.

What’s more, ANZ Bank has an overreliance on mortgage brokers to generate new business. This not only explains the market share erosion, but the bank’s poorer net interest margin (NIM) and return on equity (ROE).

Outlook for the ANZ Bank share price

Both the NIM and ROE are key valuation measures investors use to price ASX bank shares. This helps explain why the CBA share price trades at such a hefty premium to its cohort.

What gives CBA this edge is its investment in technology to lift productivity. The other ASX banks are playing catch up on this front, but it appears that ANZ Bank’s investment on IT isn’t paying off.

ANZ Bank shareholders will be hoping for better news in 2022.

The post Why ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) is losing market share to other big ASX banks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank Limited, and Westpac Banking Corporation. 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 Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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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.

Moderna has been one of this year’s stock market stars. The biotech company has been on everyone’s radar screen as it commercialized its coronavirus vaccine and generated billions of dollars in revenue and profit. It’s a story of a small player reaching the major leagues.

And in 2022, there’s a cryptocurrency that may follow a similar path. It may progress from being a new hopeful to a crypto that’s proven itself. I’m talking about Solana (CRYPTO: SOL). The platform launched in the spring of 2020 and has been gaining ground ever since.

Starting small, finishing big

Of course, Solana’s price increase this year already has topped that of Moderna and just about every other stock. It’s soared 13,600%. But in my comparison, I’m focusing on the idea of starting small and finishing the year as a major, established player. Moderna has done that. And if Solana can do it too, the crypto may extend 2021’s increase.

So… why Solana? The blockchain stands out for a few reasons. The first one is speed. Solana uses a proof of history method for validating transactions on the platform. This involves marking each block of data with a timestamp of sorts. The process makes it easier and quicker for validators to do their job. In the end, Solana processes about 50,000 transactions per second. And the way Solana was designed means the platform eventually may process more than 700,000 transactions per second. That by far surpasses the speed potential of market leader Ethereum. That platform aims to process as many as 100,000 transactions per second after an upgrade set for next year.

Now speaking of other players, the cool thing about Solana is it’s working with them. Here’s what I mean: Solana developed a bridge that allows the transfer of assets across networks. This bridge — called Wormhole — works with Ethereum, Polygon, Terra, and Binance Smart Chain. This clearly will boost use of Solana because it means users don’t have to choose between Solana and other players. Instead, they can use them all.

Making progress in decentralized applications

Another point to note about Solana is the progress it’s made in the development of decentralized applications. The platform hosts more than 350 projects from non-fungible tokens to finance to games. This variety of applications running on Solana shows the real-world utility of the platform. Ethereum still remains ahead of Solana when it comes to number of projects. And that blockchain has the first-to-market advantage. But there is room for more than one player in this field. So, it’s possible for Solana and Ethereum both to be key actors on this stage in the future.

Solana has had a tremendous year when it comes to price performance. But next year could be even more important. Because Solana will prepare the terrain for the long term. Like Moderna, it could progress from risky, newish player to one that shows it has what it takes to lead in its field well into the future — and progressively find its way into more and more investment portfolios. 

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

The post This crypto could be the Moderna of 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• My first crypto buy: Solana
• Did the Bitcoin and Ethereum bubble burst just signal a crypto market top?

Adria Cimino owns shares of Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Ethereum. 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 Bruce Jackson.

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

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The Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) share price has declined by around 35% over the last month.

Tech shares are taking a bit of a beating right now. At the time of writing, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is down 4.6%, the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is down 5.8% and the Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price is down around 2%.

Whilst Nearmap is currently down 4.2%, it just adds to the rest of the decline that the aerial imaging business has experienced.

The heavy decline started around the time that the company gave an update about FY22.

FY22 performance

Nearmap gave its update at the annual general meeting (AGM).

At the AGM, the company provided guidance that its annual contract value (ACV) was expected to end FY22 at between $150 million to $160 million on a constant currency basis.

Management said that the business had continued to deploy capital-raised funds in line with its FY22 guidance to increase investment in the business and use approximately $30 million of net cash in FY22.

Those funds are being allocated towards previously identified growth initiatives as it scales the business for growth.

Nearmap revealed that after a number of successfully completed tests of custom designed components in aerial flight, the company remains on track to manufacture and commence the roll-out of its next iteration of aerial camera systems, HyperCamera3 in FY22.

