The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price is up 3% in the past 24 hours and a whopping 28% since this time last week.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading for US$28,036 (AU$40,465).

That puts the world’s top crypto up some 69% so far in 2023.

And it’s not just the Bitcoin price that’s shooting the lights out this past week.

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the world’s number two crypto by market valuation, is up 12% since last Monday.

One Ether is currently trading for US$1,783.

What’s driving the Bitcoin price higher?

The Bitcoin price looks to be getting some solid tailwinds on two fronts.

First, there’s the past week’s succession of banking failures that commenced in the United States with Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and spread to Europe to Credit Suisse and others.

As you may be aware, Bitcoin was born in the wake of the global financial crisis. Satoshi Nakamoto (the name used by the crypto’s founder or founders) wrote the white paper that launched the token when trust in the global financial system was at a low point.

Now that trust is again being tested.

“An environment where higher interest rates after a period of hyper-low interest rates are creating bank runs is about as perfect a Bitcoin use-case as one can think,” CEO of FRNT Financial Stephane Ouellette said (courtesy of Bloomberg).

The Bitcoin price also looks to be benefiting from investor expectations that the global banking woes will force the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to ease off their aggressive rate-tightening paths.

“Given the uncertainty, we are not yet seeing mass retail or institutional inflows into the market,” crypto analyst Noelle Acheson said.

“What is moving the market is the shifting liquidity environment,” she added, noting “expectations are consolidating around a much lower rate-hike ceiling than expected even a week ago. That environment is good for risk assets, and especially Bitcoin which has no earnings or credit vulnerability.”

Proceed with care

While some crypto investors have made tidy profits, many have been stung by leaping in when FOMO strikes.

While the Bitcoin price could continue to march higher from here, it could also head in the other direction.

Remember, even after this year’s remarkable rally, Bitcoin is still down more than 59% from its all-time high of US$68,790 reached on 10 November 2021.

Invest with care.

The post Bitcoin price rockets 28% in a week amid ‘perfect use case’ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Something strange is happening with the Bitcoin price in 2023

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia has has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. 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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While ASX gold shares are starting the week very strongly, one is standing out with a particularly strong gain.

At the time of writing, the Breaker Resources NL (ASX: BRB) share price is up a whopping 36% to a 52-week high of 39.5 cents.

Why is this ASX gold share rocketing higher?

Investors have been scrambling to buy this ASX gold share after it accepted a takeover offer from Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS).

According to the release, the two parties have entered into a bid implementation agreement (BIA), pursuant to which Ramelius will offer to acquire Breaker by way of an all-scrip off-market takeover.

Under the terms of the offer, Breaker shareholders will receive 1 Ramelius share for every 2.82 Breaker shares they own.

This equates to an offer of 40 cents per share, which is a 39% premium to its last close price and values Breaker’s undiluted equity at $130.7 million.

What’s next?

Breaker’s directors have unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept the offer. This is in the absence of a superior offer.

Furthermore, they intend to accept the offer for all the shares they own or control. This currently represents approximately 4% of its issued shares. But they are not alone. Breaker’s two largest shareholders, Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund and Paulson & Co, with a combined shareholding of approximately 19.92% will do the same.

Why acquire Breaker?

Ramelius revealed that acquiring this ASX gold share is in line with its long term strategy. It explained:

Ramelius’ long-term strategy has been to create shareholder value through organic and inorganic growth opportunities. The acquisition of Breaker is in line with Ramelius’ objective to execute synergistic corporate opportunities to enhance the development of a new production hub following the complementary acquisition of Apollo Consolidated Limited and its flagship Rebecca project which completed in early 2022.

The post Why is this ASX gold share rocketing 36% higher today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why is everyone suddenly talking about ASX 200 gold stocks again?
• Why are ASX 200 gold stocks like Northern Star having such a stellar run today?
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• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

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 investment team at Wilson Asset Management (WAM) has picked out some ASX shares that could be undervalued and prime buying opportunities.

