The Latrobe Magnesium Limited (ASX: LMG) share price skyrocketed today. In fact, the magnesium share has collected a new all-time high, with the share price reaching 15 cents apiece.

It appears both macro and micro events are aiding in the ascension of the relatively little-known resource company. Ongoing concerns of a magnesium shortage have placed company’s exposed to the alloy element on many watchlists. At the same time, Latrobe released some news of its own last week that might have investors excited.

Here’s a look at the current landscape for Latrobe Magnesium on the ASX.

What’s going on with ASX-listed Latrobe Magnesium?

Investors pushed the Latrobe Magnesium share price to new heights on Tuesday, despite no announcements released by the company. As such, we’re forced to take notice of what could be influencing this move more broadly.

Despite European automakers assuring investors that magnesium shortages are not of immediate concern, car part suppliers say otherwise. According to an article published by Reuters, suppliers of components to big auto are wary that if China does not increase its magnesium supply soon, issues will likely arise.

Furthermore, on its earnings call, Volkswagen’s head of purchasing, Murat Aksel stated:

We cannot forecast right now if the shortage on magnesium, which will happen definitely according to planning, will be bigger than the semiconductor shortage.

The concerns of an imminent shortage continue irrespective of China’s partial resumption of production. Reports indicate that the number of magnesium producers that have spun back up is not enough to significantly ease the shortage.

In turn, investors are speculating on ASX-listed Latrobe Magnesium benefitting from a potential lift in magnesium prices.

What else?

Closer to home, last week Latrobe announced the expansion of its demonstration plant. According to the release, the demonstration plant will increase from 3,000 tonnes per annum to 10,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) in response to world demand.

The company expects that the increased production will result in revenue of roughly $110 million and estimated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $42 million.

Positively, Latrobe noted it already has a buyer for 8,000 tpa under its current offtake agreements. Meanwhile, another 2,000 tpa worth is being sought after by enquiries received.

These catalysts have helped Latrobe Magnesium return 575% on the ASX since the beginning of 2021.

The post Why the Latrobe Magnesium (ASX:LMG) share price rocketed 23% on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why are ASX magnesium miners getting so much love this week?
• ASX magnesium shares are going gangbusters. What’s happening?

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3H4QVzK

There is a bit of market chatter about the fact that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has been a net seller of shares in the latest quarter.

In-fact, according to reporting by Bloomberg, Berkshire Hathaway has been a net seller of shares for the fourth straight quarter. This hasn’t been seen since 2008. Could this be a bear market signal?

Berkshire Hathaway ended up selling around US$2 billion more in shares than it bought in the latest quarter. This means that the amount of the cash on the balance sheet has grown to a record of US$149.2 billion.

What has Berkshire Hathaway been selling?

It was reported that the sales seem to have been in the sectors of banks, insurance and financial investments.

In recent times, it has also sold down its position in General Motors Co. as well as some of its pharmaceutical positions.

Has it been looking for opportunities?

Berkshire Hathaway is always on the lookout for potential deals. But the investment conglomerate wants to buy businesses at a good price, which is hard when so many other investment funds, private equity and so on are looking at the same opportunities.

Bloomberg reported that Buffett told investors earlier this year that SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies) were being active in the market, and paying up for acquisitions.

There could also be an issue of how large Berkshire Hathaway has become. Mr Buffett has regularly made the point that Berkshire Hathaway is so large that it needs to be a sizeable acquisition to ‘move the needle’. There aren’t too many of those sized businesses to choose from. The last time Berkshire Hathaway spent big on a business – US$37 billion for Precision Castparts – it led to a writedown in the value of that investment.

In the absence of acquisition opportunities, Berkshire Hathaway has been buying back its own shares. In the latest quarter, Berkshire Hathaway spent US$7.6 billion on buying back its own shares.

Will Berkshire Hathaway rush into buying something?

Warren Buffett has always said that having patience with investing can be important.

Mr Buffett has previously used a baseball analogy to describe how investors can achieve better returns by waiting for good opportunities. Talking about baseball hitter Ted Williams in HBO’s documentary called Becoming Warren Buffett, CNBC quoted Mr Buffett saying:

If he waited for the pitch that was really in his sweet spot, he would bat .400. If he had to swing at something on the lower corner, he would probably bat .235. The trick in investing is just to sit there and watch pitch after pitch go by and wait for the one right in your sweet spot. And if people are yelling, ‘Swing, you bum!,’ ignore them.

