Tag: Motley Fool Australia

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell by 0.23% today to 6,006 points.

Queensland is racing to contact trace cases after three people tested positive there for COVID-19. Two people had avoided quarantine and gave “misleading information” about visiting COVID-19 hotspots after flying to Brisbane from Melbourne via Sydney.

APRA’s boost for big four ASX banks

The share prices of the big four ASX banks all rose today.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) saw its share price rise around 2%.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price went up 1%.

The share price of National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) rose by 1.6%.

Finally, the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price increased by 1.25%.

APRA issued a letter today to banks today with uncertainty in the economic outlook somewhat reducing since the last dividend recommendation earlier this year.

The regulator has been reviewing the banks’ financial projections.

APRA has asked the ASX 200 banks to retain at least half of their earnings when making decisions on capital distributions, as well as utilising dividend re-investment plans and other initiatives to offset the reduction of capital from distributions where possible.

ASX 200 banks are also being asked to conduct regular stress testing. APRA wants banks to make use of capital buffers to absorb the impacts of financial stress, and continue to lend to support households and businesses.

APRA chair Wayne Byres said: “Today’s announcement strikes a balance in recognising the strength of the financial system, while at the same time acknowledging the difficult path ahead…. In the current environment, banks face additional challenges to their capital resilience, including the material volume of loan repayment deferrals (which are subject at present to regulatory concessions), greater financial impact from COVID-19, and restrictions on dividends from their New Zealand operations.”

AGM update boosts AP Eagers Ltd (ASX: APE)

The AP Eagers share price zoomed 13% higher after giving an update at its annual general meeting (AGM).

The ASX 200 car dealership company said that it has been optimising its existing business due to COVID-19 and has managed to deliver a permanent cost reduction of approximately $78 million per annum. Part of this was achieved when it cut its headcount and reduced its fixed monthly cost base by approximately $6 million a few months ago.

In the AGM update the company said that its corporate debt net of cash decreased to $7.6 million at 30 June 2020, down from $315.8 million at 31 December 2019.

AP Eagers expects underlying operating profit from continuing operations to be around $40.3 million, which would represent a 23.6% decline from the prior corresponding period.

Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) half year result

One of the ASX 200’s biggest miners reported its half-year result to June 2020 this afternoon after the market had shut.

Net cash generated from operating activities fell 12% to US$5.6 billion and free cashflow dropped 28% to US$2.8 billion.

Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 6% to US$9.64 billion and underlying earnings per share (EPS) dropped 3%.

Rio Tinto’s board has declared a dividend of US$1.55 per share, an increase of 3% from last time. Net debt increased by almost US$1.2 billion over the six months to 30 June 2020.

The ASX 200 company reconfirmed its 2020 production guidance across all of its commodities.

Rio Tinto CEO J-S Jacques said: “We have been agile and adapted our way of working, to deliver another resilient performance while navigating the new and ongoing challenges and dealing with COVID-19.

“Our world-class portfolio of high-quality assets and our strong balance sheet consistently serve us well in all market conditions and particularly in turbulent times. This, together with our disciplined capital allocation, underpins our ability to sustain production, increase our investment in the business, pay taxes and royalties to governments and continue delivering superior returns to shareholders.”

More reading

• Rio Tinto’s capital return crashes by half on $2.5 billion dividend payout
• Short-sellers are targeting these ASX stocks ahead of the reporting season
• Warning! ASX investors might be turning away from the share market
• Here’s why the AP Eagers share price has motored 11% higher today
• ASX big banks stocks outperform even as APRA caps dividends

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, a number of popular dividend shares have been forced to defer or cancel their dividends.

The good news is that there are still a handful of companies out there that appear well-positioned to pay their dividends as normal.