WAM runs a number of different listed investment companies (LICs) including WAM Research Limited (ASX: WAX) and WAM Active Limited (ASX: WAA) which looks to find undervalued opportunities on the ASX share market.

In the latest monthly update, WAM revealed two of its leading ideas which could produce outperformance.

Tourism Holdings Ltd (ASX: THL)

WAM described this ASX share as a global tourism operator and the largest commercial recreational vehicle rental operator in the world.

The fund manager pointed out that the company announced “strong” FY23 half-year results and “record guidance”, which revealed that it now expects an improved underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) to be “above NZ$75 million”.

WAM said that the guidance was “reflective of the strong trading in the first half of FY23 and a positive outlook for the remainder of FY23”. The fund manager explained its positive outlook for the business:

We continue to remain positive on Tourism Holdings’ outlook as the tourism industry continues to recover and the business benefits from synergies following the merger with Apollo Tourism & Leisure.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

The fund manager described the ASX share as a pure play online retailer of furniture and homewares.

Last month, Temple & Webster released its FY23 half-year result, with revenue of $207 million, which was down year over year from $235.4 million in FY22. WAM also pointed out that the company noted that sales in the first five weeks of the 2023 calendar year were also down by 7%.

The fund manager pointed out that the negative result and overall market sentiment led to a decline of the Temple & Webster share price, which fell around 27% on the day of the report announcement.

WAM said:

Despite the slowing growth in home goods retail, we believe Temple & Webster Group remains in a great position to leverage the long-term opportunity to expand into the e-commerce space in the Australian furniture and homewares sector.

Temple & Webster also recently launched a share buyback of up to $30 million.

The post 2 undervalued ASX shares to buy this month: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy now
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• Temple & Webster share price higher on $30 million share buyback
• Analysts say these exciting ASX growth shares are buys this month

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 Temple & Webster Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group. 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) gold shares are rocketing out of the blocks on Monday.

At the time of writing, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares are up 8.7%.

Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) shares are up 6.8%.

And Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) shares are up 10.3%.

Boom!

The blue-chip Aussie gold miners’ surge is helping send the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) – which also contains smaller miners outside of the ASX 200 gold shares – up a whopping 8% in early trade.

This comes as the benchmark index is down 0.45% following weakness in US and European markets on Friday.

What’s driving ASX 200 gold shares higher today?

Investors are bidding up the ASX 200 gold shares following a big leg up in the gold price.

On Friday, the miners came under pressure as the yellow metal’s rally faltered and the price slipped to US$1,923 per troy ounce.

Over the weekend, the rally regained steam to see gold trading for US$1,989 per ounce. It’s slipped a tad since, currently trading for  US$1,977 per ounce, up 2.8% from Friday’s levels.

Gold – and ASX 200 gold shares – have benefited from the global uncertainty stemming from the banking crisis unfolding in the United States and Europe.

Investors have again upped their exposure to the yellow metal, a classic haven asset, with economists increasingly forecasting that the financial instability will see the US Federal Reserve, and other central banks, ease off on the past year’s rapid interest rate hikes.

Less aggressive rate hikes amid still high inflation would offer further tailwinds for gold, which doesn’t offer any yield itself.

Commenting on the outlook for gold — and, by extension, ASX 200 gold shares — TD Securities global head of commodity strategy Bart Melek said (courtesy of Kitco News) said, “Markets are concluding that we’ll see the Fed go for another 25bps increase and then probably sit on it for a while and see what happens.”

Melek added:

The view from the gold perspective is that given disruptions in the banking system and the US Treasury Department’s willingness to help, we might get accommodation that allows inflation to hang around longer at a higher level. This is a good thing for gold.

The post ASX 200 gold shares are starting the week with a bang. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is descending on Monday morning.

At the time of writing, the airline operator’s shares are down 3% to $6.27.