Another piece of Warren Buffett advice when it comes to timeframes with investing is this:

If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.

Investors will be interested to see if Berkshire Hathaway’s net selling streak continues and if/when Warren Buffett decides to unleash that large pile of cash on potential opportunities.

The post Bear signal? Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has been selling shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• $0 salary: How the ‘Aussie Berkshire Hathaway’ pays its investment managers

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 Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3H7FS8P

The Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) share price continues to seemingly defy gravity.

Paladin shares are up an eye-watering 19.28% in just the past week alone (since last Tuesday’s close). That’s including the hefty 7.03% they have added today, which left this uranium miner at 99 cents per share. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up by ‘just’ 1.43% over the past week.

But not only that, Paladin shares are now up an incredible 280% in 2021 so far. They are also up 800% over the past 5 years.

Paladin is an ASX uranium miner. It’s sole producing mine is the Langer Heinrich mine located in the African country of Namibia. This was mothballed in a “car and maintenance” condition a few years ago.

So why have Paladin shares rocketed by such an enriching amount in just the past week?

Well, we can perhaps trace these gains to an announcement the company made last month. In its first-quarter activities report released to investors on 25 October, the company announced it was continuing work on restarting production at Langer Heinrich, which is being brought back to life due to higher global uranium prices.

Paladin share price surges on mine reopening plans

Back on October 25, Paladin CEO Ian Purdy stated the following:

With a strong balance sheet, a robust and well defined Mine Restart Plan and strong project economics, Paladin is exceptionally well positioned to take advantage of a sustained recovery in global uranium pricing.

We continue to engage with global nuclear energy utilities to secure long-term contracts to underpin the restart of Langer Heinrich and ensure the project, when re-started, will deliver significant economic benefit to all of our shareholders.

Then, on 4 November, the company released another update on the Langer Heinrich mine. Paladin announced it had completed an updated mineral resource and ore reserve estimate.

This revealed Paladin is spending an estimated US$81 million on restarting production at Langer Heinrich. It also revealed the company is now estimating the mine holds a total of 84.8 megatonnes of ore reserves.

That’s enough to give the mine an estimated 17 years of production life. That’s based on a “life of mine production target” of 77.4 million pounds of triuranium octoxide. This new target is a meaningful increase on the previous estimate of 76.1 million pounds.

The company also confirmed “an estimated project execution timeframe of 18 months from project commencement to first production, with full production achieved after a further 15 months”.

So it appears investors have largely pushed up the Paladin Energy share price based on these updates for the Langer Heinrich mine.

At today’s closing share price of 99 cents, this company has a market capitalisation of $2.47 billion.

The post The Paladin (ASX:PDN) share price is up 19% in the last week. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why CSR, Hipages, NIB, and Paladin Energy shares are racing higher
• Why Mineral Resources, Paladin Energy, Regis, and Smartgroup are sinking
• Why is the ASX All Ordinaries lifting to a fresh 7-week high?
• Can the All Ords hit 8,000 points by the end of the year?
• Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) share price up on work towards mine restart

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3kjQ1pr

Investors that are looking to bolster their portfolio with some blue chip ASX 200 shares may want to look at the three listed below.

Here’s why these blue chip ASX 200 shares are highly rated:

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is BHP. The Big Australian’s shares have come under significant pressure in recent months and now trade well below their 52-week high.

This has been driven largely by the falling iron ore price. However, with the steel making ingredient appearing to stabilise in or around the US$95 a tonne mark and other commodities performing strongly, this share price weakness could have been an overreaction.

The team at Morgans appear to believe this is the case. Last month the broker upgraded BHP’s shares to an add rating with a $46.05 price target.

Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS)

Another blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is Healius. It is one of Australia’s largest pathology and diagnostic imaging providers offering services via a number of brands. These include Dorevitch Pathology, QML Pathology, Laverty Pathology, and Healthcare Imaging Services.

Healius was a very positive performer in FY 2021. For the 12 months ended 30 June, the company reported a 22% increase in revenue to $1,913.1 million and the doubling of its underlying EBIT to $266.5 million.

A key driver of this growth was its pathology business, which is experiencing significant demand for COVID-19 testing services. Pleasingly, demand remains strong and has underpinned further explosive growth so far in FY 2022.

For example, during the first quarter of FY 2022, Healius was averaging 40,000 COVID tests per working day. This supported a 43.7% increase in group quarterly revenue over the prior corresponding period to $689.9 million.

