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.

What happened

Shares of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) took another step down today, even though there was no company-specific news about the tech giant. Instead, a broader sell-off seems to be weighing on the stock for two reasons.

First, fears of a recession are likely growing after Meta Platforms said it was laying off 13% of its staff. And second, a rout in the cryptocurrency market continued after FTX, one of the biggest exchanges, was on the verge of collapse after Binance backed out of a rescue deal.      

Amazon stock finished the day down 4.3%, while the Nasdaq lost 2.5%.

So what

While Amazon doesn’t have direct exposure to the layoffs at the Facebook parent or the collapse in the crypto market, it arguably has more exposure to consumer and business spending than any other company. It’s the second-largest U.S. company by revenue (behind Walmart), and much of its business depends on consumer discretionary spending and businesses spending on cloud infrastructure and advertising.

The company’s fourth-quarter guidance indicated significant headwinds from the macro environment, as guidance called for revenue growth of just 2%-8% in the fourth quarter. On the earnings call, CFO Brian Olsavsky noted caution in spending in both its e-commerce division and Amazon Web Services, the cloud infrastructure unit. 

After the latest quarterly update, the company looks vulnerable to a recession.

Now what

In addition to a slowdown to in the growth of the business, Amazon’s valuation also seems like a concern to investors at this point. The stock is still expensive according to traditional metrics, and only one of its three core business segments, AWS, is consistently profitable.

Though shares are now down more than 50% from last-year’s peak, they could fall further if the overall economic outlook continues to deteriorate.              

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

The post Why Amazon stock finished lower today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Amazon stock dropped last week
• Should investors buy the dip on Amazon stock?
• Amazon is proving why it’s a Buffett stock
• Is Amazon stock a buy now?
• Why Amazon is plunging today

Jeremy Bowman has positions in Amazon and Meta Platforms, Inc. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. 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. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Amazon, Meta Platforms, Inc., and Walmart Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and Meta Platforms, Inc. 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had a pretty decent week so far, bar today’s miserly performance. Since the end of last week’s trading, the ASX 200 has gained a healthy 1% or so. So it may be surprising to find out that one ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) has risen by a whopping 13% over the same period. That ETF is none other than the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (ASX: GDX).

This ETF from provider VanEck does what it suggests on the tin: invests in a portfolio of gold mining shares.

But not just ASX gold miners. Sure, you will find Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM), Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST), and some other ASX peers. But this fund holds gold miners from all around the world. More than 50% of its weighted portfolio is actually held in Canadian miners.

A further 20% hail from the United States. As such, it is other names like Newmont Corp, Barrick Gold, and Wheaton Precious Metals that dominate the VanEck Gold Miners ETF”s portfolio.

Overall, this ETF has 49 underlying holdings within it.

So why has the VanEck Gold Miners ETF had such a cracking week?

Why has the Vaneck Gold Miners ETF soared 13% this week?

Well, for an ETF to rise like this, its underlying companies usually have to be rising in value as well. And lo and behold, we see that Newmont, the fund’s largest holding, is up by 5.7% over the week so far. Barrick Gold is up around 8%, a similar amount to Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN). This is largely thanks to the price of gold itself appreciating over this period.

Further, since most of the VanEck Gold Miners ETF’s holdings are domiciled outside Australia, the value of the fund is also influenced by currency movements. Over the past week, we have also seen the Australian dollar drop against the US dollar. This would boost the returns of this ETF even further. That’s because most of the companies are priced in non-Australian dollar terms.

So all of these factors probably explain why the VanEck Gold Miners ETF has had such a stellar run this week. But despite this, the ETF remains down by around 5.6% this year to date.

The post Guess which ASX ETF is up 13% so far this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Can ASX 200 gold share Evolution Mining really surge another 30% on top of recent gains?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Newcrest Mining Limited. 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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1) Growth stocks have taken a pummeling these last 12 months, with seemingly no let-up in sight. As witnessed by the fall in the Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price today, a high-quality stock that was down 50% over the past 12 months (before today), can still tumble another 11%… and potentially more.

