The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly challenging for the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price, but could 2022 be its year?

At the time of writing, the Flight Centre share price is $17.46.

That’s 8.5% higher than it was at the start of 2021 but 56% lower than it was at the end of 2019. Though, the company now has roughly double the number of outstanding shares it did prior to the pandemic.

Let’s take a look at what experts predict could happen to Flight Centre’s stock in 2022.

What might 2022 bring the Flight Centre share price?

Unfortunately for bullish investors, experts aren’t entirely confident in the Flight Centre share price going forward.

In fact, Datt Capital managing director Emanuel Datt isn’t generally optimistic about ASX travel shares in 2022.

Datt recently told The Motley Fool that Flight Centre, in particular, might be impacted “should social confidence remain low in visiting stores physically”.

That’s a similar sentiment to Regal Funds chief investment officer Philip King. King recently told the Sohn Hearts & Minds Investment Conference Flight Centre is his top short pick.

The fundie believes Flight Centre’s outstanding notes will cap its share price for the foreseeable future, while its bonds add risk.

King is also worried about the company’s income streams after it closed more than half of its physical stores during the pandemic. Additionally, the fundie is wary of a potential cultural shift towards booking flights directly through airlines.

Speaking of shorting, the company has held the title of the ASX’s most shorted share for much of 2021.

The Motley Fool Australia’s most recent weekly short-selling roundup found the company had a 14.6% short interest.

However, Goldman Sachs remains neutral on the travel agent.

Earlier this month, the broker released a prediction on how the Omicron COVID-19 variant could impact Australia and ASX travel stocks. So far, it seems to be on the money.

Goldman expects the first quarter of 2022 to bring a surge of new Omicron infections. Though, it predicts vaccinations will keep hospitalisation rates low.

Therefore, the broker thinks travel stocks – and Flight Centre in particular – will see a drop in earnings early next year, but a fast recovery.

Goldman Sachs has slapped the Flight Centre share price with a $20.40 target. That implies a 19% upside on its current level.

The post What’s the outlook for the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price in 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s what’s happening to the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price today
• What boosted ASX 200 travel shares on Tuesday?
• Why is the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price taking to the skies on Tuesday?
• Why is the short interest in Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) shares still growing?
• How high will ASX travel shares fly in 2022?

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 recommended Flight Centre Travel 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/3qo4oLE

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a bit of a wild day of trading on the markets this Wednesday so far. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is pretty much flat at 7,353 points after spending most of the trading day in the red.

So let’s dig deeper and check out the ASX 200 shares topping the ASX’s share volume charts for this day’s trading session, according to investing.com.

3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Wednesday

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

ASX 200 telco Telstra is our first share to check out today. So far, a hefty 11.28 million Telstra shares have been traded on the share market. There’s not much news out of the telco to speak of though. So it’s not entirely clear why this elevated volume is occurring.

It could be the result of the mild fall Telstra has experienced so far today, falling by 0.36% so far to $4.115 a share. That’s just a touch off of the new 52-week high of $4.13 we saw the company hit yesterday. Telstra’s ongoing share buybacks are probably also helping to boost this volume.

Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)

Oil driller Santos is next up this Wednesday. This ASX 200 energy share has had a sizeable 14.2 million of its shares bought and sold so far today. Again, with no news out of the company, let’s take a look at what’s happening with the Santos share price. Santos shares are presently up a healthy 0.97% are $6.22 at the time of writing. This has probably led to the high trading volumes we are seeing.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Our final and most traded ASX 200 share for today thus far is the lithium producer Pilbara Minerals. Pilbara has had a whopping 23.87 million shares change owners as it stands right now. This is almost certainly the result of the huge share price jump investors have enjoyed this Wednesday.

The company is currently up 7.17% at $2.69 a share. My Fool colleague Mitchell took a look at this jump earlier, which seems to be the result of a dramatic shift in investor sentiment. That’s given there are no developments out of the company.

The post These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 strong ASX 200 dividend shares to own for income
• Why Afterpay, Lovisa, Liontown, and Pilbara Minerals shares are racing higher
• Here’s why the Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price is bouncing back 8% today
• Why is the BetaShares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP) share price leaping higher today?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Rio Tinto’s lithium acquisition, Pilbara Minerals jumps

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns Telstra Corporation 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 owns 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 Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3sG7b5F

The Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD) share price is rising today amid more progress towards a potential takeover.

At the time of writing, the airport operator’s shares are trading at $8.67, up nearly 1%.

Let’s delve into what the company announced to the market today.

