Most weeks, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) CommSec brokering platform tells us the ASX and international shares (which usually just means US shares) that are the most popular with its Aussie customers.

CommSec is one of the largest online brokers in the country. As such, this data can be an insightful indicator of investment trends in the Aussie market.

We have already looked at the most popular ASX shares today, so here are the top 10 US shares CommSec customers were buying last week. This week’s data covers 25-29 January. 

Most traded US shares on the ASX

1. GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) – representing 8.5% of total trades with a 77%/23% buy-to-sell ratio.
2. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC) – representing 5% of total trades with a 79%/21% buy-to-sell ratio.
3. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) – representing 4.8% of total trades with a 70%/30% buy-to-sell ratio.
4. BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE: BB) – representing 3% of total trades with a 78%/22% buy-to-sell ratio.
5. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) – representing 2.8% of total trades with a 71%/29% buy-to-sell ratio.
6. Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO)
7. Nokia Oyj (NYSE: NOK)
8. Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR)
   
9. Naked Brand Group Ltd (NASDAQ: NAKD)
10. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)

What can we learn from these trades?

Well, my oh my, what an interesting set of results for last week. The first thing to note is that the long-time regents of this list in electric car and battery manufacturers Tesla and Nio have been usurped for one of the first times in months. They have been replaced with (time to get the elephant out of the room) GameStop and AMC.

GameStop, as you might already know by now, has been the talk of the investing world over the past week or so. Fuelled by a WallStreetBets-orchestrated short-squeeze, GameStop stock rocketed more than 300% last week, sparking a hurricane of investor interest. You can read more about the whole saga here, but let’s just say it was no surprise GameStop topped the list.

However, the GameStop situation has opened the floodgates to a raft of stocks that FOMO-riddled investors have also targeted.

AMC (a struggling cinema chain), BlackBerry (the struggling phone company) and Nokia (see previous company) all unexpectedly make the list this week as well, displacing old favourites like Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK).

There is only one explanation for this – investors are drinking the WallStreetBets Kool-Aid and hoping for a repeat performance with these other ‘sunset’ companies. Despite this, investors evidently haven’t entirely lost their appetite for US blue-chip shares like Apple and Microsoft. The more things change, the more they stay the same!

More reading

• Why investors should look beyond the Reddit army to these ASX fundamentals
• Why ASX silver shares like Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) are falling today
• Can the Reddit army save the plunging Unibail (ASX:URW) share price today?
• ASX 200 up 0.9%: Credit Corp impresses, Afterpay jumps, bank shares rise
• How Monday’s stock market silver squeeze fared

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Palantir Technologies Inc and recommends the following options: long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon and short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) share price is trading at $3.96 at the time of writing, rising over 2% higher for the day after spending the past week losing ground.

Last week, Oil Search released its fourth quarter report for the period ended 31 December 2020.

Let’s take a look at how the Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas explorer has been performing recently.

Record production and developments progressing

Oil Search reported a record annual PNG LNG production rate of 8.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) (gross).

The PNG LNG Project is a world-class liquefied natural gas development that commenced operations in 2014. Oil Search claims that the project has transformed the company into a regionally significant oil and gas producer with a long-term, low cost, high quality LNG revenue stream.

In last week’s update, Oil Search also announced the progression of parliamentary approvals for its PNG LNG project, with the PNG Parliament passing all remaining amendments to the Acts for Papua LNG fiscal stability. The PNG Government noted it was looking forward to imminent discussions with the project operator regarding project progress. 

The company also stated that its Alaska resources were upgraded by 33% following an independent certification. 

Oil Search December quarter financial highlights

Total fourth quarter revenue from LNG, gas, oil and condensate sales was $259.5 million, up 37% from the prior quarter.

As of 31 December 2020, Oil Search held liquidity of US$1.44 billion, comprising US$540.8 million in cash and US$895.6 million in undrawn credit facilities.