Xero reported revenue grew 31% over the past six months, but that translated into only an 11% increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA). Free cash flow was just $NZ15.6 million as the company continues to reinvest to drive long-term shareholder value.

Problem is, when your market capitalisation is close to $10 billion, and in these times of higher interest rates when the market wants to see a decent level of cash generation, a few million dollars of free cash flow isn’t going to pass muster.

To some, Xero may offer value, given the lifetime value of a customer is around seven times its cost of acquisition. But it’s going to take a long time for the company to grow into its valuation, and in this market, patience is not a strong point. It will likely be many years before the Xero share price gets back to the heady days of $150.

2) If ASX growth shares are on the nose, value shares must be the way to go.

There’s no shortage of companies that look like great value, trading on single-digit earnings multiples and very attractive dividend yields.

Company	Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio	Yield
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)	7.6	12.3%
Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)	8.1	8.6%
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)	6.4	12.4%
JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)	10.2	7.3%
Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)	6.4	18.5%
Codan Limited (ASX: CDA)	8.4	7.1%
Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)	9.7	8.0%

Data from S&P Capital IQ, P/E multiple based on last twelve months earnings. Dividend yield is historical, not forecast.

If only stock picking was this easy… 

Looking forward, each company has its challenges. When it comes to investing, there’s always a catch.

Commodity prices are hard to predict, and typically the time to buy mining stocks is at the bottom of the cycle, not near the top, as is the case now due to booming oil, iron ore and coal prices.

Retailers have some serious headwinds ahead as sharply higher interest rates start to put a bite on retail spending. As to what extent, we’re all just guessing at this stage.

By lengthening your time horizon, you put the odds more in your favour. 

Will JB Hi-Fi be generating higher profits in five years’ time than now? You’d imagine so, but how much higher? Only 20% higher translates into a less than 4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). But 50% higher is a much more attractive 8.5% CAGR, with dividends on top. Any expansion in its earnings multiple would be jam on top of the cake.

Obviously, Magellan Financial Group will not be trading on a forecast dividend yield of anything like 18.5%. Its forward dividend yield could be closer to 0%. Will we look back five years from now at Magellan’s enterprise value of around $700 million versus its funds under management of $50 billion and think this is a value stock? Maybe.

3) Even legendary value investor Anton Tagliaferro is struggling to find obvious value.

Interviewed by Livewire Markets, the founder of Investors Mutual said with the recent stock market rally, it’s become more difficult to uncover the value gems.

Tagliaferro says Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ) continues to impress, saying the rail haulage company has very stable revenues with long-term contracts. 

“Obviously, the coal sector’s doing very well, so its customers are doing very well, which helps when you’re negotiating prices. And Aurizon has a very good management team.”

While, on a trailing basis, not as cheap as the companies listed above, this ASX share trades on a modest 14.5 times earnings and a trailing franked dividend yield of 5.8%.

The post Amidst the ongoing tech stock wreck, value shares are everywhere. There’s just one catch… appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Don’t panic! Here are 7 reasons we can avoid a recession: AMP
• Why Block, Lake Resources, Pendal, and Xero shares are dropping today
• China’s property crash has decimated the iron ore price. So what’s the outlook for Rio Tinto shares?
• Own BHP shares? Here are key takeaways from the miner’s AGM
• Why is the Woodside share price being whittled away today?

Motley Fool contributor Bruce Jackson has positions in Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ADAIRS FPO and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended ADAIRS FPO and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aurizon Holdings Limited and JB Hi-Fi Limited. 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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If you have room for some new investments, then you might want to consider the two ASX 200 shares listed below.

Both are rated highly by one of Australia’s leading brokers, Morgans.  Here’s why its analysts are bullish on these ASX 200 shares:

IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

The first ASX 200 share that Morgans is a fan of is this student placement and language testing company.

With its shares down 18% since the start of the year, the broker believes they are trading at a very attractive level for investors. Particularly given its belief that IDP will grow its earnings per share by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.2% over the next two years. It commented:

IEL’s recovery (Australia Student Placement) and momentum (other divisions) support the strong growth expected in FY23. Structural demand, market share gains, technology-led client retention, operating leverage and acquisitions (especially IELTs distribution) can see IEL compound growth long-term. Value has emerged, however IEL’s near-term multiples see the stock susceptible to short-term volatility.