Two safe ASX dividend shares that I believe will pay generous dividends are listed below. Here’s why they could be good options for income investors right now:

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

One of the safest dividend shares I think you could buy today is Coles. During the pandemic the supermarket giant has experienced a surge in sales from panic buying and more eating at home. And while increased operating costs will mean that not all of this sales growth flows to the bottom line, I’m confident Coles will deliver a solid increase in full year earnings and ultimately its dividend. I expect this positive form to continue in FY 2021 and for Coles to be in a position to pay another generous dividend. Based on this and the current Coles share price, I estimate that it offers investors a fully franked FY 2021 dividend yield of ~3.5%.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Another safe dividend share to consider buying for income is Coles’ former parent, Wesfarmers. I think the conglomerate is a great option due to the quality and positive outlook of its diverse portfolio of businesses. Another positive is that Wesfarmers has a sizeable cash balance, especially after the selldown of its Coles stake earlier this year. I believe these funds are likely to be used for acquisitions in the near future. And given management’s track record of successful investments, these could give its earnings and dividend growth a real boost in the coming years. For now, though, based on the current Wesfarmers share price, I estimate that it offers a fully franked forward 3.3% dividend yield.

More reading

• Better buy today: Coles or Woolworths shares?
• Downer share price lower despite contract wins
• CBA and 2 more ASX shares to buy and hold forever
• What would deflation mean for your ASX shares?
• Can the Marley Spoon share price climb even higher?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET and Wesfarmers Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Another strong performance in today’s afternoon trade has seen the Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) share price edge as high as $16.82, which marks a new record for Australia’s largest real estate investment trust (REIT).

Although its shares have softened slightly, closing the day at $16.59, investors have been piling into this company since it bottomed out at $9.60 earlier in March. So what’s spurring the Goodman share price to new heights and is it too late for prospective investors to jump in?

What’s driving the Goodman share price upward

For the most part, REITs and property shares have been heavily battered this year. This has been in large part due to fears that COVID-19 may profoundly de-value commercial property, as more people substitute the office to work from home.

Goodman appears to be the outlier to this downward trend, shrugging off these concerns principally due to the exposure of its asset portfolio to warehouses and large-scale logistics facilities.

Although it boasts total assets under management of $55 billion across 395 properties globally (as of March 2020), the market appears most impressed by its prospects for growth in the industrial property space with its largest client, e-commerce juggernaut Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN).

On 11 June, it was announced that Goodman had inked a new deal with Amazon for a new 16,300 square metre warehouse in Brisbane. In addition, on 30 June, Goodman entered into a partnership with Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) to jointly secure a long-term lease with Amazon at Oakdale West in Sydney.

Amazon’s entrance into the Australian market and the growth of e-commerce more broadly is a significant tailwind for Goodman’s future performance prospects. This US giant and other domestic competitors such as Kogan.com (ASX: KGN) clearly see the importance of bolstering their warehousing capabilities as retail shopping heads online, and Goodman is a key beneficiary by offering such services.

Is it too late to buy in?

If we’re going solely off the ‘buy low, sell high’ mantra, Goodman is probably a watchlist item for many at this point, just because it’s at its most expensive level ever. In support of this view, the company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 21 is higher than competitors such as Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC), with a P/E of 19, and Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP), with a P/E of 12. This high P/E is undoubtedly due to the future expectations of Goodman’s financial performance being priced in by the market.

Notwithstanding the Goodman share price being somewhat expensive, I still see a lot of upside for prospective investors with a medium- to long-term outlook.

For one thing, the company has managed to maintain both its earnings and distribution guidance for FY20 despite the challenging environment presented by COVID-19. In its Q3 FY20 update to the market in May, Goodman affirmed operating earnings per share of 57.3 cents, equivalent to an 11% increase relative to FY19.

This operational update also revealed the company has $4.8 billion of development work in progress and 97.5% of occupancy rates being maintained. These types of metrics further illustrate the resilience of this business to continue to outperform throughout an otherwise difficult period.

Since that update, the addition of Amazon’s long-term commitment to collaborating with Goodman will certainly have positive ramifications for the company’s FY21 outlook when it reports full-year FY20 earnings on 13 August.

Foolish takeaway

Those investors diving into Goodman at its share price apex may be paying a premium based on its current P/E ratio, but I think this REIT has a tremendous runway for earnings growth potential over the coming years.

