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

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

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is one of those stocks investors love to own, and for good reason. Not only has it delivered incredible results since its initial public offering (growing over 131,100%), but there’s also loads of growth ahead for the company as online shopping expands.

There’s a lot going for the stock over the long term, but its size and popularity mean the company is trading at a premium, around 116 times its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio Thankfully, investing directly in Amazon isn’t the only way to benefit from the company’s incredible e-commerce growth and market share. 

Here are the stocks three Motley Fool contributors believe are great alternatives to Amazon: Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR), Zillow Group (NASDAQ: ZG)(NASDAQ: Z), and Prologis (NYSE: PLD).

Exposure to data centers without the retail risk

Kristi Waterworth (Digital Realty Trust): Investing in Amazon means investing in various business models that converge under a single ticker. But not every Amazon investor is there for the retail, streaming, logistics, and data-storage combo model. Some are simply looking for more ways to expose themselves to the growing world of data centers.

If you’re one of these investors, the good news is that data-center real estate investment trust (REIT) are a great way to get more direct exposure to data center growth without all the risk of retail tagging along for the ride.

Digital Realty Trust is a strong data center REIT with a proven track record and direct ties to Amazon. It leases a portion of its space to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s data arm (and it services AWS by providing expanded capacity and connectivity to its customers).

Amazon also owns and develops its own data centers, somewhat in competition with Digital Realty Trust, but the latter still has an upper hand because it only deals in data centers, giving it a larger and more diversified tenant base across a range of industries, including other e-commerce companies.

And unlike Amazon, Digital Realty Trust pays quarterly dividends, estimated at $4.88 per share annually for 2022. This is up 5.17% over 2021, and its dividend payouts have only continued to climb since 2005, when they were a mere $1 per share annually.

Free cash flow has been more or less steady in 2021 and 2020, at about $1.7 billion, but this is part of an upward trend that has been slowly building since 2012, when free cash flow was at a comparatively small $542 million. In that time, Digital Realty Trust has been working to expand operations across the globe, and now has over 300 data centers in more than 25 countries on six continents. This includes newly acquired data centers in emerging markets like South Africa and Israel.

Digital Realty Trust is one the REITs I am most bullish about, not only because it has a grasp on the future and where and how it needs to grow to remain competitive, but also because we live in an increasingly data-centric world where opportunities will only increase for data centers in the near term.

Unlike AWS, Digital Realty Trust remains small enough to be fairly agile and to move quickly into emerging markets, while still being a massive presence in the data center world.

Can Zillow become the Amazon of real estate buying?

Mike Price (Zillow): For the first several years of its business life, Amazon was a bookseller. It sold a few other things, too, but the business was a lot more concentrated than it is today. Today, the e-commerce giant makes money from AWS, third-party sales, advertising, subscriptions, physical stores, and even books. And Zillow might be on the verge of its own transformation from a very concentrated revenue source into more-diversified business avenues.

Much of Zillow’s revenue comes from the buyer’s agent-referral commission. People go on the website to check out houses and click on a link for an agent in the area and use that agent. This is a very profitable revenue source and will likely continue to be the backbone of Zillow’s business for some time. But the company wants to diversify revenue streams.

Zillow is trying to get more involved in seller’s agent commissions, mortgage originations and servicing, closing services, and rental services. Each of these areas could add a multiple to the amount of revenue that the company makes from every sale that begins on its website.

The good news is that the website already has traffic. There were 234 million average monthly unique users in the second quarter of 2022 and 2.9 billion total visits to the website.

The key will be converting those users from view-only to paying customers. There is certainly a demand for a service like the one Zillow could provide.

Today, when looking for a house, you have to find an agent, get a list of available houses, travel to each of them for a tour, get pre-approved for a loan, make an offer, find an inspector, be approved for the loan, find a title insurance provider, and lastly travel to the closing location to sign what seem like hundreds of pages of documents.

Now imagine if you could use a tailored Zillow search to virtually tour the houses you were interested in, only visiting the ones that you would likely make an offer on. Then be pre-approved in minutes before the process even starts and be approved right on the app. Choose an inspector and title-insurance agent from a list of providers with customer reviews and ratings. And then close virtually on the same app to save all important documents right where you know they’ll be.

Part of the reason Amazon was able to grow as much as it has is the integration among its services. You can go to Amazon’s website to buy anything you need, read books, watch shows, rent movies, and even publish your own books. If Zillow can become the same thing for real estate buyers, it has a lot of room to run.