Morgans currently has IDP Education on its best ideas list for November with a $31.10 price target.

Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)

Another ASX 200 share that the broker has on its best ideas list is this health imaging technology company.

The broker likes Pro Medicus due to the quality of its offering and favourable long term industry tailwinds. Like IDP, Morgans is expecting this to drive very strong earnings growth (CAGR of 23.8%) over the next two financial years. It commented:

We like the space, with high single digit organic volume growth and long-term industry tailwinds. Profitability in the business is backed up by long-term contracted revenues with some of the world’s largest hospital systems and growing pipeline of tenders which we view will provide continued growth over the medium to long term. We view the business as best-in-class as it heads into CY22 with a step-change in billable contracts following the significant volume and value of contracts signed over the last 12-18 months. The recent market weakness in high growth tech names has provided an opportunity for reasonable entry points.

Morgans has an add rating and $58.18 price target on the company’s shares.

The post Morgans names 2 fast-growing ASX 200 shares to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are 2 of the best ASX growth shares to buy: Morgans
• US$10 billion was just wiped from the value of Atlassian. How are ASX 200 tech shares responding?
• Leading fund manager names the 3 ASX stocks that drove its returns higher in October
• Two 5-bagger health tech ASX shares ready to rocket again: expert
• WAM visited 150 companies in October. Here are 5 ASX shares they are super positive on right now

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 Idp Education Pty Ltd and Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Hawsons Iron Ltd (ASX: HIO) share price is slipping on Thursday, down 9.09% to 10 cents per share in afternoon trading

Today’s movement brings further pain to shareholders, who have had to endure a 74% decline in the Hawsons Iron share price over the past month alone.

What’s whacking the Hawsons Iron share price today?

The answer is likely to be the same issue whacking the major ASX iron ore shares today: China.

There’s no price-sensitive news out of the small-cap miner today. However, it did lodge its presentation from the Noosa Mining Investor Conference with the ASX for shareholders to review.

The bigger issue for the iron ore miner today is the ongoing discussion about China’s economic slowdown.

As we reported earlier, China’s property sector has been decimated. This had led to lower construction activity and demand for steel, which has lowered the demand for Australian iron ore.

China’s economy is also slowing because lockdowns enforced under the COVID-zero policy are disrupting industrial activity.

Over the past 18 months, this has led to a dramatic fall in the price of iron ore.

According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Reserve Bank deputy governor Michele Bullock says these two issues are among the bank’s top concerns for the health of the Australian economy.

What’s going on with the iron ore price?

Iron ore has gone from a record-high price of about US$240 per tonne in May 2021 to US$91.50 per tonne today.

That directly affects the earnings of every Australian iron ore business, regardless of whether they export to China specifically.

Today, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) shares are down 0.4% to $98.21. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares are down 1% to $40.75. The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price is down 1.6% to $16.85.

Michael Slack of MCA writes on Livewire that the iron ore price could go down further due to an impending oversupply. As a result, his fund is underweight on iron ore companies.

Slack said:

Looking forward, we see growth in iron ore supply, particularly out of Australia, Brazil and Africa, exceeding growth in Chinese demand thereby pushing the iron ore market into surplus and impacting price.

If China continues along this path and allows the property sector to wallow, iron ore pricing and resource companies may suffer along with it.

Why has the Hawsons Iron share price lost 80%?

Hawsons Iron’s woes don’t just stop at the falling value of iron ore.

Some company-specific things are going on that have caused a massive drop in the share price.

As my Fool colleague Brooke reported, Hawsons announced it was pressing the pause button on its flagship project last month.

The need to preserve cash forced the decision to slow activity on the Hawson Iron Project’s bankable feasibility study (BFS).

Shareholders had a negative reaction. In fact, they went crazy. The share price tanked 62% on the day of the news and it hasn’t recovered since.

