Tag: Motley Fool

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form in November and recorded its third consecutive monthly decline. The benchmark index fell 0.9% over the period to end at 7,256 points.

The good news is that this didn’t stop some ASX 200 shares from storming higher. Here’s why these were the best performers on the index last month:

Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)

The Nickel Mines share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last month with a 35.9% gain. Investors were buying the nickel producer’s shares following the release of an update on its Angel Nickel project. That update revealed that the first production from the project is expected in the first quarter of 2022. This is well ahead of the October 2022 contractual delivery date for the commencement of commissioning. In addition, an agreement to expand its partnership with Shanghai Decent also gave its shares a boost. That deal will see Nickel Mines acquire a 70% interest in Shanghai Decent’s Oracle Nickel Project.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG)

The Fortescue share price was a strong performer and jumped 22.1% in November. This gain appears to have been driven by an improving outlook for the iron ore price. This was due to favourable policies in China which analysts feel could put a floor on prices. In addition, news that its Fortescue Future Industries business has signed a jet fuel deal went down well with investors.

EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)

The EML Payments share price wasn’t far behind with a 22% gain over the period. Investors were scrambling to buy this payments company’s shares following the release of an update on its dealings with the Central Bank of Ireland. The central bank advised that it will allow EML’s PFS Card Services Ireland business to sign new customers and launch new programs. In addition, broad-based reductions in limit controls on programs will not be imposed. This has eased concerns that the business could lose its licence to operate in key European market.

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)

The Lynas share price was a positive performer and charged 21% higher during the month. This may have been driven partly by news that the Greenland Government has passed legislation that essentially blocks Greenland Minerals Ltd (ASX: GGG) from developing a major rare earths project. Greenland Minerals has previously said that it believes its Kvanefjeld rare earth project has the potential to become the most significant western world producer of rare earths.

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

The Megaport share price was on form and raced 19.2% higher in November. A key driver of this was a bullish broker note out of Macquarie. The broker initiated coverage on the network as a service company with an outperform rating and $24.00 price target. Macquarie believes Megaport is well-placed for growth over the coming years.

The post These were the 5 best performing ASX 200 shares in November appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide rock-solid income
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the 3 heaviest traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday so far
• These are the ASX 200 shares that fundies have been snapping up

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

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

Some ASX dividend shares may be able to provide investors with rock-solid income for the long-term.

Investors may like to know about two businesses that have a long-term record of provider dividend stability for the long-term and it may be sustainable going forward for some time.

Not every business that pays a dividend has a strong focus on being consistent for shareholders. But these two do:

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks has one of the longest dividend records on the ASX, which it is proud to boast about.

At the company’s annual general meeting (AGM), it said:

We are proud to be one of very few S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) companies who have increased dividends to our shareholders during the pandemic and have not needed to raise equity or receive government support payments.

Including FY21’s dividend increase, it has maintained or increased its normal dividend for the last 45 years.

With the Brickworks share price down more than 10% since the Brickworks share price reached a high in September 2021, the trailing grossed-up dividend yield is 3.8%.

Whilst the business says it’s well placed to benefit as the Australian and US construction economies recover, there is one area where it’s expecting significant growth.

The ASX dividend share is a 50% shareholder in an industrial property trust with leased assets of $2 billion and a long development pipeline. Brickworks sells surplus land into the trust at market value, then Goodman funds the infrastructure works, to create serviced land ready for development. Once a lease pre-commitment is secured, the serviced land can then be used as security, with debt funding used to cover the cost of constructing the facilities.

New developments by the trust, such as the new huge Amazon facility, are increasingly sophisticated, with features such as robotics, automation and multi-storey warehousing. The completion of its pipeline of developments will result in an increase in leased assets of around $1.2 billion and gross rent of $50 million within the property trust over the next two years.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)

Soul Patts is an investment conglomerate that has increased its dividend every year since 2000, so it currently holds the record for the most annual dividend increases on the ASX.

It owns various investments in ASX shares and sectors including TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA), Brickworks, New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC), Round Oak Metals (resources), agriculture, financial services, a large cap portfolio, a small cap portfolio a private equity portfolio and a property portfolio.

Soul Patts recently acquired the listed investment company (LIC) Milton, which is expected to provide a number of benefits.