Back-end access to e-commerce distribution and logistics

Liz Brumer-Smith (Prologis): As the largest e-commerce company in the world, Amazon needs a lot of industrial space to store and send its products quickly and efficiently. A huge part of Amazon’s business is the management, logistics, and distribution of the products it sells.

That’s where Prologis comes into the picture. It is the largest industrial operator in the world, and Amazon is its largest tenant. As of the second quarter, roughly 4.8% of Prologis’ net effective rents came from Amazon thanks to the 33.6 million square feet of space it leases from the company.

Rumors were floating in late July about Amazon needing less logistics and industrial space based on its current supply, which has put some pressure on Prologis’ share price as of late. But the REIT’s latest earnings call and the company’s industrial-operations updates have put investors’ concerns to rest. Amazon made up 21% of Prologis’ newly executed leases in the second quarter. Plus its retention rate for spaces currently leased by Amazon was 95%, 20 points higher than the portfolio average.

The really great thing with Prologis is that it isn’t just an alternative way to invest in Amazon. The REIT offers exposure to the fast-growing e-commerce industry as a whole, having roughly 2.5% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) — or around $2.2 trillion — moving through its industrial facilities.

It carries a very healthy balance sheet and has massive growth opportunities, including the acquisition of the industrial REIT Duke Realty, which also earns around $50 million from Amazon in rents each year. Plus Prologis pays a quarterly dividend with a yield sitting around 2.25% today. 

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

The post If you like Amazon, you’ll love these 3 stocks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Kristi Waterworth has positions in Amazon and Digital Realty Trust. Liz Brumer-Smith has positions in Digital Realty Trust, Duke Realty, and Prologis. Mike Price has positions in Zillow Group (C shares). The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Amazon, Digital Realty Trust, Prologis, Zillow Group (A shares), and Zillow Group (C shares). The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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

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The Webjet Ltd (ASX: WEB) share price is down close to 3% so far this Monday.

Shares of the digital travel business currently trade for $5.26 each after closing at $5.40 a share on Friday.

The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) is also down around 1% today while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently 0.11% higher.

Webjet shares are trading lower today amid the company posting strategy presentations for its GoSee and WebBeds acquisitions and for Webjet itself.

The reports focus on several initiatives to enhance Webjet’s business. Let’s investigate them.

Boost sales and online conversions

Webjet noted the growth of e-commerce is expected to continue despite COVID-19 restrictions lifting. Total e-commerce sales in Australia are expected to grow by $2 billion over the next two years.

This insight ties in with the company’s strategy to increase conversions across its web properties by adding additional payment options such as AfterPay and PayPal. As well, enrolled customers of certain credit card loyalty programs can also redeem their points at Webjet.

Additional features are being rolled out to further boost conversions, including mobile-optimised platforms, member deals, and partial deposits.

Bring complex itineraries online

Webjet noted that international flight bookings had rebounded strongly over the first two quarters of FY23, growing 52% in 1Q23 and 57% in 2Q23 as a percentage of pre-COVID travel.

Furthermore, 10% of searches on the Webjet platform were said to be for multi-stop trips.

This has led Webjet to integrate its Trip Ninja acquisition into its operations in a bid to help simplify booking complex itineraries while also providing a cost-saving and time-saving benefit for users.

The Trip Ninja technology helps to find the cheapest airfares by combining the services of different airlines on multi-stop trips. This gives Webjet a leg up on travel agents who can’t comb through as many data points to find the best deal.

Optimize marketing channels and spend

The company will also reduce paid search spending and divert this budget into social media and video platforms.

This change in strategy is likely prompted by the demographics of its customers, noting that people under 34 are the company’s fastest-growing market segment. Meanwhile, people over 45 have a higher average booking value.

It will also roll out specific strategies to reach and influence the youth market.

Another significant update was that Webjet will retain its marketing spend at 1.5% of time to value (TTV), down from 2%.

Webjet share price snapshot

The Webjet share price is down 1.55% year to date. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index is significantly down, with a 20.2% loss.

The company’s current market capitalisation is around $2 billion.

The post Why is the Webjet share price having a lousy start to the week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Webjet Ltd. 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 Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will disclose its next interest rate decision tomorrow, 6 September.

Fast rising rates, and the prospect of more ahead, have already wrought major changes amongst ASX shareholdings.

