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.

Planning for retirement can seem confusing and complicated, so it’s not surprising that two-thirds of retirees say they have regrets about how they prepared for it, according to a Clever Real Estate survey. More worrisome is the fact that many of today’s workers continue to do the same things the retirees wish they hadn’t.

If your goal is to retire comfortably, you should make every effort to avoid the following behaviors.

1. Waiting too long to start saving

Nearly half of all retirees surveyed said they regretted waiting so long to begin saving for retirement. When you’re young, other priorities can seem more pressing than retirement, which could be 30 years or 40 years away. But many people don’t realize they’re actually making their goals more difficult by putting off retirement savings.

Ideally, our personal retirement contributions, which we set aside out of our paychecks, make up a small fraction of our total nest egg in retirement. The bulk of our life’s savings should come from investment earnings, which we get from investing our personal contributions in stocks that we later sell for a profit.

Typically, if you’ve invested wisely, you’ll end up with more earnings by holding on to your investments longer. If you only hold them for a short time, they have less opportunity to grow. In particular, stocks can be volatile in the short term, which is why it usually only makes sense to invest in them if you don’t plan to spend the money within the next five to seven years.

Delaying retirement savings often means settling for less earnings. As a result, you must make up the difference with additional personal contributions, and that costs you in the long run.

For example, if your goal was to save $1 million by 65 and you expected to earn a 7% average annual rate of return on your money, you’d only need to save about $403 per month if you began saving at 25. But if you waited until 30 to start contributing to your retirement account, you’d now have to save $582 per month, or a little over $75,000 more of your own money during your working years.

2. Investing too conservatively in their youth

About a third of the retirees Clever surveyed said they wish they’d invested more in high-risk/high-reward investments, like stocks, while they were younger. This makes sense because when you’re young, you can afford to take more risk.

If your investments do poorly in the short term, that’s not always a big deal because you may not need to use that money right now. Often, your stocks will recover in time, and you’ll earn a profit over the long term.

Investing too conservatively isn’t as bad as taking too much risk, but just like putting off retirement savings, it forces you to set aside more money for retirement because you can’t count upon earnings as much.

A simple rule of thumb is to invest 110 minus your age in stocks. So that’s 80% in stocks for a 30-year-old and 70% for a 40-year-old. You gradually move your money into safer investments, like bonds, a little at a time to help protect what you have.

3. Dipping into retirement funds

Tapping into your retirement savings early may ease some short-term financial problems, but it can create much bigger headaches over the long term. You’ll have to save more money going forward to get back on track, which can be challenging if your budget is tight.

Plus, you’ll have to pay taxes on your withdrawals from tax-deferred retirement accounts.

Whenever possible, consider other ways to get the cash you need, like saving up for a purchase. Build up an emergency fund as well so you don’t have to tap your retirement savings for unexpected costs.

This isn’t a comprehensive list of retirement mistakes, but if you can avoid them, you’re off to a pretty good start. Remember to review your retirement plan annually as well to track your progress toward your goal and identify opportunities to grow your savings more quickly. It doesn’t have to take long, and you definitely won’t regret making the time for it.

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

The post Retirees list their 3 major retirement regrets, and they’re still unfortunately common appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

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• Own Woolworths shares? Here’s some good news about your dividends
• Brokers name 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares to buy now
• Guess which ASX lithium share is rocketing 39% on project news
• Down 15% in a month, could rate hikes bring more pain for the Beach Energy share price?

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.

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

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Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shareholders should check their bank accounts today.

The conglomerate is paying out its final dividend to eligible shareholders.

In case you weren’t aware, Woolworths is rewarding its shareholders with a fully franked dividend of 53 cents per share.

At the time of writing, the Woolworths share price is 0.58% lower to $34.50.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is edging higher with a 0.27% gain to 6,486.7 points.

Let’s take a look below at all the details regarding the Woolworths dividend.

Woolworths’ latest dividend leaves the vault

The company reported growth across key metrics in its full-year results for the 2022 financial year.

In summary, group sales rose 9.2% over the prior corresponding period to $60,849 million. This was driven by the strong performance of its Australian food business. Total sales in this segment grew 4.5% to $45,461 million year on year.

Evidently, this helped offset the challenges the company encountered in 2022. These included COVID-19 supply chain disruptions, product shortages, team absenteeism, and flooding events along Australia’s east coast.

On the bottom line, net profit after tax (NPAT) lifted by 0.7% to $1,514 million.