Management are expecting greater portfolio diversification and additional liquidity for future investments, higher cash generation from increased portfolio dividends and an experienced and capable investment team will complement its existing capabilities.

Themes that the ASX dividend share is looking at includes health and ageing, energy transition, agriculture, financial services and education.

The post 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide rock-solid income appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the 3 heaviest traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday so far
• These are the ASX 200 shares that fundies have been snapping up
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: AMP shares jump, Collins Foods impresses

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended TPG Telecom Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/31dqmZ3

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has mostly recovered from its Omicron-driven selloff over the weekend.

The world’s leading crypto, it turned out, moved very similarly to global share markets. Though, as you’d expect, its price moves were even larger.

With Aussie investor interest in cryptos on the rise, Australia has recently seen the launch of several crypto-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access ETF (DIGA), for example, commenced trading on the Aussie exchange Chi-X on 28 October.

Now, DIGA doesn’t invest directly into Bitcoin, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), or any cryptos. That’s still verboten by Aussie regulators. Instead, DIGA gives investors exposure to cryptocurrencies via a basket of cryptocurrency mining and infrastructure companies.

With DIGA entering its second month of trading, the Motley Fool reached out to Dan Annan, CEO of Cosmos Asset Management, for his insights into Bitcoin and crypto ETFs Down Under.

You can find part 1 of that interview here.

Below, we bring you part 2.

Motley Fool: You’ve expressed an interest in launching a direct Bitcoin ETF. What are the hurdles?

Dan Annan: Launching a direct Bitcoin spot ETF is really about ensuring that the regulator allows investors to gain pure, physical exposure to the cryptocurrency itself. Our regulator, ASIC, has come a long way in a short period.

Regulators, and not just in Australia, are beginning to understand that Bitcoin in a fully regulated environment, such as an ETF, has more protections than any other mechanism to own Bitcoin.

MF: What type of ETF is Cosmos proposing?

DA: Our proposal is for a physically backed Bitcoin fund. So, we would hold Bitcoin equivalent to the net asset value (NAV) of the fund. We would publish daily the BTC held so investors would be able to easily estimate the minute-by-minute price of the underlying fund.

There wouldn’t be a re-rating requirement as we would only hold a single asset, Bitcoin.

MF: Are there any issues here due to the historically high price volatility?

DA: Large overnight movements just result in larger opening unit prices. This is no different to the ownership of physical Bitcoin. If you own 1 Bitcoin that you trade daily, then go to sleep, when you wake you’re exposed to the current Bitcoin price.

MF: We have to ask. Do you have any forecast for where the Bitcoin price may be heading in 2022?

DA: We can’t forecast what the Bitcoin price will be in 2022. We would need a genie bottle for that!

However, what we can do is look at the current participation rate of ownership, the market cap, and ask ourselves, is it over? What is the institutional sentiment for Bitcoin as an asset class to manage the balance sheet? Are more people going to join the network?

The short answers to these questions are all a positive ‘yes’.

For an example, if we believe that Bitcoin/Ethereum is the future store of value and a hedge to inflation then let’s look at the market capitalisation of these traditional asset classes:

• Total market cap of gold: US$11.3 trillion
• Total market cap of bonds: US$119 trillion
• Total market cap of Bitcoin: US$1.08 trillion
• Total market cap of Ethereum: US$504 billion

Now, if there’s just a shift of 5% from the traditional asset class to Bitcoin over the next couple of years, what happens to the price of Bitcoin? And what is the investment case or opportunity for the picks and shovels providing the infrastructure for the cryptocurrency platform?

Simple economics of supply and demand tells us that as Bitcoin adoption increases, we should see the price increase until we hit a stage of ‘hyperbitcoinisation’.

We believe DIGA – the Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access ETF – is designed to give investors access to participate in this growth opportunity.

**

(You can find out more about DIGA here.)

The post Can Bitcoin edge out gold and bonds as a future store of value? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why did the Omicron crypto just rocket 900% and what is it doing now?
• Here’s how Bitcoin and this top altcoin are responding to the Omicron variant
• ‘Unstoppable’: Bitcoin will double in next 12 months, says expert
• 2 top cryptocurrencies to buy and hold forever
• Here are my top risk-averse cryptocurrencies

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3xDR7BH

Ask A Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with fund managers so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In this edition, Medallion Financial managing director Michael Wayne shows off the 3 ASX shares that have gone gangbusters for him over many years.