What is impacting the share price?

Sydney Airport informed investors Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board has no objection to the proposed $23.6 billion acquisition by Sydney Aviation Alliance.

The Alliance is a group of investors including AustralianSuper, IFM Investors, Global Infrastructre Partners, and QSuper.

According to an announcement released to the market today, the Foreign Investment Review Board’s ‘no objection’ letter signals all regulatory conditions surrounding the acquisition have been met.

As my Foolish colleague reported earlier this month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and European Commission have also approved the takeover.

However, shareholders still need to vote in favour of the deal. And there are other conditions still to be met, including court approval.

Sydney Airport is continuing to recommend shareholders vote in favour of the $8.75 per share proposal in February.

A statement on behalf of the Sydney Airport board today said:

Each member of the Sydney Airport board intends to vote, or cause to be voted, any Sydney Airport securities held or controlled by them, in favour of the schemes.

Last week, Sydney Airport released details of the shareholder offer, to be voted on at a meeting on Thursday 3 February.

Sydney Airport share price recap

The Sydney Airport share price has surged 37% in the past 12 months and gained 35% year to date.

For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned more than 11% over the past year.

The company’s shares have gained 2.7% in the past month, and 1.4% in the past week.

The company has a market capitalisation of roughly $23 billion based on its current share price.

The post Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price climbs amid another takeover green light appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price flat amid ‘subdued’ traffic outlook
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Wednesday
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Monday
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Friday

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/3mrVdZ8

The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) share price is having a disappointing year.

With a little over a week left in 2021, the regional bank’s shares are trading down 6% year to date.

Will 2022 be better for the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank share price?

There’s good news and bad news when it comes to the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank share price in 2022.

The good news is that a number of brokers have price targets above where the bank’s shares are currently trading.

The bad news is that despite this, none are prepared to recommend its shares as a buy at present.

What are brokers saying?

The team at Goldman Sachs currently has a neutral rating and $9.90 price target. This compares to current Bendigo and Adelaide Bank share price of $8.90.

Goldman has concerns over regional bank earnings due to retail banking profitability pressures. And while fellow regional player Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) is also exposed to this, the broker believes it has more opportunities to offset these headwinds.

Its analysts commented: “With 72% and 78% of their loan books exposed to Australian mortgages (retail-focused bank average 63%), and having written 57% and >45% of new mortgages as fixed rates in 2H21A, BEN and BOQ remain heavily exposed to this thematic.”

“Furthermore, as price takers in the mortgage market, both will rely on the major banks to drive further fixed rate mortgage repricing to offset these pressures. We therefore downgrade BEN and BOQ’s FY22/23/24E EPS by -7.8%/-9.5%/-10.3% and -3.1%/-3.1%/-3.0% respectively. As a result of our EPS changes, our BEN and BOQ TPs fall by -5.7%/-3.5% to A$9.90/A$9.66, respectively.”

In light of this, it could be another tough 12 months for the bank’s shares in 2022.

The post What’s the outlook for the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) share price in 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Are Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) shares a better buy for 2022 than Bendigo Bank?
• The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) share price lost 7% in November. What’s next?
• Here are the 3 top-performing ASX 200 banks of November
• What’s JP Morgan saying about ASX 200 bank shares?
• Here’s why these 3 All Ordinaries shares just hit 52-week lows

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 owns and has recommended Bendigo and Adelaide Bank 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/3moOteJ

The Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK) share price has come off the ice this afternoon as the company confirms it has entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed with Dye & Durham.

Link Group shares have sprung out of the freezer to now trade 15% higher on the day at $5.52, the highest price in almost 12 months.

Under the terms of the agreement, Dye & Durham will acquire 100% of the share capital in Link Group by way of a Scheme of Arrangement. Here are the details.

What did Link announce?

Aside from confirming the acquisition, Link advised that its group shareholders will receive $5.50 per share in cash under the scheme, plus a 3 cents per share interim dividend. This is expected to be franked at 100%.

Link Group intends to pay another fully franked special dividend of approximately 8 cents per share and this special dividend will be deducted from the $5.50 base consideration.

The total fully franked dividends (including both the interim dividend and special dividend) is expected to be approximately 11 cents per share thereby enabling eligible Link Group shareholders to receive approximately 4.7 cents per share in additional benefit from franking credits.

In addition, Link Group says that if it reaches an agreement to sell the Banking and Credit Management business, shareholders are entitled to receive any net consideration received from the sale prior to, or up to 12 months after, the implementation of the scheme.

