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ASX mining shares struggled across the board today. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) has closed Wednesday down 1.68%.

But one ASX mining share was on fire amid an update from the company’s silver project.

The Thomson Resources Ltd (ASX: TMZ) share price surged 18% to 5.4 cents in earlier trade, only to retreat after midday. Still, it was an impressive result for Thomson Resources, posting a 14.29% gain at close of trade. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell 0.5% on Wednesday.

So why was this ASX mining share so red hot today?

‘Outstanding’ silver and base metal intersections

Thomson advised that the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Webbs silver deposit is now well advanced. This project, located in northern New South Wales, is said to be one of the highest grade undeveloped silver projects in Australia.

The company reported “outstanding” silver and base metal intersections and positive metallurgy at the project.

Thomson provided silver and base metal intersection estimates from a newly validated historic drill hole database.

Highlights at the 30 grams per tonne AgEq (silver equivalent) cut off included:

• 6.33 metres (m) at 735 grams per tonne (g/t) AgEq
• 6.62 m at 793 g/t AgEq
• 7.79 m at 613 g/t AgEq

At the 150 gram per tonne AgEq:

• 1.86 m at 2,152 g/t AgEq
• 2.97 m at 1,326 g/t AgEq
• 1.81 m at 2,078 g/t AgEq

And boy, did investors want to share in this ASX mining company’s good tidings.

Comment from management

Executive chairman David Williams said:

We have not just rubber stamped previous published resources. We have gone through from scratch, gone through all of the available historic information, and added in new data and studies where there have been gaps.

What we will end up with is an MRE that we will have a lot of confidence in. Our better understanding of the geological setting again throws up clear target areas for exploration drilling to expand and extend the resource.

Of particular importance is the very favorable metallurgy that integrates with our own work from the Texas district and will support integration of the Webbs high-grade silver and base metal project into the Company’s central processing strategy.

The company plans to deliver the mineral resource estimate in the second quarter of 2022.

Share price snapshot

The Thomson Resources share price has crashed nearly 56% in the past year, while it has fallen 28% in the year to date.

The company’s shares have slid 12% in a month, but they are up nearly 9% in the past week.

For perspective, the benchmark ASX 200 has returned nearly 9% over the past year.

The ASX mining share has a market capitalisation of $26.96 million based on its current share price.

The post Why did this ASX mining share surge 14% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the Beach Energy share price tumbled 11% in a month?
• Why has the AFIC share price leapt 5% in 4 weeks?
• Here’s why the Virtus Health share price outperformed today
• Why is the Lynas share price backtracking 5% today?
• This lagging ASX sector could be next to outperform

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

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Despite today’s slide, it has been a pretty good month for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and ASX shares. It has also been a good month for the Australian Foundation Investment Co Ltd (ASX: AFI) share price as well. AFIC (for short) is one of the largest Listed Investment Companies (LICs) on the ASX. And over the past four weeks, this company has seen its share price rise from $7.90 to the $8.30 it closed on today. That’s a rise of 5%.

So what’s behind AFIC’s rather stellar run since early March?

What’s behind the AFIC share price’s recent gains?

Well, let’s check out this LIC’s underlying holdings and see if we can figure it out. So, as an LIC, AFIC holds a portfolio of underlying ASX shares for the benefit of its shareholders. Thus, it could be described as something closer to a managed fund than your typical ASX business.

As it currently stands, AFIC has only released its top 25 investments as of 28 February 2022. But given this company’s long-term focus, it’s not too likely that it has made any dramatic changes since. So as of that date, AFIC listed its top five ASX shareholdings (and their portfolio weightings) as follows:

1. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) at 8.6%
2. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) at 7.5%
3. CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) at 7.2%
4. Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)
5. Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

So, since 9 March, CBA shares have risen almost 8.5%.

BHP shares are up 5.8% over the same period.

CSL has gained 4.17%.

Macquarie has put on a whopping 14.7%.

And Transurban shares have given investors a gain of just over 6.9%.

So it’s not too hard to see where the AFIC share price gains have come from over the past four weeks.

At the current AFIC share price, the Australian Foundation Investment Co has a market capitalisation of $10.2 billion, with a dividend yield of 2.88%.

The post Why has the AFIC share price leapt 5% in 4 weeks? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Wednesday
• A toast! The Endeavour share price just hit an all-time high
• Magellan share price sinks again, down 6%
• Is Newcrest Mining considered a defensive ASX share?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Block and Zip sink, Paladin Energy raises $200m

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

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The share price of fertility treatment provider Virtus Health Ltd (ASX: VRT) closed higher today on the back of its seventh takeover offer.