Investment style

The Motley Fool: How would you describe your service to a potential client?

Michael Wayne: We’re a private wealth advisory firm. We help clients invest in the Australian equity market through direct shares. That’s where we think we can add some good value to people. We also help clients gain exposure to the international markets through ETFs [exchange-traded funds] and ETMFs [exchange-traded managed funds] and various listed investment companies. 

We are actually in the process of setting up a fund that will launch in January of 2022, fresh for the new year.

MF: Congratulations.

MW: It won’t be a big part of our business to start with, but it will allow investors who want to come on board with Medallion and invest in the Medallion strategy. It will allow smaller investors with smaller increments to just put money into a fund, rather than setting up a trading account and rolling across an entire portfolio. 

That fund will just follow the strategy of Medallion’s model portfolio, effectively, look to replicate the approach and the companies that are held within that model portfolio.

The managed funds will be S&P/ASX 300 (ASX: XKO) direct shares with a skew, I suppose, to ASX ex-50, looking to identify some of those emerging leaders. So still businesses that are of size and established, but are still growing at a very quick rate. 

In saying that, many of the businesses in the model portfolio and many of the businesses that we’ll hold in the fund are still within the S&P/ASX 50 (ASX: XFL). So companies like Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL), CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH), Resmed CDI (ASX: RMD), these types of businesses. Businesses we hold now for clients, and will likely be replicated in the fund going forward.

Popular ASX shares

MF: What are the most popular holdings currently among your clients?

MW: CSL is the biggest holding across our client book, and then close second and third is Fisher & Paykel and Resmed. 

That’s not necessarily done by design, but it’s a symptom of the fact that they’ve been stellar performers over 3, 4 years, even longer, going back in time. They’ve grown to be fairly significant size weightings in portfolios and we’re comfortable in holding these companies long term. 

They’ve got very, very strong balance sheets. They’re growing at double digit revenue growth and earnings growth. Margins are very, very strong. So they’re core positions that we’re comfortable in holding.

MF: Coincidentally all 3 are in health?

MW: Yeah. In terms of our strategy and the way that we approach the market, we do try to identify sectors of the economy that we think are booming and have a bright outlook. Healthcare, with the ageing population and emerging middle classes in places like Asia, we think that there’s a natural long-term tailwind for that sector. 

Then once we identify a sector that we like, we try to identify the companies within those sectors that have very strong fundamentals. So, companies with consistent revenue growth, margin expansion, high return on equity, low debt — these sorts of traits and characteristics. That’s how we filter through the market and identify the companies that we want to hold.

The post Advisor reveals the 3 most popular ASX shares among his clients appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These are the ASX 200 shares that fundies have been snapping up
• 2 ASX shares looking good in turbulent times
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• The CSL (ASX:CSL) share price reached a new 52-week high last week. What’s next?
• Why a leading broker is bullish on these 3 ASX shares

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of CSL Ltd. and ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3I586lb

With Santa and his elves hard at work in the North Pole, we asked our Foolish contributors to compile a list of some of the ASX shares experts are tipping will deliver some extra Christmas cheer.

Brooke Cooper: Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

Adairs is a speciality retailer of home furnishings with more than 160 stores across Australia and New Zealand. It also boasted more than 950,000 customer sign-ups to its loyalty program, Linen Lovers, as of the end of financial year 2021.

The retailer’s customers continued to be loyal through Australia’s most recent lockdowns. Over the first 16 weeks of this financial year, Adairs’ online sales increased 172% on those of the same period of financial year 2020.

Additionally, Adairs recently announced the acquisition of furniture retailer Focus on Furniture.

The Adairs share price closed Tuesday’s session 2.18% lower at $3.59.

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper does not own shares of Adairs Ltd.

James Mickleboro: Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG)

Hipages is a technology company focused on creating effortless solutions that help tradies streamline and grow their businesses. These include connecting tradies with residential and commercial consumers through Australia’s largest online tradie marketplace.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company and has a buy rating and $4.95 price target on its shares. The broker believes Hipages is well-placed for growth thanks to its huge market opportunity and growing subscription revenues. In respect to the former, Goldman estimates the tradie marketplace’s total addressable market (TAM) is worth $110 billion per year.