E-commerce isn’t going to be slowing down anytime soon, and at the end of the day retailers like Amazon and Kogan are always going to need some immensely large warehouse spaces to fulfil customer demand for goods. I see the Goodman share price continuing to benefit from retail moving online and the unprecedented demand for industrial warehousing this trend facilitates.

More reading

• These 2 cheap Warren Buffett shares could be top picks right now
• Why you should buy into this booming ASX retail sector today
• ASX investors have been buying Tesla and these international shares
• 3 of the best ASX tech shares to buy and hold until 2030
• Latest ASX entrant mixes BNPL with eCommerce

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Toby Thomas 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 Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Kogan.com ltd and recommends the following options: short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and Kogan.com ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price will be one to watch in August when it releases its full year results.

With the wine company’s shares down 44% from their 52-week high, shareholders will no doubt be hoping a better than expected result will get its shares heading back in the right direction.

What is the market expecting from Treasury Wine?

Ahead of the release of the Treasury Wine full year result on 13 August, I thought I would take a look to see what the market is expecting from it.

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it is forecasting group sales of $2,646.9 million in FY 2020.

This is slightly ahead of the analyst consensus estimate of $2,620.4 million and down 6.5% from FY 2019’s group sales of $2,831.6 million.

The broker expects this to be driven by volume declines across much of the business and offset slightly by increases in average revenue per case.

In respect to earnings, the broker is forecasting EBITS of $538.1 million for FY 2020. While this is 1.4% higher than the consensus estimate of $530.8 million, it will be a 21% reduction on FY 2019’s $681.4 million.

The Americas segment is expected to be the main drag on its earnings this year. Goldman is forecasting a 36.9% decline in Americas EBITS to $147.4 million in FY 2020.

Will there be a dividend?

Both Goldman Sachs and the market are expecting Treasury Wine to pay its shareholders a final dividend, albeit a heavily reduced one.

Goldman estimates that the company will declare a 7 cents per share fully franked final dividend. Whereas the consensus estimate is for a final dividend of 8 cents per share. This is down from 20 cents per share from the prior corresponding period.

Should you invest?

While I think that Treasury Wine could be a good long term investment option for patient investors, Goldman Sachs is sitting on the fence.

It has reiterated its neutral rating and $10.10 price target on Treasury Wine’s shares.

More reading

• 2 ASX shares I would buy for growth and income today
• Is the Treasury Wine share price a buy?
• Why the Digital Wine Ventures share price is surging today
• How you can take advantage of the surging Australian dollar
• 2 ASX shares to buy during ‘Dry July’

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Treasury Wine Estates Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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ASX gold shares. They’re quickly becoming the gift that keeps on giving in 2020.

Much of the success for ASX gold shares like St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) is due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The global and domestic viral outbreaks have spooked investors and crimped economic growth. Faced with the prospect of a removed government safety net and higher unemployment, investors have flocked to gold as a safe-haven asset.

That fear has pushed global gold prices to an all-time high as of Tuesday. Gold was trading at US$1,963 (A$2,745) per ounce which is good news for ASX gold shares.

But does the soaring gold price mean it’s too late to join the party in 2020?

Should you buy ASX gold shares?

Let’s look at how some of the big Aussie gold miners have performed on the ASX in 2020.

The St Barbara share price is up 28.6% in 2020 and is trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.59.

It’s been a similar story for fellow miner Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) this year. The Northern Star share price has rocketed 36.8% higher but trades at a higher P/E ratio of 50.5.

Then there’s Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR). The Saracen Mineral share price has surged 86.4% and trades at a P/E ratio of 46.2.

This has proven to be the pick of the ASX gold shares so far this year. I do like the Saracen business as it churns out consistent cash flow versus the speculation involved in many other (smaller) ASX companies.

Saracen boasts a market capitalisation of $6.84 billion compared to St Barbara ($2.48 billion) and Northern Star ($11.53 billion).

Saracen is also a 50% owner of the Super Pit gold mine in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia alongside Northern Star.

Given the surge in gold prices over recent months, that November 2019 transaction looks like an absolute steal.