Prior to the announcement, Hawsons Iron had been one of the success stories of the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) in 2022.

While most ASX shares had been falling this year, the Hawsons Iron share price had gone up 118% before the fateful news.

At today’s Noosa Mining Conference, managing director Bryan Granzien said Hawsons had a “world-class resource” project. It is located in the Braemar iron region about 60km southwest of Broken Hill.

He reminded investors that it has a current JORC 2012 Resource of 3.9 billion tonnes at 12.3 DTR% for 481 Mt of concentrate. Hawsons also has a trademarked ‘Supergrade’ iron ore product with 70% Fe.

The post Why is the Hawsons Iron share price tanking 9% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• China’s property crash has decimated the iron ore price. So what’s the outlook for Rio Tinto shares?
• Own BHP shares? Here are key takeaways from the miner’s AGM
• The Fortescue share price has leapt 17% in November. Here’s why it may not last
• Why is the Fortescue share price bolting out of the gate on Wednesday?
• These 10 predictions could help you profit from the stock market regardless of inflation, interest rates or even another bear market

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in BHP Billiton Limited and Fortescue Metals Group Limited. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) seems to be on the cusp of giving up its recent winning streak, and is suffering a mild fall today thus far. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has suffered a loss of 0.47% and is back down to around 6,970 points.

But rather than dwelling on all that, let’s instead take a deeper look into these falls by checking out the ASX 200 shares that are topping the market’s trading volume charts right now, according to investing.com.

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Thursday

Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)

First up today is ASX 200 gold share Evolution. Evolution Mining has seen a sizable 16.43 million of its shares exchanged on the ASX so far this Thursday.

There’s been no news out of Evolution today. So the likely cause of this trading volume is the pleasing share price gains that Evolution shares are enjoying. The gold miner is currently up by a healthy 3.83% at $2.44 after gold prices rose overnight.

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO)

Our next ASX 200 share today is the lithium producer Core Lithium. This Thursday has seen a notable 17.27 million Core shares swapped at present. With no news out from this company either, we can again assume that it is the Core Lithium share price that is responsible for these volumes.

Core Lithium has indeed had a bumpy day. The lithium share started the trading session deep in the red, but has steadily recovered to put it at $1.59 a share at present, up 1.73% for the session.

Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)

Last but certainly not least today, we have ASX 200 energy utility share Origin Energy. Origin has had a hefty 39.89 million shares change owners thus far today. This is almost certainly the result of the seismic share price movement we have witnessed today.

At present, Origin shares are up a whopping 35.28% at $7.86 each. As we covered earlier, this comes after the company received a takeover offer at $9 a share from Brookfield Asset Management and MidOcean Energy. No wonder so many shares are flying around.

The post Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Lycopodium, Origin, Perpetual, and Sandfire shares are charging higher
• Can ASX 200 gold share Evolution Mining really surge another 30% on top of recent gains?
• Are ASX 200 lithium shares the new recession-proof investment?
• 3 ASX 200 shares shooting the lights out on Thursday
• Why are CBA shares so high right now?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It has been a rough year for the ASX share market, though AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) shares have been one of the few to rise strongly, up by more than 20%.

The global economy is going through a difficult time with inflation, higher interest rates, challenging changes in foreign currency markets and expectations of a slowing of growth.

Australia may seem to face a tricky situation. Households are being slugged with much higher loan repayments and a number of commodity prices have fallen, including the iron ore price with Chinese demand reducing.

But, it’s not all doom and gloom. Shane Oliver, an expert from AMP, shares his view about why things may not be too bad.

Solid business investment outlook

He pointed to ongoing strong business investment plans.

Oliver said that ‘real’ business investment is expected to grow by around 5% over the year ahead, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics capital spending intentions survey showing a 15% increase compared to a year ago.

Home building work pipeline

Construction is an important part of the Australian economy. While approvals to build new homes have fallen “about 25%”, he noted that there is still a large pipeline of work yet to be completed “with home completions yet to catch up” with the surge in approvals through COVID-19.

This will “likely provide a floor for home building”, preventing a plunge.