Growth shares, priced with future earnings in mind, have largely fallen out of favour.

Meanwhile, blue-chip commodity producers, like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares, and select financial shares have garnered more investor interest.

RBA rate hike likely to spur conservative investments

In August, the RBA lifted rates by another 0.50%. The central bank’s fourth consecutive monthly increase brought the official cash rate to the current 1.85%, up from the rock bottom 0.10% earlier in 2022.

Analysts widely expect another 0.50% rate hike to be announced tomorrow, bringing the cash rate to 2.35%.

And, according to data compiled by online trading platform Stake, that could be seeing investors favour Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) and BHP shares, while lightening their holdings of ASX buy now, pay later (BNPL) stocks like Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP).

Russell Katz, markets analyst at Stake told The Motley Fool:

We analysed the ASX trading activity on Stake before and after last month’s 50bps increase, and saw that prior to the RBA’s announcement, investors had already begun trending away from growth stocks such as Zip and Sezzle, towards stalwarts such as BHP shares and Macquarie.

Katz noted that trading volume on the Stake platform dropped temporarily immediately after last month’s RBA announcement.

“But those that did invest played conservatively,” he said, “primarily moving to commodity producers, the Big Four (excluding NAB) and broad-based ETFs.”

He added that the lower trade volumes likely meant many investors had “already settled their positions before the news landed”.

As for Tuesday’s RBA rate decision, Katz said:

Most commentators predict another 50bps increase on Tuesday, so it’s likely that the trend towards broad-based ETFs and blue-chip stocks will continue. Given current sentiment, and a move towards dollar-cost averaging, it’s possible that most investors will have settled their positions in advance of Tuesday’s rates decision.

Indeed, according to data from CommSec, the volume of BHP shares traded last Wednesday was the highest since 18 March, with Thursday and Friday trading also well above average levels.

How have BHP shares been performing?

BHP shares have come under some pressure this year amid sliding iron ore prices.

Year-to-date, the BHP share price is down 11%. That compares to a 10% loss posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in 2022.

The post September’s RBA rate hike saw investors favour Macquarie and BHP shares. Here’s what to expect in October: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Sezzle share price sinking on Monday?
• Why are BHP shares off and racing on Monday?
• How I’d invest $50,000 in ASX dividend shares for retirement, if I had to start from scratch
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Why these 3 ASX shares could be in for a massive boost this month

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) share price is sliding today amid news the company will be removed from the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) later this month.

The buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider will be dumped from the index before the market opens on 19 September.

The Sezzle share price is trading at 59 cents right now, 4.07% lower than its previous close.

For context, the All Technology Index is down 0.71% at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.03%.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s likely weighing on the fintech’s stock today.

Sezzle share price slides on removal from All Tech Index

The Sezzle share price is struggling on news the company will be dumped from the All Tech Index as part of its next quarterly rebalance.

That means funds tracking the index will be forced to sell Sezzle’s stock prior to 19 September.

The resulting increase in supply will likely drive demand for the BNPL provider’s stock down, thereby weighing on its share price.

Sezzle is one of eight companies being booted from the index this quarter.

Others include fellow BNPL provider IOUPay Ltd (ASX: IOU), as well as Airtasker Limited (ASX: ART) and Atomos Ltd (ASX: AMS).

Only one company will be added to the All Tech Index this quarter. That is telecommunications software provider Symbio Holdings Ltd (ASX: SYM).

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the changes after the market closed on Friday.

It follows a dire period for the Sezzle share price.

The stock has tumbled 80% since the start of 2022. It’s also trading 91% lower than it was this time last year.

For comparison, the All Tech Index has fallen 29% year to date and 34% over the last 12 months.

The post Why is the Sezzle share price sinking on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• September’s RBA rate hike saw investors favour Macquarie and BHP shares. Here’s what to expect in October: expert
• Why has the Sezzle share price exploded 128% in a month?
• Why is the Block share price tumbling 6% today?
• Why is the Zip share price behaving so strangely on the ASX today?
• Sezzle share price soars 22% as BNPL company eyes profit target by year-end

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 positions in and has recommended Atomos Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Airtasker Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price is rising again, up by 3.66% so far today.

This compares to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which is currently only 0.04% higher, so Woodside is delivering sizeable outperformance today.

It’s a strong day for ASX shares involved with producing energy for the global market. The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is currently up around 3% while the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is 7.65% higher at the time of writing.