What results can we expect in August?

I’m expecting some strong earnings figures from the ASX gold miners in their August results.

Given the gold price surged in March, I think that leaves a full quarter of potential sales at those higher prices.

That’s good news for investors who are hoping for some strong dividends to go with the recent capital gains.

Is it too late to buy ASX gold shares?

The current uncertainty and market volatility could continue for some time, so I don’t think it’s too late to buy ASX gold shares.

In saying that, I don’t think it’s wise to start investing with a short-term mindset.

ASX gold shares can have their place in a well-diversified portfolio and as a tactical hedge. However, I think the long-term portfolio fit still needs to make sense before buying.

More reading

• Why GUD, IGO, Nitro Software, & St Barbara shares are dropping lower
• ASX 200 flat: Big four banks higher, St Barbara and IGO sinks on Q4 updates
• St Barbara share price tumbles lower on Q4 update and FY 2021 guidance
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Don’t be blinded by gold fever…consider these ASX dividend shares instead

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Short-sellers are upping their bearish bets against a number of ASX stocks as we head into the reporting season.

This may provide insights to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) that may release disappointing news when their release their profit results.

Short-sellers tend to be more sophisticated than retail investors, so it can pay to keep an eye on what they are doing, particularly ahead of a market inflection point.

What is short-selling

For those who are unsure what short-selling is, it’s where a trader borrows a stock to sell on market with the hope of buying it back at a lower price later. This allows the trader, or short-seller, to profit from the difference.

ASIC puts out daily updates on the stocks that are being short-sold, but the data is always a week behind.

The part of ASIC’s report I find more interesting is not stocks that are most shorted at any given time, but the change in the short position (called short-interest). This tells me which are the new ASX targets being stalked by short-sellers.

Biggest increase in shorts before the reporting season

The stock that’s saw the biggest increase in short-interest since the start of July is the KIRKLAND/IDR UNRESTR (ASX: KLA) share price.

The Canadian-based gold miner didn’t have any of its stock short-sold up until two weeks ago. Now the percentage of its ASX shares that are in the hands of short-sellers stand at 10.29%.

How short-sellers are playing the BNPL sector

The second most targeted stock is the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price. The BNPL star saw the proportion of its stock being shorted jump by 245 basis points (2.45 percentage points) to 7.67%.

That’s a big increase in shorts and comes as short-interest in its bigger rival, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price, fell 58 basis points to just 0.87%.

This may indicate that short-sellers are anticipating good results from Afterpay and are using Zip Co as a hedge. It’s a popular trading strategy to go long (meaning buy) on the strongest stock in a sector and short its weaker rivals.

Other favourite short-selling targets

The stock that saw the third biggest increase in shorts this month is the Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS) share price.

Short-interest in the weapon systems company jumped 221 basis points to 3.98% this month, although total short-interest in EOS is still relatively low.

Other notable stocks that are attracting short-sellers include the Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price.

Some brokers believe the Pointsbet share price has overshot on the upside, while the rolling COVID-19 shutdown of parts of Australia will clip Webjet’s wings.

More reading

• Warning! ASX investors might be turning away from the share market
• ASX big banks stocks outperform even as APRA caps dividends
• WAAAX or FAANG? Which ASX tech shares to buy in 2020
• Xero and 1 other ASX growth share to watch in August
• ASX 200 flat: Big four banks higher, St Barbara and IGO sinks on Q4 updates

Brendon Lau owns shares of Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) has come a long way since its days of mailing you rented DVDs. (Though it still does offer this service).

Listed on the tech heavy Nasdaq Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ), Netflix now has a market capitalisation of US$215.4 billion (AS$301.7 billion). And its streaming services are now available in 190 countries.

Netflix shares weren’t immune to the wider market sell off during the initial onset of COVID-19. The Netflix share price dropped 22.1% from 4 March to 16 March. Since that low, however, it’s up 65.5%. And year to date, it has gained 48.1%.

But Netflix likely has a lot more growth ahead.