Outlook

Sometimes share prices, like the Nearmap share price, can be affected by what the company says about its future.

Nearmap said that it will continue to target ACV growth of between 20% to 40% in the medium-term to long-term and to maintain its underlying retention above 90%.

The company also said:

The combination of a healthy balance sheet and strong FY21 incremental ACV growth means Nearmap remains fully funded for the foreseeable future.

Optimistic expectations for the Nearmap share price

Two of the latest broker notes on Nearmap have price targets that are significantly higher than where it is today.

Citi has a price target of $2.20 on the business. At the time of the note release, it was ‘neutral’ on the business with thoughts that a legal battle in the US with Eagleview (part of the competition) could cost millions of dollars in legal fees.

Morgan Stanley rates the business as a buy with a price target of $3.20. That’s more than double where Nearmap is trading at right now. The broker thinks Nearmap will deliver at least to expectations.

The post The Nearmap (ASX:NEA) share price has dived 35% in a month. What now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why these 3 ASX tech shares could plunge this week
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
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• Why Best & Less, BHP, Mesoblast, and Nearmap shares are falling

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. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Nearmap Ltd., Xero, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Nearmap Ltd., and Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is out of form again on Monday. In early afternoon trade, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are down over 9% to a 52-week low of $4.37.

This means the Zip share price is now down 22% since the start of the year.

This is particularly disappointing given that in March its shares were up 160% year to date to a record high of $14.53. From top to bottom, this represents a decline of 70% for the Zip share price.

Why is the Zip share price falling again today?

Investors have been hitting the sell button on Monday amid broad weakness in the tech sector and particularly within the BNPL industry.

For example, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is down almost 5%, the Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) share price is down 10%, the Affirm share price fell 6% on Friday night, and the Square share price also dropped 6% on Friday.

This follows a poor night of trade on the tech-focused Nasdaq index on Friday, which saw the famous index drop 1.9%. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index is down 2%.

Outside this, criticism of Zip’s integration with Microsoft’s Edge browser could also be weighing on sentiment a touch.

Is this a buying opportunity?

While opinion remains divided on the Zip share price in the broker community, one leading broker is very positive.

According to a recent note out of Morgans, its analysts have an add rating and $8.56 price target on its shares. This implies potential upside of 96% for investors over the next 12 months.

Morgans likes the Zip share price due to its attractive valuation in comparison to its peers. The broker also continues to “see longer term upside if Z1P can continue to execute on its ambitions of becoming a global payments player.”

The post Why the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price is sinking 9% to a 52-week low 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. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Square, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Shares in Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) have had a poor run these past few days after falling off a high of $62.48 on 30 November.

There’s been no market-sensitive information out of the Pro Medicus camp in this time. But that hasn’t stopped investors selling off shares violently. The company opened Monday’s session at $55.93 after pre-market trading.

What’s up with Pro Medicus shares?

Despite the recent weakness, shares in the health imaging IT provider were a standout performer in November. They closed out the month 17% in the green – well ahead of most healthcare majors.

However, the dip in Pro Medicus shares is accompanied by a sector-wide sell-off. This sell-off has been in situ since we rolled into December.

For instance, the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (XHJ) has slipped 5% since the end of November, and shows no sign of slowing from the open today.

Concern around the Omicron COVID-19 variant and frothy share markets around the world has many investors taking risk off the table and seeking more defensive positions in safer assets, according to recent analysis from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

Goldman has even lowered its 2022 US GDP forecasts from 4.2% to 3.8%, citing risks and potential impacts of the new strain, according to reporting from Bloomberg Intelligence.

This activity appears to have boded poorly for ASX health care shares, Pro Medicus included.

Although, the team at investment bank Citi reckons the pullback in the company’s share price is warranted.

The firm rates Pro Medicus a sell at $45/share and reckons that investors could be overly optimistic in their growth projections for the company.

Citi notes the presence of many substitute products from Pro Medicus’ competitors that could originate in future. This poses a threat to the company’s profits and could compress its margins going forward, the broker says.

In the absence of any price-sensitive information out of the company’s camp lately, it appears that weakness in the wider sector has spilled over into names like Pro Medicus as a negative catalyst to its share price.

Pro Medicus share price snapshot

In the past 12 months the Pro Medicus share price has climbed more than 90%. Pro Medicus shares have rallied 67% this year to date.