For indicative purposes, this would represent approximately an additional 15 cents per share of value to Link Group shareholders under the case scenario assumptions.

With respect to the base consideration of $5.50 per share plus the interim dividend of 3 cents per share, this values Link Group’s equity at $2.9 billion and implies an enterprise value of $3.7 billion on the company.

It also represents a significant premium of 27.7% to the closing price on 4 November 2021, the day prior to Link Group announcing that it had received a proposal from Carlyle.

The proposed deal also implies transaction multiples of 9.4x EV/EBITDA, 17.1x EV/EBIT and 25.4x P/NPAT, each on FY21 figures.

Link Group’s Board unanimously recommends that Link Group shareholders vote in favour of the scheme in the absence of a superior proposal. An expert opinion will also be sought to examine if the deal is in the best interest of shareholders.

The scheme is still subject to certain conditions which must be satisfied before it can be implemented.

With respect to the offer from Carlyle, the company also advised today that “after approximately 5 weeks of detailed due diligence, no binding offer has been received from Carlyle”.

Management commentary

Speaking on the announcement, Link Group Chairman Michael Carapiet said:

After receiving a conditional, non-binding proposal from Carlyle on 4 November 2021, the Board said that it would continue to assess all alternatives that have the potential to optimise the interests of Link Group and its shareholders. This included providing a period of non-exclusive due diligence to Carlyle to determine whether a revised proposal could be developed and recommended to shareholders. The Board also announced that it would assess a number of other standalone value creation initiatives including the sale of non-core assets and the potential demerger of Link Group’s shareholding in PEXA via an in-specie distribution to shareholders.

Link Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Vivek Bhatia said:

The proposed transaction is an endorsement of Link Group’s leading global technology enabled platform. The combination with Dye & Durham will support our growth strategy and create significant opportunities for our employees and our customers. I am excited to partner with Dye & Durham for this next stage of Link Group’s journey.

The Link share price has struggled this past 12 months, having fallen more than 1% in the red in that time, after sliding another 1% this year to date.

The post Link (ASX:LNK) share price surges 15% on takeover news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Link (ASX:LNK) share price frozen on Wednesday?
• 4 best-performing ASX tech shares in November
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

The author has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Link Administration Holdings Ltd. 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/3egQlSo

Today has been a pretty interesting day for ASX shares so far. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently 0.07% in the green so far this Wednesday after spending most of the day in the red. That makes the movements of the Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price even more noteworthy.

Lynas shares are currently up a healthy 3.27% at $9.31 each, defying the gloom of the broader market. This latest move brings Lynas one day closer to finishing the 2021 calendar year on a high.

This is a company that has managed to give investors a gain of more than 122% year to date so far this year. Lynas is also up more than 140% over the past 12 months.

So what’s behind today’s share price gains?

What’s behind the Lynas share price surge today?

Well, unfortunately, it’s not quite clear. There has been no official news or announcements out of Lynas today. Or indeed since 13 December.

However, we do have some second-hand news. As my Fool colleague James covered this morning, analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) have just released analysis that argues Australia’s top lithium miners are sitting in a powerful lithium-fuelled tailwind.

Macquarie reckons “electric vehicle adoption could keep lithium prices at record levels for four years”. As such, it has named a bevvy of ASX lithium shares that it expects will benefit from this tailwind. These included Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS), Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) and Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN).

Now, Lynas is not a lithium company. It is in the business of processing rare earth minerals (as its name suggests). These mostly include neodymium, lanthanum and cerium. So why might this be relevant to the Lynas share price?

Well, rare earths are also a major component of the lithium electric batteries that power zero-emission vehicles. Neodymium, for instance, is often used in high-power electromagnets that are often found in electric motors.

So perhaps investors have taken note of this report, and have rewarded Lynas shares accordingly. That might explain why the share prices of Pilbara, Mineral Resources, and Allkem are all in the green today. Pilbara, in fact, is currently up more than 7%.

At the current Lynas Rare Earths share price, this company has a market capitalisation of $8.38 billion.

The post Why is the Lynas (ASX:LYC) share price storming higher today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What is the outlook for the Lynas (ASX:LYC) share price in 2022?
• Up 27% in a month, the Lynas (ASX:LYC) share price just hit another 9-year high. Here’s why
• Here’s how EV mania is supercharging growth for Lynas (ASX:LYC)
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• 5 best ASX 200 resource shares to hold in November

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 Macquarie 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/3moWUXz

Shares in Anteotech Ltd (ASX: ADO) are spiking well into the green during afternoon trade and now change hands 12.5% higher at 22.5 cents apiece.