Netflix shares offer a big moat

Even before the pandemic saw much of the world forced to stay at home for weeks on end, Netflix was growing rapidly. And with the world growing wealthier and ever more people gaining access to TVs, that trend looks likely to continue.

The company’s massive offerings and market dominance provide a large defensive moat any would-be competitors need to ford. As such, I believe it’s unlikely any start-ups will offer serious rivalry in the foreseeable future.

That leaves competitors like Foxtel and Stan, owned by Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) in Australia, and HBO in the United States to fight it out.

Today’s international share nomination goes to…Netflix

If you’ve spent any time scrolling through the Netflix content menu, you’ll know it has a heck of a lot of material to watch on demand. More than any of us will ever likely watch in our lifetimes.

But beyond the vast quantity of streaming videos, Netflix is also providing great quality. At least according to the judges at this year’s prestigious Emmy Awards.

Yesterday (Aussie time), Netflix beat HBO for the second time in three years, receiving 160 Emmy nominations compared to 107 for HBO.

With high quality and an ever growing quantity of shows available at affordable prices, Netflix is one international share you may want to consider adding to your portfolio.

A note on international shares

Not everyone is comfortable buying international shares like Netflix. While it’s become much simpler and cheaper in recent years, there are a few other aspects you need to consider. Currency fluctuations are chief among them.

If the US dollar falls against the Aussie, as it has been doing in recent weeks, it would see your Aussie dollar returns increase once you sell your shares. But if the greenback rises, it will diminish your gains or increase your losses.

More reading

• Why the Pointsbet share price is outperforming today
• Short sellers are betting US$20bn against the skyrocketing Tesla share price

Bernd Struben 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 Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix and Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Have you taken a look at the interest rates on your savings accounts recently? Right now, the majority of savings accounts offered by the big four banks come with base rates of just 0.05%.

That means that if you had $1 million sitting in one of these accounts, you would only earn interest of $5,000 a year.

Because of this, I continue to believe that it is better to put your money to work in the share market, rather than leave it to earn just paltry interest in an account.

If I had $5,000 in a savings account and no immediate use for it, I would consider investing it into one of these ASX shares:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The first ASX share to consider investing $5,000 into is Appen. It is the global leader in the development of high-quality, human-annotated training data for machine learning and artificial intelligence. Its team of 1 million+ crowd-sourced workers allows the company to collect and label high volumes of data used to build and improve artificial intelligence models for some of the biggest technology companies in the world. This includes the likes of Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple.

Due to the growing importance of artificial intelligence and machine learning and Appen’s leadership position in its field, I believe it is well-placed to capture the increasing demand and deliver strong earnings growth long into the future.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Another ASX share to invest $5,000 into is Pushpay. It is a donor management system provider with a focus on the faith sector. Pushpay’s innovative solutions simplify engagement, payments, and administration, allowing users to increase participation and build stronger relationships with their communities.

Pushpay has been growing at a very strong rate in recent years and FY 2020 was no exception. In FY 2020 the company delivered a 39% increase in total processing volume to US$5 billion and a 33% increase in operating revenue to US$127.5 million. Pleasingly, this strong growth is expected to continue in FY 2021, with management forecasting its operating earnings to double. After which, it is aiming to capture a 50% share of the medium and large church segments in the future. This represents a US$1 billion revenue opportunity.

More reading

• Are ASX tech shares the only way to protect your portfolio against the coronavirus?
• 3 of the best ASX tech shares to buy and hold until 2030
• 3 unstoppable ASX shares to buy right now
• WAAAX shares see mixed recovery from COVID-19
• Pushpay and 1 other 5-star ASX share to buy right now

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It wasn’t that long ago that Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) was a small cap share flying under the radar of most investors.

Today the buy now pay later is one of the 20 largest companies on the Australian share market and has generated mouth-watering returns for investors.

I believe this demonstrates how rewarding it can be to invest at the small side of the market.

With that in mind, I have picked out three small cap tech shares which I think have the potential to provide strong returns for investors throughout the 2020s.