Macquarie is a big fan of the company. It currently has an outperform rating and $5.65 price target on Healius’ shares. In addition, it expects a dividend yield of almost 5% in FY 2022.

The post 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares analysts love appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the iron ore price set to rebound next month?
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• ASX 200 companies take note – global carbon credit trades soaring
• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price defies broader market sell-off to edge higher. Here’s why
• Evergrande latest, plus another Chinese developer just missed a payment

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 Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3CTN7ih

The Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price surged higher today despite no news from the company.

However, there was big news from the electric vehicle sector. The Australian Government released its Future Fuels Strategy today.

The strategy is expected to boost Australia’s uptake of electric vehicles, of which rare earths are a critical component.

As of Tuesday’s close, the Lynas share price is $7.80, 7.59% higher than its previous close.

Let’s take a closer look at the news that might have sparked the market’s interest in rare earth metals.

Australia’s electric vehicle roadmap

The Australian Government laid out its roadmap to reduce emissions in Australia’s transport sector today. It’s expected to result in hybrid-electric vehicles making up 30% of new cars sold in Australia by 2030.

The strategy states that, as batteries become cheaper to make, the price of electric vehicles will fall.

That would likely result in more lithium-ion batteries being made, and result in a greater demand for battery minerals.

Further, the government is putting $250 million towards building electric vehicle charging stations. The investment will likely lessen ‘range anxiety’ for electric vehicle owners.

All-in-all, it’s safe to assume the government’s focus will increase Australia’s uptake of electric vehicles.

Still, whether the government’s Future Fuels Strategy has boosted the Lynas share price is hard to say, but it does sound good for the company’s business.

Particularly, as Lynas Rare Earths claims to be the world’s only large-scale rare earth producer outside of China.

And the Lynas is share price isn’t alone in its gains on Tuesday.

Canadian rare earth producer Vital Metals Limited (ASX: VML) is also in the green on the ASX. Its share price gained 1.8% today.

Meanwhile, the share price of battery and graphite producer Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) surged 8.3% higher.

Lynas Rare Earths share price snapshot

Today’s gains included, the Lynas share price is 18% higher than it was this time last month.

It has also increased 86% since the start of 2021.

The post What’s with the Lynas (ASX:LYC) share price today – up 8%? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here’s why the Lynas (ASX:LYC) share price is up 3% on Monday
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Can the Lynas (ASX:LYC) share price fall to $4 by the end of 2021?
• Why Aurizon, De Grey Mining, Lynas, and Yancoal shares are falling

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 Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3DaGBne

Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) moved further to the downside following a weaker session. At the end of the day, the benchmark index finished 0.24% lower at 7,434.2 points.

Another motley day on the market saw a mixture of red and green spread across the different sectors. Those in the energy and financials sectors pulled up the poorest performing. Meanwhile, the tech and materials sectors helped stem the losses.

The question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the ten stocks that rose to the occasion:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the gold explorer skyrocketed an impressive 28.95% following the release of its maiden mineral resource estimate for its Gonneville deposit. Find out more about Chalice Mining here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC). Shares in the rare earths producer gained 8.00% despite no announcements from the company. Uncover the latest Lynas Rare Earths details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN)	$8.73	28.95%
Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)	$7.83	8.00%
Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX)	$9.45	7.63%
Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)	$8.825	6.45%
Pexa Group Ltd (ASX: PXA)	$16.32	4.88%
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)	$2.40	4.80%
IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)	$9.305	4.67%
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)	$20.33	4.47%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	$2.56	4.07%
Nickel Mines Ltd(ASX: NIC)	$1.035	4.02%

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check-in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The IAG (ASX:IAG) share price has gone backwards so far in 2021. Here’s why
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Tuesday
• Why Brainchip, Chalice, Life360, and PointsBet shares are surging higher
• Why is the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX:VGS) off to such a great start in November?
• Here’s why the Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX:CRYP) share price is surging 7% today

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Lynas Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3wvJKMg

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had a pretty successful November thus far (touch wood). Since Friday 29 October, the ASX 200 has put on a healthy 1.7% or so, including the 0.1% the index has lost so far today (at the time of writing). But one ASX 200 share hasn’t quite kept up with this success. That would be the Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL), more commonly known as ‘Soul Patts’.

The Soul Patts share price has gone backwards over November so far. This industrials company closed at a share price of $32.48 a share back on 29 October. But today, Soul Patts is going for $31.94 at the time of writing (down 0.85% today so far). That translates into a loss of 1.7% for November thus far, underperforming the ASX 200 by a rather disappointing 3.4%.