However, the Woolworths board elected to slightly decrease its final dividend by 3.6% from the 55 cents per share in FY 2021.

Based on today’s price, Woolworths has a current dividend yield of 2.67%.

Woolworths share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Woolworths share price has fallen by 11%.

After hitting a bottom of $33.61 per share last Friday, the company’s shares are trading near 52-week lows.

Woolworths has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 27.40 and commands a market capitalisation of roughly $42.12 billion.

The post Own Woolworths shares? Here’s some good news about your dividends appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Why is the Woolworths share price having such a stellar run on Monday?
• Could the current Woolworths dividend be in jeopardy?
• How many Woolworths shares does the CEO hold after his $8.4 million sell-down?
• Are these ASX blue-chip shares losing their defensive benefits?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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If you’re wanting to strengthen your portfolio with some ASX 200 blue chip shares, you may want to look at the two listed below.

Both have recently been named as buys by brokers. Here’s why they could be blue chip shares to buy right now:

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is Goodman Group.

It is a leading integrated commercial and industrial property company with operations across the world. Among its portfolio are warehouses, data centres, large scale logistics facilities, and business and office parks.

Demand for Goodman’s properties has been strong and has underpinned sky high occupancy rates and stellar earnings growth over the last decade.

The good news is that Goldman Sachs expects this strong growth to continue in FY 2023. It recently commented:

GMG has provided initial FY23 EPS growth guidance of 11% vs our revised estimate of ~16.7%. Given the continued strong fundamentals underpinning demand for high-quality, well located logistics assets, we continue to believe GMG can deliver FY23 growth ahead of initial guidance due to; (1) continued strong development WIP at strong margins, (2) our forecast of ~16% growth in AUM over FY23, largely driven by development completions, serving to increase both AUM (and respective funds management fees) and development earnings, and (3) growth in co-investment income as AUM increases.

Goldman currently has a buy rating and $25.40 price target on the company’s shares.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

Another ASX 200 share that brokers rate highly is Macquarie. It is is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and fund management services.

Analysts at Morgans are very positive on the investment bank. While they acknowledge that it will be hard to top FY 2022’s result in the current financial year, the broker remains positive on the future. This is due to Macquarie’s exposure to a number of long term structural growth areas and its ongoing market share gains in Australian mortgages. It explained:

We continue to like MQG’s exposure to long-term structural growth areas such as infrastructure and renewables. The company also stands to benefit from recent market volatility through its trading businesses, while it continues to gain market share in Australian mortgages.

Morgans has an add rating and $215.00 price target on Macquarie’s shares.

The post Brokers name 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares to buy now 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 recommended Macquarie Group 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 Ragusa Minerals Ltd (ASX: RAS) share price is having a day to remember.

In morning trade, the lithium explorer’s shares are up 39% to a record high of 44.5 cents.

Why is the Ragusa Minerals share price on fire today?

Investors have been scrambling to buy this lithium share on Tuesday following the release of an update on the NT Lithium Project.

According to the release, the company has made progress towards the commencement of the maiden drilling program at the project. This follows the completion of site preparation earthworks, including access track and drill pad clearing.

Also getting investors excited was some commentary on a recent site visit.

Management advised that during the visit, additional reconnaissance and sampling was undertaken. This led to new pegmatite occurrences being identified, in addition to the known mapped pegmatite outcrops.

A newly identified pegmatite of ~150m outcrop width was found along the eastern edge of the project area, to the north of the White Rocks prospect. Positively, a sample collected from the exposure returned a strongly anomalous lithium grade consistent with what would be expected from a depleted lithium-bearing pegmatite outcrop.

However, it is not known if the intersection represents the true width of the pegmatite.

‘Massive upside value potential’

Ragusa’s chair, Jerko Zuvela, revealed that the company was very excited with the news and the potential of the NT Lithium Project. Zuvela said:

The Company is very excited as we prepare to commence our maiden drilling program at our strategic and highly prospective NT Lithium Project. This puts Ragusa in a strong position to rapidly accelerate the development of our project within a proven high-quality lithium district.

We have a significant opportunity to utilise our exploration and development experience to rapidly progress our NT Lithium Project and realise the massive upside value potential in a Tier 1 jurisdiction close to major infrastructure at a time of record lithium prices.

The post Guess which ASX lithium share is rocketing 39% on project news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Which ASX lithium shares are performing best in 2022?
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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 Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price has descended 15% in the past month, but could rate rises impact the company’s shares even further?