Here’s why I think they are worth watching very closely:

Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH)

The first small cap share to watch is Bigtincan. It is a provider of enterprise mobility software which allows sales and service organisations to increase sales win rates, reduce expenditures, and improve customer satisfaction through improved mobile worker productivity. It has a large number of big names using its platform. This includes Red Bull, Sephora, and banking giant Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ).

ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO)

ELMO is a cloud-based human resources and payroll software company. It provides a unified platform to streamline processes for employee administration, recruitment, on-boarding, learning, performance, remuneration, compliance training and payroll. Demand has been growing strongly in recent years and led to further strong recurring revenue growth in FY 2020. Pleasingly, due to the quality of its software and its sizeable market opportunity, I believe there’s plenty more growth to come from ELMO over the 2020s.

Whispir (ASX: WSP)

Whispir is a software-as-a-service communications workflow platform provider. It provides an industry-leading software platform that allows governments and organisations to deliver actionable two-way interactions at scale using automated multi-channel communication workflows. Its platform has been experiencing incredible demand during the pandemic. This led to Whispir recently releasing a very strong fourth quarter update. That update revealed annualised recurring revenue growth of 35.7% to $42.2 million thanks to strong demand from new and existing customers.

More reading

• Bigtincan share price charges higher following rapid Q4 growth
• 3 ASX SaaS shares to buy this week
• 3 ASX tech shares to leverage the shift to remote working
• 3 unloved ASX growth shares that could make you rich
• 2 ASX tech shares to buy and hold beyond 2025

James Mickleboro 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 BIGTINCAN FPO, Elmo Software, and Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BIGTINCAN FPO, Elmo Software, and Whispir Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It’s another ho-hum sort of day on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down around 0.22% to 6,007.1 points. Since 21 July, the Index has lost 2.4%, going off today’s numbers.

This might not seem important at face value. But a few other recent developments in the world of investing have turned my head.

Firstly, gold this week broke its all-time high of US$1,921 an ounce that was last set back in 2011. Since Monday, gold has reached new heights, trading as high as US$1,977 an ounce.

Fair enough, perhaps? With a global pandemic, unprecedented monetary easing, and fears of both deflation and inflation — the ground is certainly fertile for a ‘safe haven’ asset like gold.

Fellow precious metal silver is also experiencing a pricing boom – more than doubling since March.

But these aren’t the only trends that have caught my eye this week.

Bitcoin (remember that?) is also on the move. It has appreciated almost 20% in the last 2 weeks (against the US dollar) and is at its highest level in almost a year. A similar pattern can be seen in other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Litecoin over the same periods.

And according to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the appetite for ‘safe’ government bonds is insatiable right now.

The AFR points out that the Australian Government’s auction for 30-year bonds on Monday attracted more than $20 billion in orders. That’s despite the almost-negligible rates of interest currently being offered on public bonds (the 10-year Australian government bond currently has a floating yield of 0.86% per annum).

So what’s going on?

Fear and loathing on the ASX

I think these trends point to an investor base that is getting extremely nervous. Remember, ASX 200 shares are down just 10% in 2020 so far — despite the worst pandemic the world has seen in a century. That statement in itself is enough to make this writer concerned.

So it’s clear investors are trying to diversify and hedge their bets across different asset classes, particularly those with an inverse correlation (either historically or conceptually) to the performance of equity markets (shares) or offer protection against inflation or monetary debasement.

And that includes government bonds, gold and (to a lesser extent) cryptocurrencies.

Foolish takeaway

In these risky times, I understand why some investors are attracted to gold, bond and other asset classes. But the fact remains that ASX shares have been the best performing asset class over the past 100 years and more.

So don’t feel the need to follow the investors that are driving up the prices of other assets. As long as you have a portfolio of quality ASX shares, I think you’ll do just fine over the long run.

More reading

• ASX big banks stocks outperform even as APRA caps dividends
• Xero and 1 other ASX growth share to watch in August
• ASX 200 flat: Big four banks higher, St Barbara and IGO sinks on Q4 updates
• Why the IGO share price is the worst performer on the ASX 200 today
• Is the AFIC share price a buy after a 41% drop in profit?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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