It comes as the war in Ukraine rumbles on and Russian energy flows are still being disrupted, for one reason or another.

As reported by various global media, including the BBC, Russian gas giant Gazprom announced an “indefinite extension to a three-day maintenance halt to flows of gas through the continent’s key energy artery, hours after leading western finance ministers vowed to escalate sanctions on Russian oil”.

The reason Gazprom gave was that an oil leak had been discovered and that the pipeline cannot work without German imports of technology, which are currently blocked due to the trade sanctions.

Rising energy prices

As a commodity business, Woodside generates its revenue, and particularly its profit, based on how much money is paid for its resources. This also has a direct impact on the Woodside share price.

Higher prices obviously help Woodside make more money.

As reported by Commsec, overnight the Brent oil price increased by 0.7% to US$93.02 per barrel of oil equivalent.

That’s just one day’s movement, but higher energy prices are helpful for the ASX oil share.

Asset sale?

There’s another factor that may be making an impact on the Woodside share price today.

According to reporting by The Australian, Woodside may decide to pursue divestment of an oil and gas joint venture in the Gippsland Basin that was previously owned by BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). It’s now owned by Woodside after the merger of BHP’s petroleum assets, completed in June.

Woodside is strategically reviewing its portfolio “holistically”, ensuring that it is focusing on the “highest priority opportunities”.

According to reporting, BHP hired Goldman Sachs around two years ago to consider selling oil assets, which included a possible sale of the Gippsland Basin assets in the Bass Strait. Some time ago, these assets may have been valued at around US$2 billion. But “large remediation costs have always been an impediment”, according to the report.

Woodside share price snapshot

Over the last month, Woodside shares have gone up around 12%.

The post Why is the Woodside share price surging ahead on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Are ASX 200 energy shares a good investment right now?
• Why is the Woodside share price sliding this week?
• ASX 200 shares declared $42b of dividends in August. Here’s how you can get a slice
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

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

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It’s been a pleasing start to the trading week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a tentative 0.09% and is back over 6,830 points. But we can’t say the same for the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) share price.

Bendigo Bank shares closed at $8.97 each last week. But today, the ASX 200 bank share opened at $8.76, and is now going for $8.69 each. That’s a hefty loss of 3.1% so far.

So why are Bendigo Bank shares underperforming the ASX 200 so comprehensively today?

Well, luckily for investors, it’s because Bendigo Bank shares have just traded ex-dividend for the bank’s upcoming final dividend payment.

Bendigo Bank share price drops as bank trades ex-dividend

As we flagged last week, Bendigo Bank is scheduled to fork out its final dividend for FY22 later this month on 29 September. But because the bank is trading ex-dividend today, only investors that held Bendigo Bank shares before this trading session are eligible to receive Bendigo Bank’s final dividend.

When an ASX share trades ex-dividend, all new investors are cut off from receiving the said dividend payment. As such, we normally see the value of this dividend leave the company’s share price. That’s because its value is now lost to new investors. This is what is happening to Bendigo Bank shares today.

Bendigo Bank shareholders can now look forward to receiving Bendigo Bank’s final dividend of 26.5 cents per share, fully franked, later this month.

This latest dividend payment will bring Bendigo Bank’s total dividends for FY22 to 53 cents per share. That follows on from the interim dividend of 28 cents per share investors received back in March. This represents a small drop from the previous financial year’s dividend total of 54.5 cents per share.

At the current Bendigo Bank share price, this ASX 200 bank share now has a dividend yield of 6.09%.

The post Why is the Bendigo Bank share price dipping on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These ASX 200 shares are going ex-dividend on Monday
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• Reason for hope as ‘worst month of the year’ starts off badly
• After falling 16% in 2 weeks, is the Bendigo Bank share price too cheap to miss?
• ASX reporting season weekly wrap: Winners and losers

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 positions in 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 Scott Phillips.

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The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is rebounding on Monday after the iron ore giant gave up some serious gains late last week.

At the time of writing, shares in the world’s largest miner are up 2.16%, trading at $37.53.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.2% higher to 6,842.2 points.

Let’s look at what may drive the miner’s shares to race past the benchmark ASX 200 index today.

Why are BHP shares gaining ground?

There are a couple of likely reasons why the BHP share price is heading north during midday trade despite no company announcements.

Firstly, the S&P/ASX 200 Resources (ASX: XJR) sector is the second-best performing index across the ASX today, with a 1.42% gain at the time of writing.