This time, BGH Capital is back in the hot seat with an $8 per share off-market takeover bid posed to Virtus Health shareholders.

The fund has also threatened to derail its rival bidder’s competing takeover offer.

The Virtus Health share price finished at $8.12 today, 0.62% higher than its previous close.

The gain, while small, saw the company’s stock outperform the broader market on Wednesday.

The All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) both finished lower by 0.65% and 0.59% respectively.

Let’s take a closer look at the drama emanating from Virtus Health’s camp on Wednesday.  

Virtus Health lobbed $8 unconditional off-market bid

The Virtus Health share price was in the green on Wednesday. Its gains follow confirmation the company’s board is considering an unsolicited off-market takeover offer posed this morning.

BGH – which already owns a 19.99% stake in Virtus Health – has been battling rival CapVest to win the fertility treatment provider.

The latter’s $8.25 takeover offer was accepted by Virtus Health’s board last month. It’s minus any dividends, including a recent 12-cent interim dividend and a potential special dividend of up to 44 cents.

The offer would see Virtus Health acquired via a scheme of arrangement.

75% of shareholders must vote on the scheme for it to go ahead. Of those votes, more than 50% must be in favour.

As part of its offer, CapVest arranged to make an off-market takeover offer for Virtus Health at a price of $8.10 per share, conditional on the scheme failing. The off-market takeover offer is also less dividends.

But BGH has hit back today with an unconditional all-cash offer.

It also emphasised its cash pay-out will provide a “simple and attractive cash exit” with “certainty regarding the tax implications”.

On top of its bid, BGH has once again made its intention to vote its 19.99% stake in Virtus Health against CapVest’s acquisition clear. It noted:

[R]ecognising that voter turnout at scheme meetings is often substantially lower than 100%, there is significant uncertainty that the CapVest scheme will meet the required approval thresholds considering our stated intention to vote against the CapVest scheme.

Virtus Health responded to BGH’s bid late this morning. It said it is considering if BGH’s bid represents a superior proposal to the one already on the table.

For now, it’s urging shareholders to take no action. A target statement, including an independent expert’s report, will be provided to shareholders in due time.

Virtus Health share price snapshot

2022 has been a good year so far for the Virtus Health share price.

It has gained almost 20% year to date. It is also 26% higher than it was this time last year.

The post Here’s why the Virtus Health share price outperformed today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Virtus Health (ASX:VRT) share price slipping today?
• Time is running out to secure this ASX healthcare share dividend
• Virtus Health (ASX:VRT) hits 52-week high, accepts CapVest bid
• Why CSL, Dicker Data, Elders, and Virtus Health shares are charging higher
• Why is the Virtus Health (ASX:VRT) share price frozen today?

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

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The Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price is in the red today despite no new announcements from the company.

At the time of writing, the rare earths producer’s shares are down 4.93% to $10.21.

Lynas joins a number of resource shares also going backwards today, including Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS), down 4.79%, and Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX: ASM), down 5.77%.

What’s been happening?

It appears investors are looking to cash out of Lynas shares today alongside the recent fall in neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) prices.

The company produces NdPr, a magnetic rare earth alloy used in many modern technologies.

Since the beginning of March, the price of NdPr has been on a trending decline, losing almost 13% in value in a month.

Lynas is considered the world’s second-largest producer of NdPr, behind China which accounts for 60% of global production of rare earths.

In case you were wondering, rare earths comprise a group of 17 metals that are critical to the manufacturing of many electronic products. This includes mobile smartphones, electric vehicles, aircraft engines, wind turbines, and military equipment.

While the NdPr price is cooling off for now, it’s important to remember that Western countries are trying to counteract China’s dominance in the sector.

If political tensions between the West and the Asian giant rise, this could profoundly impact crucial products.

Recently, the United States warned China that it could face tough sanctions should it decide to provide support to Russia.

Lynas share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Lynas share price has rocketed more than 60% on the back of positive investor sentiment.

Although, since the start of the year, its shares have recorded wild swings of more than 20% in either direction. The company’s shares are flat in 2022.

Lynas has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 33.51 and commands a market capitalisation of roughly $9.22 billion.

The post Why is the Lynas share price backtracking 5% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why A2 Milk, IGO, Lynas, and Sayona shares are dropping
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• The Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) share price just hit a 10-year high!
• The US is backing Aussie critical minerals projects, and these ASX mining shares could be set to reap the rewards
• Why is the Lynas (ASX:LYC) share price having such a stellar start to the week?