The Hipages share price has gained almost 60% so far in 2021.

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro does not own shares of Hipages Group Holdings Ltd.

Bernd Struben: Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN)

Mineral Resources is poised to become the largest lithium spodumene producer in Australia once its Wodgina project restarts and becomes fully operational.

According to Katana Asset Management’s Romano Sala Tenna, it’s also the share he’d hold if the market closed for 5 years tomorrow. He says there’s no bigger opportunity in the market today than the global move to electrification, which is driving demand for EV metals like lithium.

Over the last 3 years, Mineral Resources has averaged a return on equity in excess of 20%. Tenna says management has set the company up well for its next level of growth.

The Mineral Resources share price closed Tuesday’s session up 0.6% at $45.26. It has also climbed by around 17% over the past month.

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben does not own shares of Mineral Resources Limited.

Aaron Teboneras: Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR) 

Dicker Data shares are often bought by investors seeking frequent and reliable dividends. 

In its third-quarter business update released last month, Dicker Data reported achieving revenue of more than $1.72 billion year to date. This reflects an increase of 16.1% compared to the prior corresponding period ($1.48 billion)

The company rewarded shareholders with a fully-franked dividend of 9 cents per share. Total dividends for the past 12 months have totalled 37.5 cents. This represents a dividend yield of 2.65%, based on the current share price, paid in quarterly instalments. 

Dicker Data has increased its focus on small-to-medium business enterprises over the past year. Specifically, it has targeted distribution agreements in software, high-end enterprise products and those that address the cloud computing environment.

Despite the current global chip shortage saga, the company is experiencing strong demand with a backlog of orders. This is expected to fill in the last quarter of 2021.

At market close on Tuesday, the Dicker Data share price was trading at $14.14, having climbed by around 35% so far this year.

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras does not own shares of Dicker Data Ltd. 

Mitchell Lawler: Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)

The Whispir share price has endured a difficult year in 2021. In specific terms, the global, cloud-based communications company’s shares have fallen from $3.69 to $2.03 over the past 11 months.

The disappointing performance has unfolded despite year-over-year growth in Whispir’s all-important annualised recurring revenue. Similarly, customers increased by 33 to 843 according to Whispir’s first-quarter update for FY22.

Another major positive has been the company’s upgraded full-year guidance for FY22. The announcement indicated an improvement of between 34% and 42% compared to prior estimates. As a result, expected revenue is now between $64 million and $68 million.

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler does not own shares of Whispir Ltd.

Sebastian Bowen: Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

The ASX 200 homewares retailer Adairs was a real COVID-winner. This company saw its online channels explode in popularity during the multiple lockdowns Australia has endured for nearly two years. But all signs point to Adairs keeping some of this love in house, helped by its uber-popular Linen Lovers rewards club.

The company also recently announced the acquisition of Focus on Furniture, which management reckons will be immediately accretive to Adairs’ earnings per share (EPS). As it stands today, Adairs is currently boasting a fully-franked dividend yield of over 6% as well.

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Adairs Ltd.

Tristan Harrison: Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

Temple & Webster is a leading online retailer of items like homewares and furniture. It’s rated as a buy by Morgan Stanley, with a price target of $16. The broker reckons the business can get to $1 billion in revenue within five or so years.

The company’s FY21 revenue grew 85% to $326.3 million. Meanwhile, FY22 revenue has “started strongly” with revenue growth of 49% to 27 August 2021.

Management are expecting a number of long-term positives from the company’s growth. These include industry leadership, growing operating leverage and profit margins, better supplier terms, international expansion, and slowing investment in fixed costs. Temple & Webster is currently investing heavily for longer-term growth.

At Tuesday’s close, the Temple & Webster share price was trading 0.65% lower at $10.65. The company’s shares have fallen by around 16% over the past month.

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison does not own shares of Temple & Webster Group Ltd.

Zach Bristow: IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)

Mining company IGO recently invested in two of the world’s top lithium assets. It has a 25% indirect interest in the Greenbushes mine, touted as the world’s largest, highest-grade lithium mine. IGO has over $600 million in cash on its balance sheet with no debt.