Why is the Qantas share price falling?

Today’s weakness in the Qantas share price appears to have been driven by concerns over its proposed acquisition of Alliance Aviation Services Ltd (ASX: AQZ).

Alliance is Australasia’s leading provider of contract, charter, and allied aviation and maintenance services. It provides essential services to mining, energy, and government sectors as well as wet lease services for other airlines.

In May last year, Qantas announced an agreement with Alliance to acquire the remaining 80% stake that it does not already own in an all-scrip deal. At the time, the Qantas share price was trading at $4.75 per share, which valued the 80% stake at $614 million.

Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, believed that “acquiring the remaining shares in Alliance would mean QantasLink can better compete in the highly competitive charter segment, particularly given the shared fleet type of Fokker aircraft.”

What’s the latest?

This morning, Alliance revealed that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has informed it that it will further delay its review of the proposed scheme of arrangement until 20 April 2023.

The market appears to believe that this could be a sign that the ACCC has concerns with the potential acquisition, casting doubts over the deal.

Given that Qantas expects it to be earnings per share accretive, it would be a blow if it didn’t go through. But certainly not the end of the world for the airline operator.

Investors will have to sit tight and wait to see what the ACCC announces this time next month.

The post Qantas share price takes a dive amid more takeover delays 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 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 Australian Clinical Labs Ltd (ASX: ACL) share price is having a solid start to the week.

In morning trade, the ASX All Ords healthcare share is up 3% to $3.73.

Why is the ASX All Ords healthcare share rising?

The catalyst for this has been news that the company has launched a bold takeover approach for larger rival Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS).

According to the release, Australian Clinical Labs has made a nil-premium all-scrip off-market takeover offer of 0.74 shares for every Healius share.

While this may seem like an odd takeover proposal from the ASX All Ords healthcare share, there is method to its madness.

Australian Clinical Labs believes the real value of the proposal will come when the two companies merge.

It believes the merged entity would deliver pro forma earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $361 million in FY 2023. This includes cost synergies and operational improvement benefits.

Based on its forecast earnings and belief that it could trade at the current blended forward EV/EBIT multiple of 17.5x, it estimates that it could deliver a value uplift of approximately $2.1 billion. It notes that this equates to a 90% increase in the value per Healius share implied by the offer consideration.

Another positive is that Australian Clinical Labs believes the merged group would be a candidate for ASX 100 inclusion in time.

What’s next?

As things stand, Healius has told its shareholders that it is looking at the offer. In the meantime, it has informed shareholders to take no action.

Management commented:

The Board of Healius advises shareholders to take no action in respect of ACL’s takeover offer. The Board will evaluate the offer and ACL’s bidder’s statement and provide shareholders with a recommendation in due course. Until then, there is no need for shareholders to take any action. Healius will keep its shareholders fully informed of any further developments.

The post Why this ASX All Ords healthcare share is defying the market weakness and zooming higher 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 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 AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price is slipping this morning despite the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) financial giant announcing it will finally begin to offload its real estate and domestic infrastructure business.

The first stage of its long-awaited sale to Dexus Property Group (ASX: DXS) will bring in around $337 million. However, final completion – and another $50 million – still hinges on Chinese regulatory approvals.

The AMP share price is currently trading 0.3% lower at 98.2 cents.

But that’s a better performance than the broader market. The ASX 200 is tumbling 0.78% at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the Dexus share price is down 1.15%, trading at $7.75.

Let’s take a closer look at the latest news of AMP’s massive divestment.

AMP share price slumps amid simplification milestone

 AMP’s sale of Collimate Capital’s real estate and domestic infrastructure equity business was once worth up to $1 billion, but those days have passed.

After lengthy delays, the base purchase price was dropped to $225 million and any potential funds under management-based earn outs forfeited earlier this year. But today has brought brighter news.

The pair have officially finalised a previously-flagged alternative transaction structure. The first stage of the new plan for the sale is set to complete on Friday.