Beach Energy shares have slid 15% since market close on 26 August to $1.49, including a gain of 1.36% so far in today’s trade.

Let’s take a look at the outlook for the Beach Energy share price.

What’s ahead for the Beach Energy share price?

Beach Energy shares may have fallen in the last month, but they are not alone among ASX oil shares. The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price has fallen nearly 12% since market close on 26 August, while Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares have slid 14%.

Looking ahead, multiple factors, including interest rate rises, the strong US dollar, and the Russian and Ukraine war, could weigh on the oil price.

Interest rate rises by central banks around the world could lower oil demand, an analyst quoted by Reuters suggested. Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam said:

With more and more central banks being forced to take extraordinary measures no matter the cost to the economy, demand is going to take a hit which could help rebalance the oil market.

Meanwhile, the strong US dollar is also impacting commodities, including oil, analysts quoted by the publication noted. Oil is priced in the US dollar.

Mizuho energy futures director Bob Yawger said: “It’s hard for anyone to expect oil will recover in the wake of a greenback this expensive.”

However, on the contrary, some analysts are optimistic the oil price will recover in the long term if supply tightens amid Russia’s war with Ukraine. Moody Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, quoted by Forbes, said:

Oil prices are sure to come under renewed upward pressure as the European Union prepares to implement its sanctions on Russian oil in the coming months.

Energy Aspects chief oil analyst Amrita Sen highlighted in the Australian Financial Review on Friday there are “too many different and contradictory factors driving prices”.

She said: “This is going to be a very, very volatile last quarter.”

Share price snapshot

Beach Energy shares have soared 20% in the past year. In the year to date, they have risen 17%, but have fallen 8% in the past week.

Beach Energy has a market capitalisation of more than $3.4 billion based on the current share price.

The post Down 15% in a month, could rate hikes bring more pain for the Beach Energy share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea 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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Optus is one of Australia’s largest telecommunication brands, ranking just behind the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) in its market share of mobile phone services.

The telco giant is in hot water after hackers made off with the personal data of as many as 9.8 million current and former Optus customers last week.

And the negative press just keeps coming for the company.

The hackers reportedly released 10,000 customer records overnight. They’re threatening to drop another 10,000 every day for the next four days unless the company pays a $1 million ransom, the Guardian reports.

Meanwhile, emerging reports state the hacker has deleted the data following monumental media attention.

The person seemingly behind the breach posted to an online forum saying “too many eyes”, according to reporting by Sky News, cited by The Australian. The hacker was said to have continued:

Ransom not paid but we don’t care any more. Was mistake to scrape publish data in first place.

With Optus hitting headlines left, right, and centre, many ASX market watchers might be wondering how they can get a hold of its shares. Sadly, the answer might be disappointing.

 Are Optus shares listed on the ASX?

Investors won’t find Optus shares listed on the ASX, and for a very good reason. The company isn’t listed anywhere, anymore.

Optus is now a subsidiary of Singapore-listed Singapore Telecommunications Limited – more commonly known as SingTel.

SingTel acquired Australia’s number two telco way back in 2001 in a deal worth around $17 billion.

Prior to that, Optus shares did indeed trade on the ASX.

SingTel offered shareholders up to $4.57 per share for their stake in the company in a part-scrip, part-cash deal. That represented a 20% premium on Optus shares’ close price – $3.80 – on 9 March 2001.

Speaking on the bid, then Optus CEO Chris Anderson commented:

With this proposed transaction, Optus will grow from being a successful, highly competitive Australian entity to becoming part of a formidable regional player of stature, significance, and strength.

Following its takeover, shares in SingTel traded on the ASX for a few years. That allowed Aussies to keep a hold of part of their Optus stake.

However, the company delisted from the Aussie bourse in 2005.

Optus brought in $776 million of cash flow to SingTel over the 12 months ended 31 March 2022.

The post Are Optus shares listed on the ASX? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ‘Largest exposure’: Why this expert is still bullish on red-hot ASX coal shares
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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 positions in and has recommended Telstra Corporation 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 New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) share price has returned to form on Tuesday.

In morning trade, the coal miner’s shares are up a sizeable 10% to $5.93.

This compares favourably to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which is up 0.4% this morning.

Why is the New Hope share price rocketing higher?

The New Hope share price is charging higher on Tuesday despite there being no news out of the company.

However, it is worth noting that the energy sector is booming today after some significant weakness recently.

For example, the S&P/ASX 200 Energy index is up 2.3% at the time of writing, with all but one constituent in positive territory.