The company is rated as a buy by 65% of analysts covering it, averaging a valuation of around $11 per share. The teams at Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Jefferies each have it as a buy. Each firm reckons IGO shares are cheap right now on free cash flow yield and earnings multiples.

Tribeca Investment Partners also reckons IGO is poised for upside – based on valuation, financial health and inclusion into several mining/lithium-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – and can use its balance sheet to drive more acquisitions.

At the time of writing, the IGO share price is trading at $10.54 after climbing by more than 65% so far this year.

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow does not own shares of IGO Ltd.

The post Top ASX shares to buy in December 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why ASX retail shares are in the spotlight on Tuesday
• These are the ASX 200 shares that fundies have been snapping up
• 3 key reasons why the Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) share price is compelling
• Is the Adairs (ASX:ADH) share price a buy following the company’s latest acquisition?
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO, Dicker Data Limited, Hipages Group Holdings Ltd., Temple & Webster Group Ltd, and Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO and Dicker Data Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hipages Group Holdings Ltd., Temple & Webster Group Ltd, and Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3o8HVSQ

On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was back on form and pushed higher. The benchmark index rose 0.2% to 7,256 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to fall

The Australian share market looks set to give back yesterday’s gains on Wednesday amid a resurgence in Omicron fears. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 30 points or 0.4% lower this morning. In late trade in the United States, the Dow Jones is down 1.4%, the S&P 500 is down 1.3%, and the Nasdaq is trading 1.3% lower.

GUD shares to return

The GUD Holdings Limited (ASX: GUD) share price is expected to return to trade on Wednesday following the completion of the institutional component of its equity raising. The products company is raising a total of $405 million to fund the purchase of Autopacific Group for approximately $744.6 million. This deal is expected to be low double digit earnings per share accretive.

Oil prices tumble

Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could have a difficult day after oil prices tumbled. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 5.8% to US$65.92 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 4% to US$70.51 a barrel. Doubts about the efficacy of current vaccines on the Omicron variant spooked oil markets.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch after the gold price dropped despite the market selloff. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.4% to US$1,778 an ounce. News that the US Fed will not let Omicron stop it from speeding up its bond-buying taper appears to have weighed on the precious metal.

GrainCorp downgraded

The Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) share price could come under pressure on Wednesday. This morning the team at Bell Potter downgraded the grain exporter’s shares to a sell rating with a $6.15 price target. Its analysts believe GrainCorp’s earnings will peak in FY 2022 and then contract significantly next year.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the 3 heaviest traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday so far
• These are the ASX 200 shares that fundies have been snapping up
• What’s weighing on the Northern Star (ASX:NST) share price today?
• Why is the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price climbing today?

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/31hAXSd

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.

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) has been on an amazing run this year, becoming the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap and recently surpassing older, more established blockchains like Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) and Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP).

Moving forward, Solana could have even more runway ahead of it as momentum for the blockchain continues to build. Here are three reasons why Solana could just be getting started. 

Lightning fast transaction speed (at a fraction of the cost!)

The Solana network processes a remarkable 50,000 to 65,000 transactions per second, compared to just 15-30 transactions per second for Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), or 250 for Cardano. This throughput also compares favorably to traditional financial networks like Visa (NYSE: V), which processes about 24,000 transactions per second. Furthermore, Solana does this for a low fee of $0.00001 to $0.00025 cents per transaction, which is much cheaper than the current cost of transacting on the Ethereum blockchain. Transactions on the Ethereum blockchain cost anywhere from $4 to $20 per transaction in ‘gas fees,’ making it impractical for smaller transactions. While these fees are coming down after Ethereum’s move to proof of stake, Solana still has a distinct advantage here. 

Amazing projects are coming to the Solana blockchain

The advent of decentralized applications (dApps) like CryptoPunks, Crypto Kitties, and NBA Top Shot on the Ethereum blockchain helped turn Ethereum into a $500 billion asset. Developers flocked to the Ethereum blockchain to build new projects while artists minted NFTs, adding value and excitement in the process. 

Solana is developing a dynamic ecosystem of its own. One interesting project is Audius, a decentralized, blockchain-based music streaming service whose AUDIO token utilizes the Solana blockchain. The service has 5 million listeners as of 2021. 

There’s also Solend, a lending platform built on the Solana blockchain that will allow users to lend out tokens and generate yield.