This also sees shares in BHP’s iron ore rival Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) lifting 1.05% to $91.14.

On the other hand, shares in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) are currently down 5.23% after trading ex-dividend today.

Today’s strong turnaround for the benchmark index of Australian resource companies comes after a tumble of 8% since 26 August.

Recently, bearish sentiment impacted global markets following investor concerns about China’s property and COVID-19 crisis.

BHP shares retreated 7.61% last Thursday on the back of going ex-dividend. The share fell again 2.05% the following day, making it five days of consecutive losses.

However, those worries have been alleviated for now as several blue-chip shares trade in bargain territory.

BHP share price snapshot

Since the beginning of the year, the BHP share price has struggled to take off amid a challenging economic environment.

The mining giant’s shares are up 2% year-to-date but down 12% over the past week.

Based on today’s price, BHP has a market capitalisation of around $190 billion.

The post Why are BHP shares off and racing on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• How I’d invest $50,000 in ASX dividend shares for retirement, if I had to start from scratch
• Why did the BHP share price smash the ASX 200 in August?
• 27% of ASX 200 shares cut dividends during earnings season. What’s next?
• Why are ASX 200 mining shares getting hammered on Friday?
• Is the BHP share price 7% cheaper after trading ex-dividend? 

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

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The PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price is faltering on Monday amid news the company will soon lose its title as one of the ASX’s top stocks.

The bookmaker will be dumped from the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) later this month as part of S&P Dow Jones Indices’ quarterly shakeup.

At the time of writing, the PointsBet share price is $2.18, 6.44% lower than its previous close.

For context, the ASX 200 has lifted 0.09% right now.

So, what does the company’s exclusion mean and what stock will take its place on the index? Let’s take a look.

PointsBet share price slumps as company ousted from ASX 200

Embattled bookmaker PointsBet was dealt yet another blow over the weekend.

News its days on the ASX 200 are numbered was released after the market closed on Friday. The company will be ditched from the index in just under two weeks.

And that’s bad news for the PointsBet share price. It means funds tracking the index will be forced to dump the stock before the market opens on 19 September.

That will likely see supply of the company’s securities increase, thereby reducing demand and, as a result, its share price.

PointsBet is one of eight shares to be removed from the ASX 200 later this month.

Other ASX 200-leavers include tech stocks Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP), Life360 Inc (ASX: 360), and EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML), as well as retailer City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX) and asset manager Janus Henderson Group (ASX: JHG).

They will be replaced by Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV), Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA), and Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX: SPK), among others.

The bookmaker’s exclusion from the index follows a period of poor performance.

The PointsBet share price has fallen 69% since the start of 2022. It’s also currently trading 80% lower than it was this time last year.

For comparison, the ASX 200 has slumped 10% year to date and 9% over the last 12 months.

The post Here’s why the PointsBet share price is stumbling on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why these 3 ASX shares could be in for a massive boost this month
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Zip and these shares have been kicked out of the ASX 200 index
• Why Core Lithium, Mineral Resources, PointsBet, and Strike Energy are dropping
• Broker tips PointsBet share price to double

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 positions in and has recommended EML Payments, Life360, Inc., Pointsbet Holdings Ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa Holdings Ltd and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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

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

If you want to get rich with stocks, you’re not alone — and you have a reasonably achievable goal, too, because the stock market is one of the best ways to build wealth over the long-term, if not the best way.

You might still need a few specific pointers, though, so here are three investments that can help your portfolio grow faster.

1. Invest in index funds

First, make it easy on yourself by investing in index funds. They’re mutual funds (or their cousins, exchange-traded fund (ETF)) that are passively managed, simply holding the same securities that are in a particular index, allowing the fund to deliver roughly the index’s return, less fees. (And index funds tend to sport very low fees.)

So consider that the stock market’s long-term average annual return is close to 10%. Parking much (or all) of your long-term dollars in, say, an S&P 500 index fund will get you returns very close to those of the S&P 500, an index that includes 500 of America’s biggest companies and encompasses about 80% of the value of the entire U.S. stock market.

Index funds are hard to beat — figuratively, because they’re so easy to invest in, and literally, because most actively managed stock mutual funds underperform their benchmark indexes. If you want to amass significant wealth but don’t want to study investing and make lots of buy-and-sell decisions on your own, just stick with index funds.