The company spent US$33.3 million on exploration and evaluation expenditure activities during the quarter. Expenditure on property, plant and equipment was US$4.3 million for the period.

2021 guidance for Oil Search

Oil Search advised that 2021 production is expected to be lower than 2020 because of scheduled service programmes for the PNG LNG plant. These services have been timed in with a major maintenance shutdown that occurs every four years to minimise production impact.

Investment expenditure is expected to be in line with 2020.

Over the past year, the Oil Search share price has crashed close to 45%, leaving the company with a market capitalisation of $8.2 billion on current prices.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Why are people watching the oil price right now?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Gretchen Kennedy 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.

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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) made it’s first cash rate announcement for 2021 this afternoon.

And the RBA opted to — drum roll please — keep rates on hold at the current record low 0.1%.

Atop of maintaining the current cash rate and the parameters of its Term Funding Facility, RBA Governor, Philip Lowe, also announced the central bank will up its quantitative easing (QE) program.

The RBA will purchase another $100 billion of bonds issued by both the state, territory, and federal governments once the current bond purchases run their course in mid-April.

Lowe wrote that the RBA will continue buying $5 billion of government bonds per week. This is the same rate as under the current program.

COVID-19 vaccine tailwinds

Lowe noted that the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines had improved the outlook for the global economy over the past months.

In Australia, which has done particularly well managing the pandemic, that recovery has seen unemployment fall to 6.6%, below earlier projections. The RBA forecasts Australia’s unemployment rate will remain higher than it’s been over the past 20 years. Its base case scenario sees unemployment falling to around 6% by years end and to 5.5% by the end of 2022.

In other positive news, retail spending has also come back strongly. This is due to many households and businesses now repaying earlier deferred loans. The RBA’s central scenario now sees GDP growing by 3.5% in 2021 and at that same rate in 2022. GDP is forecast to reach its end of 2019 level by mid-2021.

However, the RBA governor cautioned that Australia’s economic recovery “remains dependent on the health situation and on significant fiscal and monetary support. Inflation remains low and below central bank targets.”

Wage growth

Inflation (CPI) came in at 0.9% over the year to the December quarter. Wage growth also remains poor. According to the Wage Price Index figures, wages are increasing at the slowest rate in history. The central bank predicts a gradual increase in both inflation and wages. However, it believes both will be below 2% “over the next couple of years”.

As far as increasing the interest or tightening its other policies, Lowe highlighted that this is still a long way off:

The Board remains committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions until its goals are achieved. Given the current outlook for inflation and jobs, this is still some way off…

The Board will not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target range. For this to occur, wages growth will have to be materially higher than it is currently. This will require significant gains in employment and a return to a tight labour market. The Board does not expect these conditions to be met until 2024 at the earliest.

Tomorrow, Lowe is scheduled to address the National Press Club in Canberra. Lowe is said to reveal further details on the RBA’s expectations for the Australian economy.

How ASX 200 shares moved following the RBA’s announcement

There was no significant rise in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) following the release of the RBA’s decision at 2:00pm AEST.

Investors look to have expected the news. A rate rise was highly unlikely, and a rate cut impossible without going negative.

The ASX 200 is up 0.1% since the RBA announced its decision. That puts the index up 1.4% for the day in late afternoon trading.

More reading

• Why ASX silver shares like Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) are falling today
• Huon (ASX:HUO) share price sinks on profit downgrade and write-downs
• Why the Centuria (ASX:CIP) share price is gaining today
• These 2 ASX stocks jumped after a broker upgrade to “buy” today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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.

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The OC Micro-Cap Fund was a strong performer during the final quarter of 2020.

According to its most recent quarterly update, the fund manager delivered a 17.5% return for investors during the three months ended 31 December.

This stretched its 12-month return to an impressive 43.1%, which is an outperformance of 16% versus the benchmark S&P/ASX Emerging Companies Accumulation Index.

What has been driving the OC Micro-Cap Fund’s strong returns?

There were three key contributors to the fund’s strong performance during the final quarter of 2020.