That will see Dexus taking on the business without AMP’s interest in China Life AMP Asset Management (CLAMP) being transferred out. The transfer is yet to be approved by regulators in China.

At first completion, Dexus will pay $175 million of the $225 million base purchase price, as well as $105 million for sponsor investments and $57 million for cash on the business’ balance sheet – a total of around $337 million.

The remaining $50 million of the base purchase price will be paid on final completion. That is, as long as CLAMP’s transfer occurs by 30 September 2024.

Looking forward

AMP CEO Alexis George said the sale would be “a key pillar of our strategy to simplify AMP”. He added:

The sale allows AMP to have a clear focus on our go forward businesses of retail banking and wealth management in Australia and New Zealand.

We will continue to build on the hard work of the past 12 months to position AMP to win in those markets, deliver for customers and drive value for shareholders.

AMP will now begin a review of its balance sheet and cost base. It will do so with the view to reduce debt and return excess liquidity to shareholders.

An update on the reviews will be published sometime before it drops its first-half earnings in August.

The post AMP share price dips despite $337m sale win appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why I’d be happy to invest in these ASX 200 bank shares today
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• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Friday

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 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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There are some S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank shares that look like a buy to me, despite the current difficulties the banking industry is seeing in the northern hemisphere.

Ten days ago, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed and regulators had to step in to ensure depositors were able to access their money.

Credit Suisse in Switzerland is also facing difficulties, with the investment bank seemingly going to be acquired by UBS.

There has been much analysis of what went wrong at SVB. It seemed part of the problem was that SVB’s at-call deposits were matched with longer-term bonds. Due to the impacts of higher interest rates, selling those bonds before maturity led to a loss for the business.

It also didn’t help that an extremely high proportion of deposits in SVB were from technology business clients. It’s no surprise that those clients with large sums of cash in the bank would want to protect their funds, considering their businesses rely on regularly drawing on that money while they aim for cash flow breakeven status.

However, I think ASX 200 bank shares are in a much better position than their northern hemisphere counterparts for a few different reasons. That includes strong capital levels, a high level of household customers, and low levels of loan arrears.

With that in mind, these would be my current top four ASX 200 bank shares to buy, in my opinion.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

Macquarie is a very diversified ASX financial share. The banking segment of Macquarie is growing rapidly. But, it’s very strongly capitalised – the bank common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 13.3% at 31 December 2022.

But, I also like that the business can earn profit from its other segments including asset management, investment banking activities, and commodities and global market activities.

It’s the diversified business that has enabled the net profit after tax (NPAT) to be up in FY23 to date, despite FY22 being a strong year.

I think Macquarie will be able to sail through any economic problems.

National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)

NAB has really turned things around under the leadership of Ross McEwan.

The bank is also well-capitalised with a CET1 ratio of 11.3% at 31 December 2022. It’s also growing at a fast pace. In the FY23 first quarter, cash earnings jumped 18.7%, which makes the NAB share price more compelling.

In terms of valuation, Commsec numbers put NAB shares at 11x FY23’s estimated earnings with a possible grossed-up dividend yield of 8.7%.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Westpac is another of the big four ASX 200 bank shares, but I’d currently rate it higher than Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) because of its much-lower valuation and higher dividend yield.

I also prefer Westpac to ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) because I’m uncertain about ANZ’s move to acquire the banking division of Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN).

According to Commsec numbers, the Westpac share price is valued at 10x FY23’s estimated earnings with a grossed-up dividend yield of 9.3%. I think these numbers look very compelling.

The post Why I’d be happy to invest in these ASX 200 bank shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Westpac Banking. 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 AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price has sunk lower again. It’s down 14.5% since the beginning of 2023.

It has been a difficult time for the business over the last few years. Its leadership team have been replaced, profit has been falling and the AGL share price has declined by almost 70% since the start of 2020.