Additionally, there is a burgeoning array of NFTs sprouting up on Solana, like the Degenerate Ape Academy, which has generated over $100 million in secondary sales since August.  As more users and developers take advantage of the Solana blockchain, its value will continue to rise. 

Hitting exit velocity 

We could be at the point where Solana has reached ‘exit velocity.’ 

Last year, a run from $10,000 to $20,000 seemed to make Bitcoin more risky based on valuation. However, this strong performance and larger market cap put it on the radar of institutional investors and hedge funds. This institutional interest helped propel Bitcoin from $20,000 to $60,000. While seemingly counterintuitive, growing to this larger market cap helped ‘derisk’ Bitcoin in the eyes of larger investors and made institutions and corporations feel safe dabbling in the asset. 

Now that Solana is approaching a $70 billion market cap, we are at a point where hedge funds, institutions, and other large investors and corporations may be comfortable investing in Solana, and propel it to the next level.

Looking ahead 

With unparalleled transaction speed for a fraction of a cent, a flurry of development and interesting projects being built on its blockchain, and the potential for growing institutional interest as it reaches exit velocity, Solana is here to stay. 

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

The post 3 reasons why Solana could just be getting started appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• My first crypto buy: Solana
• Did the Bitcoin and Ethereum bubble burst just signal a crypto market top?

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2ZHvCU8

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.

Stocks rebounded sharply on Monday, taking heart from more-upbeat comments following Friday’s steep declines. Despite ongoing concerns about how virulent the new omicron COVID-19 variant might be, investors nevertheless took a more positive view of the potential impact, especially in light of favorable comments from vaccine makers promising new weapons in the fight against the pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) didn’t claw back all of their losses, but they still put in a good day overall.

Index	Daily Percentage Change	Daily Point Change
Dow	+0.68%	+237
S&P 500	+1.32%	+61
Nasdaq	+1.88%	+291

Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

Monday gave investors another example of how selling on down days can lead to poor outcomes. In many ways, those who are more susceptible to panic-selling under pressure would have been better served having simply taken a long weekend to ignore what the markets did on Friday.

A different look at the markets

Sometimes, getting a different perspective on investing just requires expanding your time horizon by the smallest amount. Consider how the markets have performed when you combine Friday’s losses and Monday’s gains:

• The Dow has done by far the worst, falling almost 670 points, or just under 2%.
• The S&P has fallen by about 46 points, or less than 1%.
• The Nasdaq’s losses amounted to just 62 points, or less than 0.5%.

Moves of that size aren’t unusual, and they don’t establish anything close to a reversal of a prevailing trend. Rather, you can expect to see many moves in either direction over the course of several days in the stock market. Those moves can happen whether investors are in a bull market, bear market, or some sort of transition between the two.

Remember how far we’ve come

Another way to put declines in perspective is to think about how long it took to achieve a given milestone. For instance, the declines in the Nasdaq and S&P on Friday were significant, but they only took the indexes to levels that they first reached less than a month before. In other words, most investors would’ve been overjoyed if you’d told them a year ago that the S&P and Nasdaq would be where they were on Friday.

For the Dow, admittedly, it’s a little bit trickier. The average’s declines on Friday took it back to levels it first reached in May. Yet in the life of a long-term investor, even six months isn’t a huge span of time compared to your eventual time horizon.

Stay the course

Many investors saw Friday as potentially the first day of a huge downward move. That’s still possible, even though Monday provided at least a short respite. There’s always a chance that stocks will end up making a correction or entering a bear market, and in the long run, it’s inevitable.

If you try to anticipate those events with the goal of avoiding them, however, you’ll likely find that it ends up hurting you more than it helps you. In the long run, there are simply too many head-fakes from market volatility. The best way to reap the market’s long-term rewards is to stick with a consistent strategy and see it through. 

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

The post Monday showed why a long-term investing strategy is more important than ever appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 buy-rated ASX shares with big growth plans
• The Biome Australia (ASX: BIO) share price just flopped on IPO
• Here’s why the Hannans (ASX:HNR) share price shot 14% higher today
• Why is the Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH) share price frozen today?
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today

Dan Caplinger 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.

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3D4IHVa

The two ASX shares in this article could be leading ideas to think about as long-term ideas because of their plans that involve international growth.

Not every business is planning to expand geographically, but companies that do can materially increase their addressable market.