The first was the Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) share price, which recorded a 98.5% gain over the period.

OC notes that the lithium miner was a big winner after the “market came to grips with President-elect Biden’s ambitious ‘2050 net zero emissions’ target.”

It commented: “As a key component in batteries that power electric vehicles, lithium will play a critical role in the achievement of this objective. GXY raised additional capital during the quarter to advance its flagship Sal de Vida project and is now well capitalised to achieve its first production later in 2022.”

It believes Galaxy will continue to benefit as the global economy looks toward sustainable avenues for growth.

What else underpinned OC’s strong performance?

Another big winner for OC was the Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX) share price. The Melbourne-based biopharmaceutical company’s shares rocketed a massive 127.7% during the quarter following a series of positive updates.

One of those was a strategic partnership with China Grand Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Holdings (CGP) for the greater China market worth upwards of US$225 million in regulatory and commercial milestones payments.

OC commented: “We see CGP’s investment as a vote of confidence in TLX’s pipeline by a company with experience in nuclear medicine (CGP acquired ASX listed oncology and nuclear medicine business Sirtex Medical in 2018).”

Although OC has trimmed its holding slightly, it remains positive on the company’s long term prospects.

It explained: “TLX has an impressive late-stage portfolio with numerous catalysts in 2021 including regulatory approval and commercialisation of TLX591-CDx (prostate cancer imaging) which has revenue potential in the hundreds of millions of dollars and a tier-one US-based partner, Cardinal Health, ready to sell its product in the US. We have trimmed our holding into recent share price strength but remain excited about the outlook for this well managed company.”

Evolve charges higher

Finally, the Evolve Education Group Ltd (ASX: EVO) share price was another positive contributor to OC’s performance during the quarter.

The childcare company’s shares rose 70.2% during the period thanks largely to a solid operating update in October. That update demonstrated how the largely NZ-based company was emerging in excellent condition following its COVID-19 lockdowns.

OC remains positive on its prospects, noting that it believes “EVO is well positioned for the ongoing expansion of its Australian beachhead in 2021 and we remain holders of the stock.”

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• Here’s why the Galaxy Resources (ASX:GXY) share price is dropping lower
• Why Ampol, Flight Centre, Syrah, & Telix shares are dropping lower
• Why the Telix (ASX:TLX) share price is dropping lower today
• Why the Ioneer (ASX:INR) share price is up 16% this week

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Galaxy Resources Limited and TELIXPHARM DEF SET. 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.

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The Carbonxt Group Ltd (ASX: CG1) share price is right back where it started today. After falling in morning trade then touching an intraday high of 25 cents mid afternoon, the Carbonxt share price has now returned to its opening price of 23 cents.

This comes after the Australia-based company announced a commercial agreement with United States manufacturer, Kentucky Coal Processing.

Carbonxt develops and markets activated carbon (AC) products. These pellets capture mercury and sulphur in a gas or liquid phase from coal fired power station emissions. Used within industrial settings, Carbonxt’s products aim to reduce the harmful air pollutants in the environment.

What’s the deal?

According to today’s release, Carbonxt will expand its manufacturing capacity to produce AC pellets on an industrial scale through the deal with Kentucky Coal Processing.

The company advised that an investment group will construct a specialty AC plant to expand its current capability. It’s expected that the facility will be fully operational sometime before the second quarter of FY22.

Carbonxt said the partnership with Kentucky will enable it to purchase the AC pellets at a cost rate basis. Any sales margins that are made will be split between both companies. Carbonxt noted this structure eliminates the need for third-party materials, thereby lowering its overall production costs.

In addition, the company said that while the expansion plans are underway, it will focus efforts on its existing operations at the Arden Hills facility.

Carbonxt revealed that AC pellets sell at around US$2,500 to US$3,500 per tonne, depending on the industrial application and specification. The new plant will have a target of 11,000 tonnes per year, giving potential revenue of US$38.5 million.