This might be a bit of a let-down for investors. It was only back in late September that Soul Patts was hitting new all-time highs, topping out at $40.80 a share on 28 September. As of today, Soul Patts shares are now down close to 20% from that high watermark.

So what’s behind Soul Patts’ underperformance in November so far?

Why has the Washington H. Soul Pattinson share price had such a disappointing November so far?

Well, to answer that, let’s examine how Soul Patts is structured. So unlike most ASX shares, Soul Patts functions more like a Listed Investment Company (LIC) than a customer-facing business. It still operates the chain of pharmacies it is perhaps most publically well-known for. However most of its business these days revolves around its large investment portfolio.

Soul Patts owns large swathes of a number of other ASX shares. These include Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW), TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC). It also recently acquired the old LIC Milton Corporation, which also had a large portfolio of ASX shares that Soul Patts now owns.

These underlying holdings might give us some idea of why the Soul Patts share price has been struggling in November thus far.

New Hope has been the worst performing investment for Soul Patts in recent months, having lost around 24% of its value in the past month alone. This has undoubtedly not been helping Soul Patts out in recent weeks. However, it’s the TPG share price that might have ensured Soul Patts kicked off November on the wrong foot. Since the start of the month, TPG shares have lost close to 6% of their value. Brickworks shares wouldn’t have been helping either – they’ve lost close to 2% over the same period.

So that’s the most likely reason behind Soul Patt’s laggardly performance over November so far. And investors might have some more share price pain in the weeks ahead too. Soul Patts is scheduled to trade ex-dividend for its upcoming final dividend on 19 November – so investors should probably expect another sip then too. Of course, the 36 cents per share dividend that will arrive on 14 December will help ease the pain!

At the current Washington H. Soul Pattinson share price, this compnay has a market capitalisation of $11.52 billion with a dividend yield of 1.94%.

The post Why is the Washington H. Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL) share price struggling in November? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX shares that could be buys for both growth and dividends
• Siteminder (ASX:SDR) share price rockets 35% on ASX debut
• 2 ASX shares that could keep growing the dividend every year
• What’s with the Washington H Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL) share price today?
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended TPG Telecom Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3bW0677

The Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) share price has moved in circles over the past 11 months. This comes as the insurance giant has faced challenging trading conditions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

At market close on Tuesday, IAG shares finished down 1.93% to $4.58 apiece. This means that its shares have fallen almost 12% in the past month alone.

What’s going on with IAG shares?

There are a couple of possible catalysts as to why the IAG share price has failed to produce decent gains over the last 12 months.

At its most recent trading update, the company revealed a rise in net natural perils claim costs. It blamed severe storm and hail activity experienced in October, mainly across South Australia and Victoria.

As such, net natural perils claim costs for FY22 are estimated to be around $1,045 million. This is a significant increase from the previous assumption of $765 million.

Following the $280 million setback, IAG was forced to downgrade its FY22 insurance margin guidance range between 10%-12%. Previously, the insurance margin level was in the 13.5%-15.5% range.

In addition, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has commenced civil penalty proceedings against IAG in the Federal Court of Australia.

The allegations relate to IAG’s failure to pass on the full discounts to a large number of NRMA Home, Motor, Caravan, and Boat Insurance customers between March 2014 and September 2019.

It’s worth noting that IAG self-reported the issue to ASIC when it conducted a review in 2019. Since then, IAG has embarked on a remediation program for the affected policyholders. More than 80% of the impacted customers have been provided refunds.

How does the IAG share price compare to the ASX 200?

Over the last 12 months, the IAG share price has lost more than 8% with year-to-date down 2%. The company’s shares have lost 50% of their value since July 2019, particularly when COVID-19 hit.

In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gained 20% from this time last year and is up 13% year-to-date. The ASX 200 also reached a record high of 7,632 points in mid-August.

Based on today’s price, IAG presides a market capitalisation of roughly $11.35 billion, with approximately 2.47 billion shares on issue.

The post The IAG (ASX:IAG) share price has gone backwards so far in 2021. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Tuesday
• Why is the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX:VGS) off to such a great start in November?
• Here’s why the Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX:CRYP) share price is surging 7% today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: NAB result disappoints, PointsBet surges
• Here’s how the Medibank (ASX:MPL) share price has performed against the ASX200 in the last 3 months

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 owns shares of and has recommended Insurance Australia Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/305fjAL

The Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU) share price is soaring today after the company released its key growth metrics for the month of October.