However, they have taken a backward step in the last month and are almost 7% in the red. The Pro Medicus share price has fallen 6.65% in just the last week of trading.

The post The Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price has dropped 8% in 3 days. What’s going on? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
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• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: ANZ hit with class action, GUD sinks
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

The author has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended SDI Limited and Sonic Healthcare Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Coda Minerals Ltd (ASX: COD) share price is rocketing today, up 18% at time of writing to $1 per share.

Below we take a look at the latest drilling results that look to be driving investor interest in the ASX resource explorer.

What drilling results were announced?

The Coda Minerals share price is surging after the company reported “significant preliminary results” at its Elizabeth Creek Project, located in South Australia.

The results come from its ongoing iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) drilling program at Emmie Bluff Deeps. That’s part of Elizabeth Creek, which Coda is exploring along with its joint venture partner on the project, Torrens Mining Ltd (ASX: TRN). The Torrens share price is up 5% today.

According to the release, 4 new holes had hit thick copper-sulphide mineralised intercepts. This now extends the mineralised envelop to the north, east and south. The company highlighted that one hole struck zones “dominated by bornite, a high-grade copper sulphide”. The core of that mineralised zone has been extended 70 metres and remains open to the south.

The Coda Minerals share price could be getting an extra boost from the company’s statement that historical data “indicates the potential for significant extension in multiple directions” across the project.

Commenting on the results, Coda Mineral’s CEO, Chris Stevens said:

We have now had an outstanding run of nine holes from this and the previous drilling program. All have returned materially important intersections and we are beginning to demonstrate a clear trend of increasing thickness and tenor of mineralisation as we systematically follow the bornite-dominant zone to the south-east.

In particular, the results from EBD3W3B are exceptional. Once confirmed by assays, this hole will not only materially extend the known bornite-dominated zone but should also give us one of our thickest sulphide intersections to date.

Stevens said Coda had a cash balance of $17.8 million as at 30 September, leaving the company well-funded to continue its “ambitious ongoing exploration program” well into 2022.

Citing delays at assay laboratories that are impacting everyone in the industry, Coda expects to receive assay results for the 5 holes before Christmas.

Stay tuned.

Coda Minerals share price snapshot

It’s been a banner year for the Coda Minerals share price, up 211% since 4 January. For some context, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has gained 8% year-to-date.

Over the past month shares, in Coda Minerals are up 12%.

The post Here’s why the Coda Minerals (ASX:COD) share price is rocketing 18% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price is sinking 9% to a 52-week low
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• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Metcash jumps, Kogan and Zip sink
• You could’ve made $1 million investing less than $1,500 in these 3 cryptocurrencies

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 Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a bumpy start to the trading week this morning. The ASX 200 is currently down by 0.21%% at 7,244 points after a brief dive and rebound just after market open today. But one ASX 200 share is still very much in the red so far. That would be the Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price.

Magellan shares are, at the time of writing, down a nasty 3.61% at $31.20 a share. Not only that, this ASX fund manager dipped as low as $30.15 a share earlier in the trading day. That’s a new 52-week low for Magellan shares. It’s also the lowest pricing this company has seen since early 2019.

So what’s gone so wrong for Magellan today?

It’s likely to do with the funds under management (FUM) update the company released to the markets before open this morning.

Magellan, as a fund manager, releases its FUM every month, including its specific inflows and outflows. Today’s release covered the month of November.

Magellan share price slumps on FUM numbers

So Magellan told investors that its total FUM stood at $116.413 billion (as of 30 November). That’s up 1.41% from the $114.8 billion the company recorded on 31 October.

Retail FUM decreased slightly over the month, falling from $30.31 billion on 31 October to $20.23 billion on 30 November. However, institutional FUM rose from $84.5 billion to $86.18 billion over the same period.

All three of Magellan’s fund divisions saw rises. Global Equities rose from $85.14 billion to $86.27 billion. Infrastructure Equities was up from $19.97 billion to $20.45 billion, while Australian Equities rose from $9.69 billion to $9.7 billion.

Saying that, the Australian dollar had quite a fall between 31 October and 30 November. Magellan tells us that the Aussie was buying 75.11 US cents as of its October numbers, but had fallen to 70.9 US cents by November. As you can tell from the above figures, the vast majority of Magellan’s FUM is invested in international assets, most of which would be priced in US dollars.