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 Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) delivered robust gains recently but there’s one ASX sector that’s being left behind – although the tide could be turning.

This group of ASX shares are industrial equipment rental companies and their shares haven’t been invited to the party.

The ASX sector that’s the underdog in this bull market

For instance, the Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) share price has fallen 7.4% over the past year.

The Emeco Holdings Limited (ASX: EHL) share price and NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) share price have also fallen behind with an 11% drop and 2% gain, respectively, over the year.

In contrast, the ASX 200 index jumped 9% over the period, thanks in large part to surging commodity prices.

Turnaround could be in the wings

But there might be too much pessimism in this ASX sector. The latest report from UBS on a “fireside chat” with the chief executive of Orange Hire, Greg Parfitt, highlights the sector’s strong outlook.

Orange Hire is an Australian private company operating in the infrastructure and equipment hire markets. It owns a fleet valued at around $110 million across the east coast of the country.

Best conditions in 30 years

There were four key takeaways that UBS got from the interview. The first is the accelerating utilisation rate for Orange Hire’s equipment which now stands in the low 70% from mid 50% in the December half. The improvement comes despite adverse weather disruptions.

There is also a rebound in tendering activity for equipment hire. Demand is strong across key construction sectors, like infrastructure, housing, mining and renewables.

“Greg noted these are the most favourable conditions he has seen in over 30yrs in the equipment hire industry,” said UBS.

Pricing power meets bullish outlook

The surge in demand comes at the right time for the sector too, which like the rest of the economy, is facing rising costs.

“The strong demand backdrop is supporting a favourable pricing environment with Orange Hire having successfully pushed through two c.3% price increases in FY22, with another planned within the next 3mths,” added the broker.

Just as importantly, the outlook for the sector is positive for FY23. Parfitt is expecting equipment hire sales growth to hit at least double digits. The growth is driven by the strong civil construction tendering environment, as well as price increases.

The ASX share that is best placed to benefit from this thematic is Seven Group, according to UBS. The group owns Coats Hire, Australia’s largest equipment rental firm, and WestTrac, which is a Caterpillar equipment dealer.

The post This lagging ASX sector could be next to outperform appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Wednesday
• A toast! The Endeavour share price just hit an all-time high
• Magellan share price sinks again, down 6%
• Is Newcrest Mining considered a defensive ASX share?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Block and Zip sink, Paladin Energy raises $200m

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns Emeco Holdings Limited and Seven Group Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia 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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Shares in Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) are tracking lower today and now trade 3.45% in the red at $5.60.

Trading has been thin for Kogan shares today and the order book is stacked towards sell orders, per Bloomberg trade data. The company’s share price slumped from the open and has been bottom heavy since.

What’s up with Kogan shares?

Kogan had shown signs of life these past few weeks with a short-lived rally to roll into the new month. Gains extended after the federal budget, but have since pared and quietened down again.

However, most of the upside is underscored by strengths in the wider tech sector. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has climbed 7% this past month after coming off a hot period.

It is still yet to overcome a 16% loss incurred so far in 2022, despite the revival.

The tech sector is down today as the market re-evaluates a number of macroeconomic crosscurrents that are feeding into investment returns.

Nevertheless, tech shares have softened and there’s been a wind-down of exposure to frothy sectors like commodities and healthcare in the last week or so.

Today, tech is the worst-performing sector on the ASX by far with the XTX sliding more than 2% in the red, whilst all other sectors have capped losses at less than 1%.

In the last 12 months Kogan shares have collapsed more than 57% into the red and are down 36% this year to date.

The post What’s the go with the Kogan share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Discounted bargain? The Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price is down 3%
• Kogan (ASX:KGN) shares spike another 6% post federal budget
• Up 8% in a month, are Kogan (ASX:KGN) shares staging a comeback rally?
• Sell rating: JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JHB) share price tipped to sink 28%

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. owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Kogan.com 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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Crypto investors have come to realise that digital assets aren’t immune from the impacts of rising inflation and the subsequent hikes in interest rates.

Tracking similarly to risk assets like high growth tech shares, most cryptos, including Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), sold off during the first 6 weeks of 2022.

Inflation looks to be enduring rather than transitory

And inflation doesn’t appear to be nearly as transitory as we were told to expect last year. Not even in Australia.

In his media comments yesterday, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Philip Lowe said, “Inflation has picked up and a further increase is expected.”

Noting that Australia’s inflation levels remain lower than some nations, Lowe said:

Inflation has increased sharply in many parts of the world. Ongoing supply-side problems, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and strong demand as economies recover from the pandemic are all contributing to the upward pressure on prices.