Whilst there’s been no market-sensitive information from the company’s end today, Anteotech did advise of an approximate $2 million research & development (R&D) tax incentive refund it received in an announcement.

What did Anteotech announce?

AnteoTech advised that it has received a cash refund of $1,965,463 under the Federal Government’s R&D Tax Incentive Scheme.

The rebate relates to eligible R&D activities conducted by AnteoTech in both its Life Science and Energy divisions for the 2021 financial year, per the release.

For reference, the R&D Tax Incentive is an Australian Government program developed to assist businesses to “access tax offsets for expenditure on eligible research and development activities”.

This refundable tax offset amounts to 43.5% of the expenditure on eligible research and development activities undertaken during the financial year.

Anteotech says that the funds will be reinvested into the continued development of its lateral flow test product
offerings for the EuGeni platform, with the remainder assigned to the AnteoX (cross-linker additive) program that is targeting increased electrode coating cohesion of lithium-ion battery electrodes.

Today’s update follows on from previous news Anteotech released last week advising that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) had contacted the company requesting it to review how its diagnostic test will cover COVID-19 variants.

This comes on the back of earlier momentum where the company claimed its rapid nasal swab test was successful in detecting COVID-19 in 1 minute with an efficacy of 97.3%.

Despite the series of updates, the market has expected more from the company and has thus punished its share price over the last 3 months.

In that time, Anteotech’s shares have crumbled off a high of 27.5 cents to trade as low as 17 cents last week. However, following the update, they have reclaimed some territory and are now up 25% for the week and 13% for the month.

Anteotech share price summary

Despite the challenges in recent months, the Anteotech share price has climbed over 120% in the last 12 months, after rallying another 109% this year to date.

It has wobbled these past 6 months and has tested the 29 cents per share mark twice without success, and has been forced to bounce off a low of around 16–19 cents twice now.

One reason Anteotech is up so much over the longer time frames is that it is coming off a low base. In December 2020 it was trading at 10.5 cents, whereas it has reached a 52-week high of 43.5 cents in April and a 52-week low of 10 cents in February 2021.

The post Here’s why the Anteotech (ASX:ADO) share price is spiking 13% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) share price falls on TGA update
• Here’s why the AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) share price has withstood today’s sell-off

The author 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/3moM6Zn

In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has given back its early gains and is on course to record a small decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.15% to 7,344.8 points.

Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are tumbling lower:

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

The Brickworks share price is down 4% to $23.75. Investors have been selling this building products company’s shares in response to a broker note out of UBS. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the company’s shares to a neutral rating with a $26.30 price target. The broker believes its property business’ growth could slow in the near term.

Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC)

The Charter Hall share price is down 7.5% to $20.00. This follows news that the property company is acquiring a 50% interest in Paradice Investment Management (PIM). Charter Hall will pay $207 million for the stake. This comprises 70% in shares and 30% in cash. PIM is a fund manager with around $18.2 billion in funds under management. Some investors don’t appear keen on the move.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)

The Magellan share price is back in the red on Wednesday and down 3% to $19.98. Investors have been selling down this fund manager’s shares this week after it lost a major contract. The market appears concerned that more could follow, particularly given its high fees and the bitterly disappointing performance of its flagship fund this year.

Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)

The Rio Tinto share price is down over 2.5% to $98.77 after announcing an acquisition. The mining giant intends to pay US$825 million or A$1.15 billion on the Argentina-based Rincon lithium project. The release notes that it is a large brine project with the potential to be one of the lowest carbon operations in the industry. Investors may believe Rio Tinto is overpaying for the asset.

The post Why Brickworks, Charter Hall, Magellan, and Rio Tinto shares are falling appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Rio Tinto’s lithium acquisition, Pilbara Minerals jumps
• Charter Hall (ASX:CHC) share price sinks 6% on acquisition news
• Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price flops as fresh talk of turmoil at the top emerges
• Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price slumps amid $1.15b lithium acquisition
• Is it a sell? Why is Morgans saying ‘avoid’ the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Brickworks. 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/32sTRpR

The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is suffering today amid its second rate increase in December. The hike is also its fourth of the last 2 months and experts believe it might be just the beginning.

At the time of writing, the NAB share price is $28.41, 1.08% lower than its previous close.

For context, the broader market is also in the red today. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has slumped 0.27% while the S&P/ASX Banks Index (ASX: XBK) is down 0.58%.