The initial term of the agreement is valid for 3 years with options to extended further from both parties. Carbonxt will be responsible for sales and maintaining customer relationships.

Words from the managing director

Carbonxt managing director Warren Murphy welcomed the agreement, saying:

We are delighted to be able to double our capacity and eliminate financial bottlenecks, as well as reducing inventory levels and freeing up further cash that have held back the growth of our industrial pellet business.

This partnership will enable Carbonxt to focus on technology and marketing. The alliance also frees up capacity at the Arden Hills pellet facility and allows that facility to focus on fewer products with higher efficiencies with our current tolling relationship. We look forward to a long and successful relationship.

About the Carbonxt share price

After dropping steeply from its 50 cent peaks in January to hit a 52-week low of 12 cents in March, the Carbonxt share price has been on a mini roller-coaster ride.

At the current share price, Carbonxt has a market capitalisation of around $32 million.

More reading

• ASX stock of the day: Rent.com.au (ASX:RNT) shares explode 218%
• ASX share at 30% discount but set to double earnings
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Why investors should look beyond the Reddit army to these ASX fundamentals
• 2 reliable blue chip ASX share to buy

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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.

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The Rent.com.au Ltd (ASX: RNT) share price is exploding today in dramatic fashion. Rent.com.au shares closed at 4.3 cents each last week (before the company was placed in a trading halt).

However, Rent.com.au opened this morning at 10 cents a share and have rocketed even higher since. At the time of writing, the Rent share price is trading at 12 cents a share, up a staggering 167%. It’s the highest share price this company has touched since 2016.

So who is Rent.com.au? And why is it experiencing such a dramatic jump in value today?

Rent.com.au in a nutshell

Rent.com.au is an online provider of rental advertising for renters and landlords. It operates an online marketplace in a similar fashion to its far-larger rival REA Group Ltd‘s (ASX: REA) realestate.com.au website and Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG)’s domain.com.au.

According to the company, Rent.com.au’s mission is “to deliver excellent services for renters and all marketers of rental properties”. Additionally, the company aims to “become the home for renters with the widest possible choice of homes in one convenient location”.

Rent.com.au also offers several “exclusive and industry-first products and tools” as well. These include Renter Resume, RentBond, RentConnect, RentCheck, RentPay and RentReports, amongst others. These products and tools collectively serve to “simplify the renting process for renters, landlords, and agents”.

The company has delivered some head-turning numbers of late. Just last week, Rent.com.au released a quarterly update. In this update, investors were informed that the company brought in $734,000 in revenue (remember, this is a small company). That was a 27% improvement year on year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) also experienced a 55% improvement year on year. 

However,the company’s earnings are yet to break even.

Paying the Rent

So why are shares of this little-known company exploding today?

Well, it’s probably the result of an ASX market release the company put out this morning before market open. In this announcement, Rent.com.au informed investors that “Australian tech entrepreneur” Bevan Slattery has made a substantial investment in the company.

Rent.com.au tells us that Mr. Slattery has received 55 million newly issued ordinary shares as a result of his $2.75 million investment. These shares were placed at a price of 5 cents a share (meaning he has already almost tripled his money on today’s share price gains). Rent.com.au stated that they intend to use this funding injection to provide “additional capital to accelerate RNT’s transformation of the renting experience”.

Rent.com.au CEO, Mr. Greg Bader had this to say on the deal:

Bevan has a well-earned reputation for innovation and disruption across the technology sector and having Bevan come on board as a major shareholder is fantastic. I am excited that Bevan shares our vision for the platform and this additional investment will allow us to maximise the potential of our upcoming RentPay launch and provide additional working capital for marketing and product development.

Mr. Slattery apparently has “over 20 years’ experience in founding and investing in early-stage technology companies”. These apparently include forays with NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) and Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1).

The company’s release also quoted Mr. Slattery on his investment:

I love disruptive platforms that have the ability to scale and Rent.com.au has great potential to achieve that goal. I look forward to supporting the Board and management team and am excited to be backing another innovative Australian technology platform.

