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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is slipping amid news the bank is closing its financial planning business.

CBA’s Commonwealth Financial Planning will stop providing services from the end of next month after an internal strategic review. The review followed the bank’s decision to expand its partnership with AIA Australia.

At the time of writing, the CBA share price is $105.06, 0.38% lower than its previous close.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fallen 0.1%. That’s despite it spending most of today higher than its previous close. Fortunately, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is still up 0.06%.

Meanwhile, the share prices of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), are all in the green on Tuesday. They’ve gained 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.4% respectively.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news from the ASX’s largest bank.

CBA share price slips amid business closure

The CBA share price is struggling today amid the bank’s decision to shut down its financial planning arm, transferring some of its duties to AIA Australia.

CBA’s partnership with AIA Australia includes an advice referral arrangement. The arrangement will kick in when CBA transfers part of its Commonwealth Financial Planning business to AIA’s subsidiary, AIA Financial Services.

The bank will continue to help Commonwealth Financial Planning customers with advice in progress with a view to completing and implementing the advice by 30 November.

Commonwealth Financial Planning’s customers seeking life insurance, superannuation, and wealth advice will be transferred to AIA’s soon-to-be-born AIA Financial Wellbeing service.

AIA Financial Wellbeing is expected to launch in the final quarter of this calendar year.

The closure of CBA’s financial planning business comes just months after the bank sold its general insurance division to Hollard Group in July.

The post CBA (ASX:CBA) share price struggles amid financial planning arm closure appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Own Afterpay (ASX:APT) shares? Here’s how the big banks are honing in on the BNPL sector
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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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Shares in clinical stage biotechnology company Immutep Ltd (ASX: IMM) are inching higher in afternoon trading, up 2.5% to 62 cents apiece.

Immutep’s share price has been on the move amid the release of its annual report today, in which several investment highlights are observed.

Here we dive in and analyse the key data points from Immutep’s annual report.

Lead drug candidate’s begin to gain steam

Immutep is characterised as a “leader in the development of LAG-3 immuno-therapeutic products for cancer and autoimmune disease”.

“Lymphocyte-activation gene 3”, or LAG-3 for short, plays a critical role in our immune system against the formation of tumours.

It was actually discovered by Immutep’s current Chief Scientific Officer, Frédéric Triebel, back in 1990, and is now gaining traction in oncology circles.

Immutep currently has 4 drug candidates based on the LAG-3 hypothesis, each with a different mechanism of action, per its annual report.

Its lead candidate, known in one form as IMP321, is in later stage clinical development for the treatment of cancer.

A second contender, IMP761, is currently in pre-clinical development for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, alongside 2 clinical programs with “major pharmaceutical partners”.

It was in the LAG-3 domain where Immutep saw most tailwinds in FY21.

Particularly as the company advanced several clinical trials – either Phase I, II or IIa – for IMP321 across the year.

For instance, it embarked on clinical trials with pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co Inc and Merck KGaA to investigate IMP321 as a combination therapy in various forms of cancer.

In one of these studies, the TACTI-002 Phase II trial, researchers are investigating the safety and efficacy of IMP321 in combination with Merck’s KEYTRUDA label, to treat some forms of lung and head & neck cancer.

Further takeouts from Immutep’s annual report

Aside from this, in June, the company also advised of its plans to commence a new Phase III clinical trial.

It will be evaluating IMP321 in combination with chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Phase III trials are generally one of the last stages of clinical testing that a drug must go through before being approved for commercialisation.

It involves a large sample population, across many jurisdictions, to obtain the most accurate data possible on dosages, adverse reactions and so on.

Judging from the readouts thus far, each trial has produced promising results, with Immutep’s drug candidates each holding up well from a safety and efficacy standpoint.

From its annual report, Immutep’s formulations are active in 10 clinical trials, that are dotted in various spots around the globe.

Alongside the trials, the company is also engaged with several licensing programs, with Novartis, GlaxoSmithkline, and Labratory Corporation of America Holdings for its LAG-3 products.

Investors seeking more on the company’s financial performance can refer to its FY21 annual earnings report, released back in August and found here.

Immutep share price snapshot

The Immutep share price has been an outsized performer this year to date, having posted a return of almost 50% since January 1.

Over the last 12 months it has also climbed over 138%, well ahead of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s return of around 21% in the same time.

The post Immutep (ASX:IMM) share price hikes amid clinical trial momentum in FY21 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the Novonix (ASX:NVX) share price rallied 32% in 3 weeks?
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Tuesday
• What should investors know about the Crown (ASX:CWN) share price after the royal commission?
• Starpharma (ASX:SPL) share price lifts on supply and distribution deal
• Why Mineral Resources, Paladin Energy, Regis, and Smartgroup are sinking

The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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 Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) share price continues to charge higher after its temporary downfall earlier in the month. This is despite a complete lack of price-sensitive announcements since 3 September 2021.