National income boost from energy

Energy prices are one of the biggest causes of inflation in the country, but this is actually helping national income thanks to the earnings of energy ASX shares and other energy companies. We’ve seen the profits of Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) soar.

This helped the budget deficit by $48 billion in the last financial year and is expected to help by $42 billion in this financial year, giving the Australian government more financial flexibility.

Slower RBA increases

The latest increase in the cash target rate was 0.25%, even though there were a number of voices calling for a 0.50% increase.

Oliver noted that the RBA will do what it takes to return inflation back to normal, “while keeping the economy on an even keel”. This 0.25% increase could strike “the right balance between doing too much and too little”.

It could be worth pointing out that a number of ASX financial shares have done well in recent weeks. AMP shares are up more than 10%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares are also up more than 10% while Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares are up around 10%.

Potential for lower Aussie dollar

The Australian dollar has already fallen against the US dollar this year. However, if the prices decline for the commodities that Australia exports, then this could lead to further falls for the Australian dollar.

Why would that be a good thing for the Australian economy? Oliver suggests that this would make the exports more competitively priced, as it did in the GFC.

He also pointed out that the Chinese zero COVID policy could be lifted, a positive example being the relaxation of PCR test requirements in some regions. An end to the zero COVID policy “could result in a sharp rebound in Chinese growth” which could then boost global growth and Australian growth.

Rebound of immigration

Now that Australia’s border is open again, the federal budget is expecting net immigration of 235,000, after negative net immigration in FY21.

Immigration, according to Oliver, will “help ease the labour shortage and tight jobs market… Which in turn will help head off a surge in wages growth to levels well beyond those consistent with the inflation target.”

Comparatively less inflation

On this point, Oliver made the point that if the Australian economy remains resilient, the RBA may need to increase interest rates even more to slow demand.

But, he believes that the RBA won’t need to increase the interest rate too much more for a few different reasons.

Oliver pointed out that Australian wages are not growing like they are in other countries, energy prices have not gone up as much as in Europe, inflation expectations remain relatively low, other central banks are doing some of the heavy lifting, and US price pressures are starting to slow which “should benefit Australia which is following US inflation with a six-month lag”.

Slower interest rate increases and a lower peak would probably help AMP shares, and plenty of other valuations, thanks to less damage being done to household budgets and less pressure on share prices. In theory, higher interest rates are meant to push down the value of assets because investors can get a higher risk-free rate of return from government bonds.

The post Don’t panic! Here are 7 reasons we can avoid a recession: AMP appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Woodside share price being whittled away today?
• Why are CBA shares so high right now?
• Worried about your income in retirement? Take a look at these 3 ASX 200 dividend shares
• ASX 200 bank shares: Buy, hold, or fold?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

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 Westpac Banking Corporation. 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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When a director of an ASX 200 share is buying up their own company hand over fist, it’s probably worth at least a look. That is the situation with ASX fast food share Dominos Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) right now.

Domino’s Pizza shares have had a pretty horrible year. The company has fallen a nasty 53.2% year to date and is down an even nastier 65% or so from its September 2021 all-time high of $133.67. Today, the company is asking $57.44 at the time of writing, up 0.31% for the day.

And yet, we know that at least some Domino’s directors have been loading the proverbial boat with shares at these prices. Just yesterday, we found out from an ASX notice that director Uschi Schreiber bought 273 Domino’s shares on 2 September, and a further 257 shares on 3 November.

These tranches were purchased at an average price of $61.99 and $54.04 respectively, bringing Schreiber’s total share count to 2,030.

Domino’s directors buy up their own shares with gusto

On that same day, we also found out that fellow director Donal Meij was also loading up. Meij bought four tranches of Domino’s shares between 3 and 8 November. These were purchased between $53.84 and $57.46 per share. The new shares added up to a total of 17,968 shares, meaning Meij now owns 1.26 million direct shares in the company.

To make things even more interesting, on November 8, we also discovered that another director in Tony Peake added 1,600 shares to his superannuation fund. Peake paid an average of $53.71 for 1,600 new shares bringing his funds’ total to 2,600 shares. His wife owns a further 1,400 shares.