2. Invest in stocks you choose yourself

If you do have the time and interest in becoming a better investor, shooting for above-average returns, you might add some or a lot of individual stocks to your mix. You can keep some or much of your long-term dollars in index funds and simply add on to that, or you can put much of your money in individual stocks.

To go this route, you’ll need to learn more about how to research a stock and about stock valuation. Learning how to make sense of financial statements will also serve you well.

You might decide to be primarily a value investor, or a growth investor, or you might aim for the best of both worlds, seeking undervalued growth stocks. Don’t put too much of your money in any one or a few stocks, though, because even seemingly wonderful businesses can falter, and you don’t want all your eggs in just a few baskets. The less you know about investing, and the less confidence you have, the more you should diversify.

Our Motley Fool investing philosophy recommends that you buy into at least 25 different stocks, while planning to hold them for at least five years. Doing so can reduce your risk and increase the chance that you’ll have selected one or more companies that turn out to be terrific performers. It will also give them time to perform. (Many people just get impatient and sell out of great stocks if they don’t zoom upward within a few months. Plan to be patient.)

3. Invest in learning

Finally, for best results, don’t just learn the basics about value and growth investing. Commit to being a lifelong learner about investing. It can help you get better and better at it over time.

What should you read? Well, if you’re going beyond index funds into individual stocks, read at least the quarterly and annual reports of your companies — and, ideally, read up on news about the companies, too, from time to time. You don’t want to end up surprised if they change direction or become less promising.

Beyond that, read about great investors and their strategies. Read about great businesses and how they became great — that can help you learn to spot other great businesses in which to invest. Reading even more broadly, about science, history, psychology, economics, and more, can also make you a savvier investor, with insights into how investors in the stock market might behave and how consumers might behave, as well.

Any of these investment ideas can help you amass much more money than you otherwise would. Acting on all three of them might maximize your returns — but just parking most of your hard-earned dollars in one or more good index funds can be all you need to grow your money powerfully over many years.

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

The post Ready to get rich with stocks? You can’t go wrong with these 3 investments appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here’s why the PointsBet share price is stumbling on Monday
• Why is the Santos share price off to a flying start this week?
• Here’s why the Lovisa share price leapt 8% on Monday
• Why are ASX 200 coal shares smashing the market on Monday?
• Dreadnought share price pops then drops despite ‘significant’ discoveries

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

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

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The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is stretching higher to start the trading week.

At the time of writing, shares in the oil and gas giant are trading at $7.93 apiece, a 3% gain on the day.

In broader market moves, the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) is the best performing sector so far on Monday, up 3.51% as well.

What’s up with the Santos share price?

Energy stocks are catching a bid today as energy-backed commodities continue their strong performance during today’s session.

Brent Crude Oil is up more than 1.43% to US$94.35/Bbl and continues to trade within a two-month range. Meantime, US natural gas futures is also up more than 2% to US$8.97/MMBtu – a shade off 10-year highs.

The gains are partially offset by a substantial decline in European and UK gas contracts, down 11% and 15% at last check during Monday’s session.

However, despite today’s volatility, both oil and gas benchmarks remain heavily elevated over the 12 months to date, as seen on the chart below, alongside the Santos share price in blue.

Noteworthy is that Santos also released an announcement today.

Whilst it wasn’t deemed price sensitive, Santos says that it’s been awarded permits for evaluation and appraisal work for the potential storage of carbon dioxide in the offshore Carnarvon and Bonaparte basins.

Both sites are located off the coast of Western Australia and the permits allow Santos to “pursue potential carbon capture and storage (CCS) opportunities with its joint venture partners”.

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher noted there were potential strengths arising from both projects.

Carbon capture and storage is critical for the world to reduce emissions and in line with Santos’ net-zero scope 1 and 2 equity-share emissions by 2040 target, we are committed to looking at all options for CCS capabilities.

At Santos, we have the technology, infrastructure and knowledge to be able to deliver lowcost CCS competitively on a global scale. We know a large scale-up of CCS is required to meet the world’s climate objectives.

Santos share price snapshot

In the last 12 months, the Santos share price is up almost 27%.

That’s well ahead of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has lost 9% over the same period.

The post Why is the Santos share price off to a flying start this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Are ASX 200 energy shares a good investment right now?
• Blocked again: Here’s what happened to ASX 200 shares last time the Suez was cut off
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Why is the Santos share price sliding lower today?

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

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