In afternoon trade, shares in the battery materials and technology company are swapping hands for $6.92, up 7.62%. The company’s shares are now less than 3% off their all-time high of $7.11, achieved last month.

To put today’s gain into context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 0.1% at the time of writing. The impressive move in the battery company’s value places it as the fourth-best performing share in the benchmark index today.

Prevailing green and electric tailwinds

Although there hasn’t been any company-specific news hitting the markets, there have been catalysts within the ‘green’ space. A culmination of positive indicators for the push towards more sustainable endeavours could be benefitting the Novonvix share price.

Firstly, the common battery material, lithium, has remained on its upwards trajectory in recent weeks. According to Mining Journal, the price for lithium hydroxide is approaching US$30,000 per tonne. Notably, this surpasses the previous record price of US$25,000 per tonne in 2018.

While Novonix doesn’t offer lithium, it does produce ‘PUREgraphite’. This is what the company labels as an environmentally friendly, lower-cost graphite anode for lithium-ion batteries. As demand increases for synthetic graphite anode material, Novonix plans to provide the supply.

Secondly, another recent development that embodies the evolution of the green transition involves the Australian government. Yesterday, the National Party agreed to a deal that will see the country aim for net-zero emissions by 2050.

Finally, the last potential catalyst for the Novonix share price involves the iconic electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA). Overnight, the company headed up by Elon Musk entered the trillion-dollar club. The milestone moment followed the rental car company, Hertz, making an order for 100,000 EVs to add to its rental fleet.

In response, numerous ASX-listed battery-focused resource companies have experienced a surge in price during today’s session.

Novonix share price is shooting the lights out

In the last 12 months, Novonix has made a lot of very happy and wealthy individuals. Remarkably, the Novonix share price has soared 473% during the last year, reaching a market capitalisation of $3.3 billion. This is despite the company pulling only $5.23 million in revenue during FY21.

While the rise in the company’s valuation has been nothing short of meteoric, some fund managers still fancy the value proposition.

The post Why has the Novonix (ASX:NVX) share price rallied 32% in 3 weeks? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Why Bapcor, Cochlear, Novonix, and Zip shares are rising
• Why did the Novonix (ASX:NVX) share price leap 6% on Thursday?
• Which ASX 300 shares are the biggest winners and losers on Thursday?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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) is having a fairly flat day of trading as it stands this Tuesday afternoon. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is sitting at 7,444 points, up a paltry 0.04% so far today.

That’s despite a strong opening this morning, which took the ASX 200 up to 7,471 points just after trading began. So rather than dwelling on what could have been, let’s instead check out the ASX 200 shares topping the trading volume charts so far today, according to investing.com.

3 most active ASX 200 shares by volume on Tuesday

Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)

Rail freight company Aurizon is our first ASX 200 share to check out today. Aurizon has, so far this Tuesday, seen a hefty 17.56 million of its shares trade hands.

There is no major news or announcements out of this company today. However, as we noted yesterday, Aurizon has shot to the top of the most traded shares pile this week, probably as a result of the $2.35 billion deal to acquire One Rail Australia that was announced last week. Today has seen the Aurizon share price lose 1.7% of its value so far today to trade at $3.46 at the time of writing.

Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD)

Sydney Airport is our second ASX 200 share today. A sizeable 17.75 million shares of this airport operator have been bought and sold so far. That’s also despite the absence of any news out of this company today.

However, the Sydney Airport share price has taken a hit today and is currently down by 1.57% to $8.17 a share. This drop is probably behind this elevated trading volume.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Our third and final ASX 200 share today is Pilbara Minerals. This ASX lithium producer has seen a whopping 22.63 million of its shares change owners thus far this Tuesday. This seems to be a consequence of the new joint venture the company announced this morning.

As my Fool colleague James covered earlier, Pilbara has signed an agreement with the Korean company POSCO to develop a conversion facility in South Korea. The Pilbara share price has responded very enthusiastically to this news, up 6.7% at the time of writing to $2.23. This news and share price move are almost certainly behind the large trading volumes we are seeing today.

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

More reading

• Why Crown, Dicker Data, Neometals, and Pilbara Minerals are surging higher
• Why is the ASX All Ordinaries lifting to a fresh 7-week high?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Crown and Pilbara Minerals surge higher
• Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price jumps 8% on POSCO joint venture news
• Why ASX lithium shares are surging higher on Tuesday

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 recommended Aurizon Holdings 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 Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) share price is surging higher today on news the comany will retain its casino licence following the Victorian royal commission into its suitability to run its Melbourne Casino.