Coal shares have been the standout. The Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN) share price is up 4% and the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is up 6% at the time of writing.

Where next for New Hope’s shares?

Opinion is divided on where the New Hope share price is heading from here.

For instance, the team at Credit Suisse thinks the coal miner’s shares are dirt cheap and have an outperform rating and $7.80 price target on them.

Whereas analysts at Goldman Sachs feel they are overvalued and have put a sell rating and lowly $3.80 price target on them.

Time will tell which broker makes the right call on New Hope.

The post New Hope share price rebounds 10%: Time buy? 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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ASX coal shares may not seem like an obvious idea for strong performance from here.

Remember, coal has already seen a strong run amid the global search for energy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With Europe essentially no longer buying/receiving much Russian gas, countries are now looking for alternative sources. Australian coal is in big demand for some Asian countries as they look to keep their households and businesses powered.

But, after such a strong run of the coal price and the share prices of ASX coal miners, has the easy money been made?

In 2022, the New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) share price has risen 130%, the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price has gone up 180% and the Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) share price has risen around 90%.

Emanuel Datt, principal of Datt Capital, believes that coal miners are still an opportunity.

Why ASX coal shares could still be an opportunity

Datt is so bullish on coal that the largest exposure in the portfolio is actually thermal coal.

Here are his thoughts on the sector:

Effectively, the thesis behind thermal coal standard is a critical and cheap energy source in a world today that is highly energy constrained after the Russian-Ukraine war and knock-on sanctions. With our positions, we have an earnest on the quality of the product but also the jurisdiction and the location of the production assets itself. Thermal coal also has the benefit, or what we think will be the benefit of, pretty likely to be higher energy prices throughout the winter months in the northern hemisphere. But also, we will benefit from US dollar exposure and thermal coal has recently had almost one-to-one correlation with US dollar strength of late.

Don’t forget that the northern hemisphere experiences winter at the time that Australia has summer. So, he seems to be suggesting that the next few months could be particularly good for coal names.

But how long could coal be a good investment?

I’m not sure there are many people that would say coal usage and the outlook would be stronger in 2040 compared to today. However, perhaps that’s partly why ASX coal share prices have managed to do so well – there was a lot of pessimism baked into the price at the start of 2022.

In answering a question about the longer-term outlook about coal, considering the cyclical nature of resources, he said:

Well, I can tell you one thing with certainty is that we cannot predict what prices will be in say 12 months and further out from 12 months. However, we can definitely assign a probability of price ranges by analysing supply and demand globally. And we also have to consider other age factors such as coal quality, jurisdictional risk, logistical risk and other, I guess, more niche factors.

But, he did point out that markets are pricing “high-quality” businesses with long-life assets at only two times, or less than two times, forward-looking after-tax free cash flow. He called coal “an incredible opportunity” and that ASX coal shares could be “incredibly cheap” even if energy prices fall.

The post ‘Largest exposure’: Why this expert is still bullish on red-hot ASX coal shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Whitehaven share price wilting 10% on Monday?
• Goldman Sachs warns that the New Hope share price could crash 40%
• Whitehaven Coal shares are on fire, but could there be a looming risk?
• Why Apollo Tourism, OZ Minerals, SSR Mining, and Whitehaven Coal shares are rising
• 2 ASX 200 shares rated as buys by leading brokers

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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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.

The transformation of the world’s vehicle fleet to being powered by electricity is one of today’s biggest growth trends. In 2021, sales of new light-duty fully electric vehicles (EVs) nearly doubled in the United States from the prior year, while overall light-duty vehicle sales increased by only 3%, according to government figures. International EV growth was also strong. 

The great news for investors is that this secular trend is still in its early stages. The percentage of the world’s light-duty vehicles on the road that are all-electric or plug-in hybrids is still very low. At the end of 2021, this figure was less than 2%. 

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was instrumental in ushering in the EV revolution and still has a potentially long runway for growth. Investors also have many other options to gain exposure to this space. Two stocks that have strong long-term growth potential are those of lithium producer Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) and EV maker Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN).

Albemarle: A profitable and dividend-paying EV play

There are many publicly traded companies involved in the EV supply chain, but not many are profitable, pay a dividend, and have substantial current exposure to EVs. Albemarle fits this bill. 

The U.S.-based company is one of the world’s top producers of lithium, a component of the lithium-ion batteries that power EVs. While it’s not an EV pure play, its lithium business is the largest of its three segments (it accounted for 60% of total sales in the second quarter), and the bulk of the lithium it produces is used to make EV batteries.