So we can conclude with relative certainty that multiple directors of Domino’s reckon the company is looking cheap at the recent pricing. If that’s not a vote of confidence in their own company, I don’t know what is.

At the current Domino’s Pizza share price, this ASX 200 fast food share has a market capitalisation of $4.97 billion, with a dividend yield of 2.72%.    

The post 3 directors have been buying up over $1 million of this ASX 200 share in the past week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 4 ‘fantastic long-term’ ASX shares to put on your watchlist: fund manager
• This ASX 200 share dumped 16% in the first 3 days of November, and a director went thrift shopping
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today 
• Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

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 recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is out of form on Thursday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is down 0.5% to 6,964.1 points.

Four ASX shares that aren’t letting that hold them back today are listed below. Here’s why they are charging higher:

Lycopodium Ltd (ASX: LYL)

The Lycopodium share price is up 4% to $6.76. Investors have been buying this engineering company’s shares after it announced the award of contracts worth approximately $40 million. The contracts are for engineering and procurement services and construction management services for Endeavour Mining’s Lafigué Project in the Ivory Coast.

Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)

The Origin share price is up 35% to $7.87. This has been driven by news that the energy company has received an indicative, conditional, and non-binding proposal from Brookfield Asset Management and MidOcean Energy to acquire it for $9.00 cash per share. This represents a premium of almost 55% to its last close price.

Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT)

The Perpetual share price is up 11% to $32.32. The catalyst for this is news that the fund manager has received an improved takeover offer from the consortium comprising BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII and Regal Partners. The consortium has lifted its offer by 10% to $33.00 per share. However, Perpetual has rejected the proposal on the belief that its offer “continues to materially undervalue the company.”

Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR)

The Sandfire share price is up almost 5% to $4.19. This morning the copper miner announced the appointment of highly experienced mining executive Brendan Harris as its new CEO. Sandfire notes that Harris has extensive experience as an exploration geologist and was a senior executive with BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32).

The post Why Lycopodium, Origin, Perpetual, and Sandfire shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX 200 shares shooting the lights out on Thursday
• AGL shares left at the alter amid Origin’s new proposal
• Why is the Origin share price rocketing 40%?
• Perpetual share price leaps on boosted takeover bid
• Origin share price on watch amid $18.4b takeover offer

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 Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price has been on an absolute tear in recent weeks. Most ASX 200 gold miners have been doing well. But Evolution shares have really shone out among the pack. Since 21 October, the Evolution share price has gained an impressive 33%.

That’s far better than most other ASX 200 gold miners. Take the largest gold share on the ASX 200 — Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM). Over that same period, Newcrest shares are ‘only’ up around 14%.

The catalyst for this move appears to be a recovering gold price, as well as potentially abating fears that interest rates still have a long way to climb.

But could Evolution Mining shares still have another 30% upside left in the tank? That’s what one ASX broker reckons.

ASX broker gives Evolution Mining shares a 30% upside

According to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today, ASX broker Morgan Stanley has just re-rated Evolution Mining shares to overweight. That came with a 12-month share price target of $3.10.

Since the miner is today trading at $2.42 at the time of writing, up a healthy 3% for the day so far, this share price target would equate to a potential upside of more than 28% if it came to pass.

No doubt investors will be pleased with that assessment.

My Fool colleague Bernd looked into the gold price last month and where it might be heading from here.

He cited a report from BMO Capital Markets that predicted the US Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates as aggressively as what the markets are predicting. Because of this, BMO Capital is anticipating that gold prices will hold up around the US$1,680 mark until mid-next year.

This could be why a broker like Morgan Stanley is bullish on a gold miner like Evolution. But we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

At the current Evolution Mining share price, this ASX 200 gold miner has a market capitalisation of $4.43 billion, with a dividend yield of 2.48%.

The post Can ASX 200 gold share Evolution Mining really surge another 30% on top of recent gains? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday
• Why Allkem, Newcrest, Orica, and SSR shares are rising today
• Why is the Newcrest share price surging 5% on Wednesday?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Newcrest Mining Limited. 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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