Clearly, investors are more than on board with this vision, judging by the company’s performance today.

More reading

• 2 outstanding ASX tech shares to buy
• ASX 200 rises, Worley dumped, Mesoblast rises
• Forget growth or value: Here’s a neutral way to pick shares
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Reality (and GameStop) finally hits ASX
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 next week

Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO and REA Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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You’ve heard all about how shares are now inflated and there are no bargains left.

But there are also experts saying the market will continue to rise, thanks to low interest rates and economies recovering from COVID-19.

So if equities are expensive but will rise, what the heck do you buy?

Redpoint chief executive Max Cappetta runs a quantitative model for his Tax Aware Australian Share Fund, and reckons he’s found a good one.

“One of the stocks we’ve had an eye on and we have a position in at the moment is Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX: RWC),” he told The Motley Fool’s Ask A Fund Manager this week.

“We see that it’s a stock that currently is on track to probably double their earnings from 2018. And yet is still trading at 30% below the price that it traded at its highs in 2018.”

So what does Reliance Worldwide do?

Unlike the technology and green energy shares that have taken off in the past couple of years, Reliance is in a decidedly old world industry.

“They’re a plumbing business essentially – rather quite boring,” said Cappetta.

“They’re sort of behind the walls. You don’t really see their product. It just sort of happens in the background.”

The fund manager admitted the plumbing supplies industry doesn’t have the growth glamour currently favoured by investors.

“It does remind me a little bit of the 1999-2000 period, both here in Australia and offshore, where everybody was about clicks and order as opposed to bricks and mortar,” Capetta said.

“A lot of the old school businesses, certainly their growth profile is maybe not as strong as some of these IT and tech stocks. But if they are trading at an attractive valuation and can grow earnings meaningfully over the next 2 or 3 years, then I think they do have a part to play in people’s portfolios and can deliver the good returns.”

Why does Reliance have a bright future?

Reliance is expected to benefit from the infrastructure spending and government support that will get economies out of the pandemic doldrums.

The company operates multiple regions, which gives it room for growth.

“Their plumbing products will be in great demand. [That] really supports their growth here in Australia, in the United States and also a growing business through Europe,” said Cappetta.

“It’s one of the stocks that we think at the moment is underappreciated. They did have a very good half-year update the other day, which the market responded to quite positively. And we expect for that positive sentiment to continue in the near term.”

Cappetta added Reliance is ready to profit from recent investments.

“While they’ve been around really for many decades, over the last 5, 10 years the company has been quite acquisitive, both in Australia and internationally,” he said.

“What we saw in their financial statements from last year is really a strong positioning in terms of all of those transactions that they’ve put together into the business – now actually starting to build momentum and causing incremental profit growth the way that we actually like to see it.”

At the time of writing on Tuesday afternoon, Reliance shares are up 6.29% to $4.48.

The company was founded in 1949 and currently has a market capitalisation of $3.54 billion.

More reading

• Forget growth or value: Here’s a neutral way to pick shares
• ASX 200 falls 0.6%
• Why the Reliance (ASX:RWC) share price is storming 7% higher today
• ASX 200 down 0.7%: BHP & Fortescue tumble, Reliance rockets, CSL downgraded
• Why Booktopia, Nitro, Reliance, & Vulcan shares are charging higher

Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Reliance Worldwide Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Reliance Worldwide Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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On Monday I looked at three ASX shares that brokers have given buy ratings to this week.

Unfortunately, not all shares are in favour with them right now. Three that have just been given sell ratings are listed below.

Here’s why these brokers are bearish on these ASX shares:

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN)

According to a note out of Morgan Stanley, its analysts have retained their underweight rating and $30.20 price target on this mining and mining services company’s shares. This follows the release of a mixed second quarter update. Morgan Stanley appears disappointed with Mineral Resources’ iron ore and lithium shipments during the quarter. In light of this and its belief that its valuation is stretched, it has held firm with its underweight rating. The Mineral Resources share price is trading at $36.36 this afternoon.