As such, it’s very possible that on a constant currency basis, Magellan’s FUM would have actually fallen over the month just gone, or at least not look quite as rosy as it does with the drop included.

This could be one of the reasons why investors seem to have reacted so negatively to this announcement this morning.

Whatever the real reason for investors’ harsh reaction today, no doubt many of Magellan’s investors will be disappointed.

At the current Magellan share price, this company has a market capitalisation of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 21.6 and a trailing dividend yield of 6.77%

The post Why is the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price slipping today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Bruce Jackson.

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At lunch on Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is following the lead of US markets and trading lower. The benchmark index is currently down 0.2% to 7,225.7 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

Metcash half year results impress

The Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) share price is charging higher today after delivering a strong half year result. For the six months ended 31 October, Metcash reported a 1.3% increase in revenue to $7.2 billion and underlying profit after tax growth of 13.1% to $146.6 million. As a comparison, Ord Minnett was expecting a net profit of $141 million for the six months. In addition, Metcash revealed that the second half has started strongly.

Kogan and Redbubble sink

It has not been a good start to the week for ecommerce companies Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) and Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL). Both ASX shares are tumbling today amid weakness in the tech sector and news that they are being dumped from the ASX 200 index at the next quarterly rebalance. They will leave the index along with four other shares on 20 December.

Bapcor CEO kicked out

The Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) share price has continued its slide after revealing that its CEO will now exit immediately instead of in February. The auto parts retailer advised that since announcing the retirement of Darryl Abotomey as its CEO, there has been a marked deterioration in the relationship between him and the Board. As a result, “Mr Abotomey’s position as MD and CEO has become untenable.” This led to the Board making the unanimous decision to exercise its rights to bring forward his retirement immediately.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the Metcash share price with a gain of almost 6% following its half year results. The worst performer has been the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price with a 7.5% decline amid broad weakness in the tech and BNPL markets today.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Metcash jumps, Kogan and Zip sink 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. owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Bapcor. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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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.

A popular TV game show from a few years ago asked the question, “Who wants to be a millionaire?” The answer is easy — nearly everyone.

Achieving the goal isn’t so easy for investors, though. To become a millionaire usually takes a long time and a significant amount of money invested. But that’s not always the case. You could’ve made $1 million by investing less than $1,500 in each of these three cryptocurrencies — and done so within a relatively short period of time.

1. Shiba Inu

Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) stands out as one of the most impressive makers of rags-to-riches stories of all time.  If you invested only $1.56 in the digital token when it launched in August 2020, you’d now have $1 million.

How in the world did Shiba Inu skyrocket so much? For one thing, it started out trading at a minuscule amount. More importantly, though, Shiba Inu piggybacked on the success of another token — Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE).

Both Shiba Inu and Dogecoin use the Shiba Inu dog as their mascot. Unlike Dogecoin, though, Shiba Inu is compatible with the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) platform. That means that it can be used with Ethereum wallets and potentially be integrated with decentralized finance (DeFi) apps built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Don’t expect a small amount invested in Shiba Inu to make you a millionaire anytime soon these days, though. Some view it as the most dangerous cryptocurrency to own. Whether or not that take is correct or not, it’s virtually impossible for Shiba Inu to achieve anywhere close to the gains it’s racked up so far going forward.

2. Ethereum

Ethereum ranks as the second-biggest cryptocurrency in the world with a market cap of close to $537 billion. While the blockchain wasn’t officially launched until July 2015, Ethereum’s initial coin offering (ICO) occurred in the previous year. Had you bought only around $69.50 of Ether tokens in that ICO and held onto them, you’d now have $1 million.

The one overriding factor behind Ethereum’s meteoric rise is its real-world utility. Ethereum’s blockchain supports smart contracts that enable the execution of agreements on the internet with no intermediaries.

Another important example of this real-world utility is that the Ethereum blockchain can host other cryptocurrencies. Indeed, nearly half of the top 100 tokens based on market cap are compliant with Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard.

Other blockchains hope to dethrone Ethereum by offering faster transaction speeds and lower costs. However, a major upgrade is on the way in 2022 that should make Ethereum more competitive. It’s not likely to repeat the impressive performance of the past seven and a half years, but the cryptocurrency could still be a winner over the long term.

3. Dogecoin

Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) was launched in 2013 as a fun alternative to Bitcoin. Early investors have certainly had a lot of fun. An initial investment of around $1,492 in Dogecoin when it first became available for mining would now be worth $1 million. 