NAB is leading the tumble among the big banks today. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price is coming in second with a 0.95% dip.

Meanwhile, the share prices of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) are down 0.25% and 0.52% respectively.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news of NAB’s fixed interest rates.

Is this weighing on the NAB share price today?

The NAB share price is sliding today amid yet another rise to its fixed interest rates. This time, they’ve been hiked by as much as 0.1%.

It follows the bank increasing fixed rates by up to 0.5% earlier this month and up to 0.51% in November. NAB also boosted its fixed interest rates by up to 0.2% in October.

Today’s change sees NAB’s fixed interest rates crowned equal highest of the big four’s – sharing the title with CBA’s.

RateCity.com.au research director, Sally Tindall commented on the changes made by NAB today, saying:

NAB’s 3-year fixed rate for owner-occupiers paying principal and interest is now almost a full percentage point higher than it was eight weeks ago.

The big four bank fixed rates were ultra-low for most of 2021, however, in the last two months, they’ve started to become less competitive… We expect fixed rates to keep on rising in 2022, creating a very different landscape to what we’ve become accustomed to.

NAB’s not alone in boosting its fixed interest rates lately.

According to RateCity.com.au, CBA and Westpac have increased their fixed interest rates 4 times since mid-October. Over the same period, ANZ hiked its fixed rates 3 times.

Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker believes rising interest rates are worrying everyday Australians and could foreshadow a change in the cash rate by the Reserve Bank. Mickenbecker commented:

In spite of a cash rate that hasn’t moved for a year, interest rates are on the march in both directions, heading down for variable rates and up for fixed rates – a sure sign that the market expects the Reserve Bank to move up in the coming 12 months or so …

With 23% of Australians expecting an increase in foreclosures and mortgage stress, even before we have seen the cash rate go up, it seems there is limited confidence in our ability to absorb a sustained increase in home loan interest rates.

Despite today’s dip, the NAB share price is well and truly in the green long-term. Right now, it is 24% higher than it was at the start of 2021.

The post NAB (ASX:NAB) share price struggles amid second rate hike for December appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Drinking, banking, and EVs: 3 value ASX shares I’d buy right now
• Broker says NAB (ASX:NAB) share price offers 12% upside plus dividends
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Is the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price great value? Goldman thinks it is
• Sustainable change? NAB (ASX:NAB) share price spikes after AGM 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 recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3qjT9DB

The Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) share price is dropping on Wednesday afternoon.

At the time of writing, the mineral exploration company’s shares are down 3% to $8.33.

Why is the Chalice Mining share price falling?

The good news for shareholders is that the weakness in the Chalice Mining share price is not because something bad has happened.

Rather, the decline has been caused by the completion of the demerger of its gold exploration business Falcon Metals Ltd (ASX: FAL) this morning.

Chalice decided to demerge its gold operations so it could focus on its core world-class Julimar Ni-Cu-PGE Project and the new West Yilgarn Ni-Cu-PGE Province in Western Australia.

The Falcon demerger

Earlier this month Chalice shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the demerger of the Falcon Metals business. A total of 99.97% of the votes cast were for the resolution.

In light of the successful vote, eligible shareholders now own 1 Falcon share for approximately every 3.0341 Chalice shares held on the in-specie record date of 13 December.

Falcon also separately raised $30 million via an IPO at a price of 50 cents per new share. Unfortunately, the Falcon share price is currently trading at 36.5 cents after hitting the boards after lunch. This could be a sign that some Chalice shareholders weren’t interested in gaining exposure to gold and have sold their shares today.

What now for Falcon?

Management notes that Falcon is a high-profile gold exploration specialist led by a highly decorated board and management team. It has a strong starting cash position, which gives it a unique platform to make a tier one gold discovery in Victoria and Western Australia.

Falcon Metals’ Managing Director, Tim Markwell, commented: “Falcon Metals is excited by the opportunity to further explore the gold projects spun out by Chalice. All of them are in areas considered highly prospective for gold discoveries, with Pyramid Hill particularly noteworthy due to its location in the Bendigo goldfield and proximity to Fosterville, while Viking and Mount Jackson are also very promising. We believe our experienced team can help us further develop these assets and unlock their potential value.”

Drilling activities are anticipated to commence at Pyramid Hill in January 2022.

The post Why is the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price falling today%? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Bell Potter names the best ASX mining shares to buy in 2022
• Why did the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price slide today?
• How will Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) shares be impacted by the Falcon spin off?
• Here’s why the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price is in the spotlight today

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3sr50lZ