Sims Ltd (ASX: SGM)

Analysts at Goldman Sachs have downgraded this scrap metal company’s shares to a sell rating with an improved price target of $11.38. According to the note, the broker notes that steel prices have been retreating after strong gains in recent months. This is being driven by an improvement in supply. Goldman expects this to continue and for market dynamics and pricing to normalise in 2021. The Sims share price is fetching $12.60 on Tuesday.

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

A note out of Credit Suisse reveals that its analysts have retained their underperform rating but lifted the price target on this airport operator’s shares to $5.00. Credit Suisse is expecting international passenger numbers to remain at ultra low levels in 2021. This is because the broker suspects that Australia will not reopen international borders until enough of the population is vaccinated. In light of this, it expects its earnings to fall well short of consensus estimates for the year. The Sydney Airport share price is trading at $5.82 today.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Reality (and GameStop) finally hits ASX
• The latest ASX stocks to be hit by broker downgrades
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Change in America spurs ASX 200 higher
• ASX 200 rises 0.4%
• Is the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price good value?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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.

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If ever there was a good reminder to look beyond the noise of daily ASX share price swings, the past few days have delivered it.

Volatility returned with a vengeance to global share markets. And the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was no exception.

From last Wednesday, 27 January, through to yesterday’s late morning low the ASX 200 fell 4.4%. Since then it’s gained 3.4%, including today’s 1.3% intraday rise.

Just as in US markets, where the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: .IXIC) index led the charge higher (gaining 2.6% Monday), ASX tech shares are again outperforming.

At time of writing, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) – which tracks 50 of Australia’s leading and emerging technology shares – is up 4.0%.

The usual share market culprits… and some new ones

What do long-term investors, patiently watching the share prices of their holdings yo-yo up and down, have to thank for the renewed volatility?

Some of the drivers are the same forces that have roiled markets on and off for the past 11 months. Those include the news flow around coronavirus variants and vaccines, expectations of future rounds of government stimulus, and concerns inflation could see central banks raise rates sooner than promised.

In recent weeks we can add the so-called Reddit army to those destabilising forces.

That’s the collective of retail investors linked through Reddit’s WallStreetBets app who’ve been targeting institutional short sellers. You know, the amateur investing crowd who helped drive the GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) share price up 1,914% in 2021 through to last Wednesday’s all time highs.

Speaking of volatility, GameStop shares gained 135% on Wednesday, fell 44% on Thursday, gained 68% on Friday, and lost 31% yesterday (overnight Aussie time).

Dizzy yet?

Which gets us back to why buy and hold investors would do well to ignore these daily swings. If you measure your investment horizon in years, what happens this week or next is likely to be a forgotten memory by the time you need or choose to cash in your shares.

If you’ve got the stomach and capital to risk on day trading, on the other hand, take another look at the GameStop share price moves over the past 4 trading days. If you managed to guess right, and bought low and sold high, you could have made some quick, tidy profits. But if you guessed wrong you could have lost almost half your investment in a single day.

With that said, what can investors expect for the year ahead?

Macquarie’s ASX earnings outlook

If you strip away the shorter-term forces moving share prices, the core issue investors should focus on is company earnings. That includes past, present, and future earnings projections.

With earning’s reporting season upon us here in Australia, Macquarie offers an upbeat outlook (quoted by the Australian Financial Review):

We remain positive on the earnings outlook, supported by fiscal stimulus, strong commodity prices and the view that vaccines drive stronger growth over calendar year 2021.

Net EPS [earnings per share] revisions have now been positive for the last 5 months. Revisions have not been this positive since the commodity boom (2004 or 2005).

Two ASX 200 shares for 2021

Macquarie listed a number of shares its analysts favour for 2021, some of which have been heavily sold off during the pandemic.

One of the shares its analysts tip is Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). The Telstra share price is up 4.7% so far in 2021. Over the past 12 months, however, shares remain down 18%.