Over the course of last month, the money management-focused fintech company saw the number of United States-based people using its platform, increase by 42% month-on-month.

The amount of revenue its platform received from its United States users also increased 53% compared to that of September.

The news has seemingly seen the ASX rejoice. At the time of writing, the Douugh share price is 7.9 cents, 16.18% higher than its previous close.

Let’s take a closer look at how Douugh’s platform performed over the month just been.

Douugh share price up on October performance

October was seemingly a strong month for Douugh, and its share price is reaping the rewards today.

Douugh’s total number of customers surged 26% to reach 63,162 over the course of last month.

Its accumulated customer deposits reached $15.5 million – representing a 25% monthly increase.

Finally, the total debit spend on its platform came to $6.6 million, up 26% on that of September.

According to Douugh, the growth can be put down to its increased marketing activities and the launch of its member-get-member feature.

The new feature gives $20 to any user who refers a friend. It also rewards the new member with $20 when they begin to use the platform.

The company’s founder and CEO Andy Taylor also noted that the introduction of a monthly fee has increased the platform’s revenue and that Douugh is still testing the waters of its pricing model.

Taylor predicts Douugh’s revenue will improve further when it launches its crypto service early next year. He also said:

Our focus continues to be on improving activation rates and winning of salary deposits to dramatically increase [average revenue per user]. The paycheck is the catalyst of our flywheel and maximising the revenue opportunity in front of us…

We are now well positioned for the next phase of growth as we prepare for international expansion and the roll-out of the US product to customers in key markets around the world, starting in Australia.

Today’s gains included, the Douugh share price is currently 53% lower than it was at the start of 2021.

The post Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price rises 16% on soaring number of US users appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price rockets 18% on crypto update
• Here’s why the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is rocketing 18% today

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 Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3n4KpRL

The Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) share price continues its trot into the red today, currently down 1.04% at $10.89.

That marks a 27% decline for Vulcan’s share price since activist short-seller J Capital released its scathing report on the company and its operations late last month.

There’s a lot to cover here, so let’s get straight into it.

Federal Court judge bars sharing of report

The report, titled “Vulcan – God of Empty Promises”, calls into question Vulcan’s Rhine Valley lithium operations, where it intends to use geothermal power to produce lithium hydroxide.

In a blistering review, the short seller alleges Vulcan has made overly optimistic projections, particularly on its cost, output, and production claims for the project.

J Capital also submits that the quality of any lithium hydroxide that Vulcan could produce at the site is of a low grade.

The research firm made several other bombastic allegations, including that Vulcan overstated the quality of its resource at the site.

Vulcan forcefully denies the ‘disinformation’ in the online report, posting an 11-page reply that challenges each of the salient points in the short-seller’s thesis.

However, the Vulcan Energy share price has continued to struggle since the release of the report.

Now, in a twist of events, Vulcan has filed a lawsuit against J Capital for the report, claiming its contents are wrong and misleading.

Lawyers acting for the company launched Federal Court action under legislation that prevents false and misleading conduct by companies with any operations in Australia.

As such, a West Australian Federal Court has ordered the research firm to stop sharing its report until the matter can be advanced upon.

Hence, if you haven’t tried already, the report is not available for viewing online right now.

Consequently J Capital and its name face Tim Murray will also be prevented from discussing the report or sharing any further information regarding its claims, under threat of substantial punishment.

This includes the liability of “imprisonment, sequestration of property or other punishment”, according to the Court’s orders published online yesterday.

No doubt there will be plenty more to come as the case unfolds before the courts in the coming days and weeks.

Vulcan Energy share price snapshot

Despite the recent turbulence, the Vulcan Energy share price has still soared more than 630% in the past 12 months. It has also rallied almost 300% this year to date.

Without a doubt, these returns have outpaced the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s return of around 20% in the last year.

The post Don’t get short with me! Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price continues dive amid lawsuit appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why ANZ, Clinuvel, PolyNovo, and Vulcan shares are dropping
• Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price sinks 9% as short battle continues
• Why Ingenia, IAG, Vulcan, and Westpac shares are dropping
• Why Audio Pixels, Marley Spoon, PointsBet, and Vulcan shares are sinking
• Vulcan (ASX:VUL) share price sinks 20% after responding to short seller

The author Zach Bristow has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3EZiuc0