But, while the AGL share price has fallen, it’s worthwhile noting that, at some point, the AGL share price may become undervalued. It could already be at that point.

What’s been going wrong for AGL shares?

The latest result was an excellent example of the types of things that are going wrong for the business.

In the first six months of FY23, AGL reported that its underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped 16% to $604 million, while underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) declined 55% to $87 million.

AGL reported a statutory loss after tax of $1.075 billion, including $706 million of impairment charges after tax.

The impairment charges related to the carrying value of the AGL energy generation fleet cash-generating unit, largely as a result of the decision to accelerate the targeted closure date of AGL’s thermal coal generation assets.

AGL’s statutory result was also impacted by a negative movement in the ‘fair value of financial instruments’, to the tune of $622 million, which primarily reflected the “impact of a drop in forward prices for electricity relative to AGL’s hedging of its electricity generation position”.

The business has also suffered from outages of its power generation.

AGL shares can be impacted by its guidance because the market is forward-looking. AGL’s underlying NPAT for FY23 is expected to be between $200 million to $280 million. It’s expecting more energy generation in the second half, with an improvement in the customer margin.

Is the AGL share price a buy right now?

AGL thinks the outlook beyond FY23 is “positive”, with wholesale pricing remaining “elevated compared to prior periods with AGL expected to benefit as historical contract positions are reset in FY24 and FY25.”

On top of that, “sustained periods of higher wholesale electricity prices are expected to flow through to retail pricing outcomes.”

AGL is on a path to investing heavily in renewable energy to replace coal. That will help its green credentials and, while there’s a hefty price tag, AGL will generate earnings from its green energy assets.

Analyst estimates suggest that AGL could generate much higher earnings in the coming years. In FY25, AGL could generate earnings per share (EPS) of 97 cents and pay a dividend per share of 70 cents, according to Commsec.

That puts the current AGL share price at 7 times FY25’s estimated earnings, with a possible dividend yield of 10.2%, excluding the effect of franking credits.

While it’s not the most exciting business around, the prospect of much-improved earnings in FY24 and FY25 is compelling and the current valuation could prove cheap.

Valuation snapshot

According to the ASX, the AGL market capitalisation is $4.6 billion.

The post Should I buy AGL shares at under $7 each? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 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 Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS) share price is defying the market weakness and pushing higher on Monday.

At the time of writing, the healthcare company’s shares are up 7% to $2.97.

Why is the Healius share price pushing higher?

Investors have been bidding the Healius share price higher today after the company received a takeover proposal from a smaller rival.

In an incredibly bold move by $700 million Australian Clinical Labs Ltd (ASX: ACL), $1.58 billion Healius has received an all-scrip off-market takeover approach.

According to the release, Australian Clinical Labs is offering 0.74 shares for every Healius share. This represents a nil-premium offer based on the Healius share price on the day of its half-year results release and the last close price for the Australian Clinical Labs share price.

Is this a terrible offer?

While this offer may look incredibly unattractive at first glance, the value is expected to be unlocked through merger synergies and a valuation uplift.

The release highlights that the potential merged group is forecast to have pro forma FY 2023 EBIT of $361 million including cost synergies and operational improvement benefits.

Australian Clinical Labs believes that this would deliver a value uplift of approximately $2.1 billion if the merged group trades at the current blended forward EV/EBIT multiple of 17.5x.

This equates to a 90% increase in the value per Healius share implied by the offer consideration. Australian Clinical Labs also believes the merged group could be a candidate for ASX 100 inclusion in time.

Take no action

Healius has responded to the offer this morning. It said:

The Board of Healius advises shareholders to take no action in respect of ACL’s takeover offer. The Board will evaluate the offer and ACL’s bidder’s statement and provide shareholders with a recommendation in due course. Until then, there is no need for shareholders to take any action. Healius will keep its shareholders fully informed of any further developments.

The post Healius share price jumps 7% on takeover approach from smaller rival 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 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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