Telstra pays an annualised dividend yield of 5.1%, fully franked.

If it’s dividends you’re after though, Macquarie’s analysts point to some of the leading ASX miners, including Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG). The Fortescue share price is down 9% in 2021. Over the past 12 months, though, Fortescue has been a star performer, seeing its share price soar 105%.

Fortescue pays an annualised dividend yield of 8.1%, fully franked.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Why investors should look beyond the Reddit army to these ASX fundamentals appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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There are some blue chip ASX shares that could be worth owning for potentially reliable and long-term returns.

What’s a blue chip?

Well, it depends on your definition. For some people it might mean the biggest shares on the ASX share market. Others might say that it’s shares within the ASX 50 or the ASX 100. It may mean that it’s the leader in its industry.

Whatever the size of a blue chip, it may mean that investors can hope for a somewhat more reliable return than the overall market, or it’s able withstand any economic downturns better than other businesses across the economy.

Here are two examples of blue chip ASX shares:

Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN)

Ansell is one of the businesses involved in the fight against COVID-19. It provides health and safety protection products such as gloves.

The world has been seeing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, and there has been a greater focus on protection against transmission according to Ansell.

The ASX blue chip share continues to see elevated demand for its examination gloves, life sciences and chemical protective clothing. Ansell is also seeing strong market share gains in its mechanical and surgical segments.

Ansell recently said in a trading update it has been implementing efficiencies to increase output and investing in production capacity at its own plants. Management boasted that the company has been able to successfully and safely meet higher demand where others in the industry have struggled.

In addition to sizeable volume increases, the company has been able to effectively pass through price increases to offset higher costs from raw material, particularly in exam and labour costs.

In the first half of FY21, the company is expecting to deliver organic revenue growth of more than 20% and unaudited earnings per share (EPS) growth of 62% to 68% in a range of 81 cents to 84 cents. That means it’s now expecting FY21 EPS to be in a range of 135 cents to 145 cents.

Amcor Plc (ASX: AMC)

Amcor is one of the world’s largest packaging businesses for food, beverages, pharmaceutical, medical, home, personal care and other products.

The company is focused on making packaging that uses less materials, is increasingly cyclable and reusable, and is made with more recycled content.

The ASX blue chip share has around 47,000 employees with operations that span 230 locations in more than 40 countries.

Despite all the impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy, Amcor continues to generate profit growth and it keeps increasing the dividend.

In the first quarter of FY21 it saw 9% growth of adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to $358 million in constant currency terms and adjusted EPS went up 20% in constant currency terms.

Amcor said that demand for its products remained resilient. Both segments delivered growth with ‘flexibles’ adjusted EBIT going up by 11% and ‘rigid packaging’ adjusted EBIT rising by 7%.

The company said that its flexible packaging businesses are capitalising on the strategic and financial benefits from the Bemis acquisition and cumulative cost synergies have now reached $100 million. Rigid packaging is also building momentum with “strong” volume growth and mix in North America as the business continues its transformation.

Amcor CEO Ron Delia said at the time of the FY21 first quarter update: “The Amcor investment case has never been stronger. In addition to further acquisition synergies and an attractive dividend currently yielding more than 4%, organic growth from our consumer and healthcare exposure should remain resilient and will be enhanced over time from innovations delivering more sustainable packaging. With a strong balance sheet and annual free cash flow of over $1 billion, we also have substantial capacity to reinvest in the business and pursue acquisitions.”

More reading

• Why the Amcor (ASX:AMC) share price is having a rough start to 2021
• ASX 200 up 0.5%: BHP’s update, PolyNovo jumps, Ansell impresses
• Why Afterpay, Ansell, MyDeal, & PolyNovo shares are storming higher today
• Why the Ansell (ASX:ANN) share price stormed 5% higher today
• Is the “Blue Wave” of US Democrats good or bad for ASX investors?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Amcor Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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