With rising prices and interest rates in mind, The Motley Fool reached out to Josh Gilbert, crypto analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro, and Daniel Sekers, managing director of crypto trading platform YourPortfolio, to find out which crypto they believe will hold up best in an era of higher inflation.

Why this crypto is the most resilient to inflation

“In my view, it has to be Bitcoin,” Gilbert told us.

“The altcoins outside of Bitcoin tend to be more susceptible to rising interest rates, due to lower liquidity within the assets and their higher risk nature.”

Gilbert pointed to Bitcoin’s outperformance over most cryptos this year:

Over the past three months, Bitcoin has demonstrated immense resilience against a number of headwinds, such as rising rates, geopolitical tensions, and recession discussions. A large percentage of the top 30 cryptoassets by market cap is still down by 10-30% year-to-date (YTD), yet Bitcoin is in positive territory climbing above USD$48,000.

With Bitcoin sliding today, it’s now down some 4% year-to-date, but still outperforming most of the top 30 cryptos Gilbert alluded to.

Sekers also tipped his hat to Bitcoin as the crypto currently best positioned to weather rising inflation.

“Not all cryptos are built equally,” he said. “The flavour of the month is Bitcoin with many businesses treating it similar to a gold standard. This is due to a number of factors, but mainly driven by the anti-inflationary aspects of the digital currency.”

Sekers explained:

These include that the supply is controlled (and not by a government) with current mining adding only 1.8% per year to the overall supply. This is further negated by a ‘halving’ event that occurs every 4 years which halves the amount that miners are able to mine.

Lastly there is a cap of 21 million Bitcoin that can ever be mined, which means eventually supply is limited. With these features, Bitcoin seems to be well placed to stand up to rising inflation and interest rates.

Investing in crypto and worried about inflation?

If Sekers and Gilbert have this right, Bitcoin looks well placed to hold up better than the rest.

The post Why this crypto is the most resilient to inflation: experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Can the Bitcoin price really top US$500,000?
• What’s the outlook for the Bitcoin price in April?
• Why cryptos like Bitcoin are ‘no longer in the fringes’
• Another crypto is buying $13 billion of Bitcoin. Here’s why
• Here’s what moved the Bitcoin price 20% higher in March

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Bitcoin. 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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ASX shares may have to deal with interest rates that go higher than expected. The JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that interest rates could climb “significantly”.

Jamie Dimon has been in charge of JPMorgan Chase for almost two decades. He steered the bank through the GFC and then COVID-19.

Dimon just released his annual letter and his comments about interest rates may be of interest to investors.

A shift in the economic landscape with interest rates

The JPMorgan Chase CEO wrote that persistent inflation will require rising interest rates and a massive, but necessary, shift from quantitative easing to quantitative tightening.

In the wake of the impacts of COVID-19, the western world, including the US Federal Reserve, took “bold dramatic actions” to combat the impacts of the pandemic. Dimon said that this worked, but the stimulus and quantitative easing may have been too much for too long.

In what could be a warning for the (ASX) share market, Dimon then said:

I do not envy the Fed for what it must do next: The stronger the recovery, the higher the rates that follow (I believe that this could be significantly higher than the markets expect) and the stronger the quantitative tightening (QT).

If the Fed gets it just right, we can have years of growth, and inflation will eventually start to recede. In any event, this process will cause lots of consternation and very volatile markets. The Fed should not worry about volatile markets unless they affect the actual economy. A strong economy trumps market volatility.

So, according to Dimon, share markets could become “very volatile”.

He went on to say:

The shift from QE to QT will cause a massive change in the flow of funds in and out of Treasury bonds and, therefore, all securities. Our situation today is completely unlike the monetary policy adjustments following the great financial crisis of 2008.

Many ASX shares have already fallen

The prospect of higher interest rates to combat fast inflation has been making headlines for a few months now.

Many Australian companies have already seen sizeable double-digit declines in their share prices in 2022.

The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price is down by 28%, the Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price is down 25%, the REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) share price is down 23%, the SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) share price is down 15%, the Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) share price is down 19%, and the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price has dropped 66%.

There are plenty of other ASX shares that have also seen a noticeable decline.

Why do interest rates matter?

Legendary investor Warren Buffett once said about interest rates at the 1994 Berkshire Hathaway annual general meeting:

The value of every business, the value of a farm, the value of an apartment house, the value of any economic asset, is 100% sensitive to interest rates because all you are doing in investing is transferring some money to somebody now in exchange for what you expect the stream of money to be, to come in over a period of time, and the higher interest rates are the less that present value is going to be. So every business by its nature … its intrinsic valuation is 100% sensitive to interest rates.