Albemarle’s results have come roaring back following being hurt during the earlier stages of the pandemic. Excluding the fine chemistry services segment it sold last year, sales have surged 98% over the one-year period through the second quarter. The main driver has been the rocketing price of lithium, whose supply is tight and seems poised to stay that way for some time. In Q2, revenue and adjusted earnings per share jumped 91% and 288%, respectively, year over year.

Albemarle stock’s dividend is yielding 0.55%, as of the market’s close on Sept. 23. Even a modest dividend can make a big difference over time. Over the last decade, the stock’s total return was 488% (versus 207% for the S&P 500) — and 82 percentage points were contributed by the dividend. 

Rivian: A promising relatively newly public EV maker 

The number of pure-play EV makers that have gone public in recent years keeps growing. Rivian is one of the newcomers that has a good shot at surviving and thriving. It’s a U.S.-based company that held its initial public offering in November 2021. 

Rivian was the first company to launch a mass-produced electric pickup truck, which should give it a first-mover advantage. Its partnerships with two big names should also prove to be positives. It has an order from Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ: AMZN), which owns a sizable stake of Rivian, to produce 100,000 custom-designed electric delivery vans. And earlier this month, the company and premium automaker Mercedes-Benz announced plans to create a joint venture to build a European factory that will manufacture electric vans for both companies.

Demand for Rivian’s vehicles is robust, but its production has been constrained by the supply shortage that has plagued the auto industry. Last month, management said this issue has begun to ease and reaffirmed its 2022 production forecast of 25,000 total vehicles. 

In the second quarter, Rivian produced 4,401 vehicles and delivered 4,467 vehicles. These numbers were up from 2,553 and 1,227, respectively, in the first quarter. It ended the quarter with about 98,000 preorders from U.S. and Canadian consumers for its two consumer vehicles, the R1T pickup and R1S SUV. 

Investors should keep a close watch on Rivian’s production numbers and its liquidity situation. 

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

The post 2 high-growth electric vehicle stocks to consider buying (other than Tesla) appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Beth McKenna 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 Amazon and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon. 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 Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) share price has endured a tough couple of weeks, down more than 25% from the close of 12 September to the present day.

Some of its peer companies are also down during this period, including Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (ASX: AGI), which has fallen 7%. Cettire Ltd (ASX: CTT) has suffered a 22% loss.

More broadly, the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) has also dipped more than 7% during this time, and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fallen by a similar amount%.

The correlation between Betmakers’ fall and that of the wider market is undeniable, but there could also be other underlying forces at play here. Let’s investigate what those might be.

Interest rates rise, and shares fall

The first thing which might be going on is that cyclical shares like Betmakers are generally the first to be discounted when investor sentiment starts heading south and rise again when positive sentiment returns.

The omen that seems to have spooked investors is rising interest rates in the US, which puts pressure on the valuations of companies downwards.

This is especially true for companies considered more speculative, such as tech start-ups and other companies still working toward reaching breakeven profitability. This includes companies such as Betmakers, which reported a $1.62 million loss year to date in its most recent quarterly activities report in July.

Additonally, in its full-year results released last month, the company reported a 371% increase in revenue to $91.7 million, but its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) loss was almost as much at $86 million. The Betmakers share price fell 3.7% the day the results were released on August 26 and has been struggling ever since.

Short-sellers pile on

Data also suggests that short-sellers believe Betmakers could fall to lower levels. The Fool reported that the company’s short interest stood at 13.5% on 19 September.

Short interest is another litmus test of investor sentiment, with higher levels reflecting a more pessimistic expectation that the company’s shares will perform poorly in the future.

Putting this 13.5% figure into perspective is that the typical short interest for stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) has ranged between 1.6% and 2.9% over the last decade.

Thus, it seems that investors are parking their cash into companies involved in more defensive sectors with an established history of delivering earnings growth throughout the economic cycle.

Another popular option is to invest in shares that pay considerable dividends to help offset portfolio devaluation during a downturn.

Betmakers share price snapshot

In early trading on Tuesday, the Betmakers share price is up 2.3% to 31.2 cents.

However, Betmakers shares are down around 62% year to date. Meanwhile, the ASX 200 is down 15% over the same period.

The company’s market capitalisation is $285.05 million.

The post Why has the Betmakers share price tumbled 25% in 2 weeks? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley 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 Betmakers Technology Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Betmakers Technology Group Ltd and Cettire 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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