With that in mind, here are two ASX growth shares with major plans:

Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN)

Baby Bunting is an ASX retailer that sells a wide variety of baby and toddler products including prams, toys, clothes, furniture and so on.

The company has various plans to deliver profit growth and market share growth.

It’s investing in digital to deliver the best possible customer experience across channels. Baby Bunting is planning to invest to grow its market share from its core business. Baby Bunting wants to achieve growth from ‘new markets’ and aim for profit margin improvement.

New Zealand is an important part of Baby Bunting’s longer-term growth plans. It is aiming to open its first two stores in the country before the end of the financial year. Over time, Baby Bunting sees a network there of at least ten stores. In FY22 it’s also planning to open between six to eight new Australian stores.

Another area of growth for the ASX share is the amount of private label and exclusive products sold. In FY22 to its AGM date, 44.3% sales were from this source. The long-term goal is for these products to make up 50% of sales. This is helping the gross profit margin continue to rise.

In FY21, total sales increased 15.6% and pro forma net profit jumped 34.8% to $26 million. FY22 sales had increased by another 1.5% despite more than half of its stores being subject to lockdowns. Online sales were up 37.7% in the year to date.

The ASX growth share is rated as a buy by the broker Morgan Stanley with a price target of $6.90.

Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL)

Redbubble describes itself as the operator of two leading global online marketplaces – Redbubble.com and TeePublic.com. It enables artists to sell “uncommon designs on high-quality, everyday products such as apparel, stationery, housewares, bags, wall art and so on. It is steadily adding more product categories.

The ASX growth share generates its marketplace revenue from all over the world, though North America represented 69% of its FY22 first quarter sales. The EU (13%), the UK (9%) and ANZ (8%) represented the other major markets.

Excluding masks, Redbubble is expecting marketplace revenue in FY22 to be slightly above underlying FY21 marketplace revenue of $497 million.

In the next few years, it’s aiming to reach $1.25 billion of marketplace revenue.

Redbubble is planning to invest in multiple areas to grow the business in the medium-term, which likely means the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin will be in the mid-single digits.

However, the ASX share said in its recent trading update:

The business remains confident and excited about the medium-to-longer-term opportunity to grow strongly its online marketplaces for consumers and extend Redbubble’s global market leadership as the largest platform for independent artists.

Morgan Stanley currently rates Redbubble as a buy, with a price target of $6.50.

The post 2 buy-rated ASX shares with big growth plans appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• This fund manager isn’t worried about Redbubble’s (ASX:RBL) copyright concerns
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Potential buys: 2 compelling ASX shares
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares

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 recommended Baby Bunting. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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

Today was a pretty decent day for most ASX investors. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended up finishing this Tuesday’s trading at 7,256 points, up 0.22% for the day. But this positive energy didn’t flow through to one ASX company that made its debut on the ASX boards today. That would be the Biome Australia (ASX: BIO) share price.

Yes, Biome shares undertook an initial public offering (IPO) this morning, floating on the ASX boards for the first time. Biome is a healthcare company that’s in the business of providing probiotics, nutritional supplements and complementary medicines.

This morning, its pre-float announcement told the markets that its IPO had been successfully completed (oversubscribed in fact), and that it had raised $8 million through pricing its shares at 20 cents each. That gave Biome Australia a total market capitalisation of $40 million.

But unfortunately for these investors, Biome’s ASX IPO didn’t exactly go as well as the company might have hoped for. Upon its first few minutes of public life, BIO shares opened at around 13 cents each (down 35% from its IPO price). When the markets closed today, Biome shares finished up at just 12 cents each, a nasty fall of 40% from the 20 cents a share price that investors oversubscribed the company’s IPO at.

It could have been worse. At one point during the trading day, Biome shares hit 11 cents each, which represented a fall of 45% from the IPO price.

Investors will no doubt be hoping for a better trading day tomorrow.

At this closing price, Biome Australia has an estimated market capitalisation of approximately $24 million.

The post The Biome Australia (ASX: BIO) share price just flopped on IPO appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why the Hannans (ASX:HNR) share price shot 14% higher today
• Why is the Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH) share price frozen today?
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Is something big about to go down with Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) shares?
• How did the Aussie crypto miners ETF fare during its first month?

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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3o655JB