The post Bank CEO: Interest rates are headed higher than markets are expecting. How could this affect ASX shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s the go with the Kogan share price today?
• Why this crypto is the most resilient to inflation: experts
• Can the Bitcoin price really top US$500,000?
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Wednesday
• Heard of this ASX battery metals share? It’s skyrocketed 413% this year

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. 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. owns and has recommended Xero and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA Group Limited, SEEK Limited, and carsales.com 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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The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price is down 3% since this time yesterday, currently trading for US$45,378 (AU$59,865).

That gives the world’s original crypto a market cap of US$862 billion.

Despite a strong run in March, which saw the Bitcoin price surge 20% over the month, the token remains down 34% from its 10 November record high of US$68,790.

But those highs may not only be retested but they could also be left in the dust.

That’s according to Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital and likely best known for his brief stint as the communications director for former United States President Donald Trump.

Can the Bitcoin price really top US$500,000?

Scaramucci, aka the Mooch, addressed the Australian Financial Review Cryptocurrency Summit earlier today.

He had previously forecast that the Bitcoin price would leap to US$100,000, which he admitted hasn’t panned out. At least, not yet. The Mooch said that the global pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US regulators’ failure to approve a cash Bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) had been a drag on the crypto world.

However, he said he still believes in the “elasticity of this situation and the likelihood of [Bitcoin] prices heading to a half a million dollars”.

That’s about AU$658,000. It’s also some 1003% higher than the current Bitcoin price.

So why is the Mooch so bullish on the outlook for the world’s biggest crypto?

It comes down to his belief that cryptos are the future of money.

“You want to get in here ahead of the curve. If you’re not long crypto, you’re effectively short it,” he said.

Scarce supply and soaring demand

Scaramucci also pointed out the relative scarcity as likely to support the Bitcoin price. The total number able to be mined is capped at 21 million. 19 million have already been virtually created, with several million lost and likely gone for good.

“We don’t even have enough coins for each millionaire in the world to own one full coin,” he said.

That scarcity comes as demand for cryptos is soaring.

As the AFR noted, 18 months ago there were roughly 80 million digital wallets holding Bitcoin. That number has since ballooned to 247 million.

According to the Mooch, we can expect to see 1 billion digital wallets holding Bitcoin within 2 years.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached escape velocity,” he said. “We are just getting started in the world of crypto – imagine where we’ll be in five years.”

If Scaramucci has this one right, in five years we may be in a world where the Bitcoin price has hit US$500,000.

The post Can the Bitcoin price really top US$500,000? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s the outlook for the Bitcoin price in April?
• Why cryptos like Bitcoin are ‘no longer in the fringes’
• Another crypto is buying $13 billion of Bitcoin. Here’s why
• Here’s what moved the Bitcoin price 20% higher in March
• Here’s what ESG investors should know about cryptos like Bitcoin

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Bitcoin. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is slipping from its robust week last week in a day of losses so far. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has lost 0.47% and is trading at just under 7,500 points. 

But rather than dwelling on that, let’s instead check out the shares topping the ASX 200’s trading volume charts, according to investing.com.

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Wednesday

Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)

Nickel Mines is our first ASX 200 share to check out today. This nickel miner has had a sizeable 16.6 million shares swap owners on the markets today so far. There’s been no major news out of the company today to speak of. Thus, we can only conclude that this elevated volume is the direct result of the nasty share price fall the company has endured over today’s trading session. Nickel Mines shares are presently down by 5.55% at $1.242 a share.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Pilbara Minerals is next up today. The ASX 200 lithium producer is also flying around the markets today, with a notable 23.53 million shares bought and sold thus far. Again, we seem to have a big swing in the share price to thank. And again, it’s a disappointing loss for investors. Pilbara shares are currently down a depressing 5.21% at $3.365 each. No wonder this company is experiencing such high trading volume.

AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ)

Another ASX 200 lithium stock in AVZ is our final and most traded share of the day today. An impressive 41.16 million AVZ shares have changed hands as it currently stands. AVZ released its presentation from a battery minerals conference this morning. But that doesn’t seem to have saved its shares from yet another savage selloff today. This company is staring at a 6.94% loss at $1.14 a share right now. This, possibly in combination with its ASX release this morning, is the probable cause of this elevated share trading volume.

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

More reading

• A toast! The Endeavour share price just hit an all-time high
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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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