Online investing communities soon began jumping aboard the Dogecoin train. It gained popularity in tipping on Redditt and Twitter. However, Dogecoin really hit its stride after Tesla CEO Elon Musk began tweeting about it.

Musk has stated that Dogecoin is his favorite cryptocurrency and is one of only three digital coins that he personally owns. He even has referred to himself the “Dogefather.”

The impact of the billionaire’s vocal support has its limits, though. Like Shiba Inu and Ethereum, Dogecoin almost certainly won’t be able to deliver the level of returns going forward as it has in the past. The cryptocurrency could still potentially make money for investors over the long term, but it’s unlikely to make quick millionaires. 

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

The post You could’ve made $1 million investing less than $1,500 in these 3 cryptocurrencies appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Could interest-paying crypto accounts be coming to a CBA (ASX:CBA) branch near you?
• Shiba Inu soars and crashes, but it’s still holding up this week
• Here’s how these 4 top traded cryptos performed in November
• Here’s why Charlie Munger says crypto should have ‘never been invented’
• Why Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are slumping today

Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tesla, and Twitter. 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 Bruce Jackson.

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

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Although it’s faring better than the US markets, the ASX is nevertheless very volatile at the moment.

The uncertainty about the COVID-19 Omicron variant seems to be making investors jittery. Will it be resistant to vaccines? Will it cause more lockdowns?

“Markets will remain watchful of Omicron developments, with a seemingly inevitable further surge in global reported cases likely,” said BetaShares chief economist David Bassanese.

“Another uncomfortably high US consumer price index report on Friday will be the other big market focus this week.”

Nervous times call for a stiff drink and maybe a flutter.

If you want to literally back those habits, Morgans has helpfully picked out 3 drinking and gambling ASX shares among its “best ideas” for December.

“Our best ideas are those that we think offer the highest risk-adjusted returns over a 12-month timeframe supported by a higher-than-average level of confidence,” said analyst Andrew Tang.

A demerger that will provide value

Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH) shares have done well this year, climbing 27% while giving out a 2.86% dividend yield.

Tang reckons there is more to come in the coming year as it separates out the Lotteries and Keno business.

“At current levels, we think Lotteries and Keno is trading on ~15x EBITDA and think this multiple can re-rate to between 16x and 20x on a standalone basis over time, supported by offshore peer comps and domestic infrastructure names.”

Drinking shifts from home to pubs

Supermarket giant Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) spun off its alcohol retailers as its own company Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV), which listed back in June.

Endeavour’s operations include recognisable brands like Dan Murphy’s and BWS.

The shares have dipped 5.45% in the past couple of weeks, which might present a buying opportunity.

The team at Morgans is confident further growth will come as Australia shifts to a post-pandemic mode.

“While Endeavour’s retail division has benefited greatly from lockdowns and higher at-home consumption, its hotels business has been negatively impacted by closures and restrictions,” said Tang.

“The reopening of venues in NSW and VIC should be positive for Endeavour overall, despite likely weakness in retail as at-home consumption normalises, given hotels is a higher margin business.”

Recovery from China ban

Shares for winemaker Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) were devastated last year in the wake of the Chinese government slapping retaliatory tariffs on Australian imports.

Since then the company has worked hard to diversify its target markets.

“TWE has the China reallocation risk and it will take 2-3 years to recover these earnings in new markets,” said Tang.

“However once it comps China earnings, we expect TWE to deliver strong earnings growth from the 2H22 [quarter] onwards.”

Organic growth could be accompanied by acquisitions, according to Morgans.

“We view TWE’s recent acquisition of Napa Valley luxury wine business, Frank Family Vineyards (FFV) as strategically important,” said Tang.

“This high margin business should see TWE achieve its US margin target two years earlier than planned.”

Treasury Wine shares are trading at $11.86 on Monday morning. They’ve gained 24.14% since the start of the year.

“The stock is currently trading at a material discount to its long term PE range,” Tang said.

“We see recent share price weakness as a great buying opportunity in this high quality company.”

The post Drinking and gambling: 3 ASX shares to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Can Treasury Wine (ASX:TWE) ever fill the hole left by Chinese exports?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• Could this be a fly in the ointment for Woolworths’ (ASX:WOW) push into healthcare?
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Can Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) win the battle to take over API?

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 recommended Treasury Wine Estates Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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