However, commissioner Ray Finkelstein’s final report calls for a major change to the company’s share register. Additionally, the Victorian government has gone beyond the commission’s recommendations to impose strict regulations on the company’s casino licence.

It’s safe to say Crown isn’t out of the woods in Victoria yet.

At the time of writing, the Crown share price is $10.43, 7.97% higher than its previous close.

Here are the long-term changes Crown shareholders should know of in the wake of the 8-month royal commission.

Crown share price might face another fight in 2 years’ time

It appears Crown, and its share price, hasn’t been let off the hook.

The company is facing several reforms over the next 24 months to retain the leniency shown by commissioner Finkelstein. He recommended that Crown’s casino licence continue to hang in the balance as the company undergoes proposed changes.

Commissioner Finkelstein recommends a “special manager” be put in place at Crown. The manager will oversee the reforms and report back to the regulator. The regulator will then decide if Crown keeps its licence.

However, the Victorian government has gone “beyond the recommendations of the Royal Commission” this morning.

The state government announced it has initiated laws that will automatically cancel Crown’s casino licence if the regulator isn’t “clearly satisfied” Crown is suitable to operate Crown Melbourne. An announcement stated:

The onus will be on Crown to clearly demonstrate why its licence should not be cancelled by the regulator.

Stephen O’Bryan QC will be appointed as Crown’s special manager if the Casino and Gambling Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, introduced to the Victorian Parliament today, is passed. O’Bryan was Victoria’s first independent broad-based anti-corruption commissioner.

The bill is pushing to implement 9 of commissioner Finkelstein’s 33 recommendations.

It proposes to ban junkets and impose stronger regulatory obligations on casino operators. It also looks to establish the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission.

Further, it will increase the maximum penalty for disciplinary action under the Casino Control Act from $1 million to $100 million.

The Victorian government said it supports the remaining recommendations in principle. It will analyse and consult on them before further addressing them in legislation planned for next year. Safe to say, the Crown share price will be in focus then too.

Potential changes to Crown’s shareholding

Additionally, the company’s shareholding could undergo a drastic change if reforms proposed by the royal commission are put in place.

Commissioner Finkelstein has recommended the Casino Control Act be amended to stop any entity from owning more than 5% of a casino operator’s outstanding shares.

However, the report recommends the ownership limit shouldn’t apply to any entity that already holds more than 5% of a casino operator — with the exception of James Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings.

If implemented, the recommendation would mean Consolidated Press Holdings would need to sell most of its 37% holding in Crown.

Crown share price snapshot

It’s not just the Victorian royal commission that could have been weighing on the Crown share price lately.

The company is also battling to get control of its Sydney casino and is waiting for the findings of a Western Australia royal commission.

The company’s shares are currently trading for 5% more than they were at the start of 2021.

The post What should investors know about the Crown (ASX:CWN) share price after the royal commission? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Crown, Dicker Data, Neometals, and Pilbara Minerals are surging higher
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Crown and Pilbara Minerals surge higher
• Crown (ASX:CWN) share price surges 9% as Victorian casino licence pronounced safe
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Star Entertainment (ASX:SGR) share price surges despite police probe

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 Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX: SPL) share price is pushing higher today following an update from the biopharmaceutical company.

At the time of writing, the dendrimer products developer’s shares are up 3.70% to $1.12.

What did Starpharma announce?

According to its release, Starpharma announced it has signed an initial supply contract for Viraleze in Vietnam.

Viraleze is an antiviral nasal spray that has been shown in laboratory studies to inactivate a broad spectrum of respiratory/cold viruses. This includes multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), influenza, RSV, SARS, and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).

The first orders of around 100,000 units of Viraleze are expected to arrive in Vietnam sometime in early November. Launch preparations for the product are anticipated to commence shortly. A portion of these orders will also be donated to hospitals and other healthcare organisations across the country.

Vietnam with a population of about 97 million, is currently experiencing a significant Delta outbreak despite 20% of its population being fully vaccinated. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the COVID-19 has taken 21,000 lives in Vietnam so far.

Starpharma noted that registration for the product is well advanced in the south-east Asian country. Once completed, an ongoing distribution agreement is expected to follow involving much larger orders of Viraleze. These arrangements are exclusive for retail, pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals in Vietnam.

Starpharma CEO, Dr Jackie Fairley commented:

We are very pleased to be able to make Viraleze available to Vietnamese consumers and frontline workers next month, especially given the current Delta outbreak and vaccination rates in Vietnam. This supply contract is one of a number of international commercial arrangements for Viraleze being negotiated by Starpharma and we look forward to making further announcements about those soon.

Starpharma share price snapshot

At the start of 2021, Starpharma shares rocketed to an all-time high of $2.52 in mid-February. However, the sharp rise quickly came, and then its shares crashed down the following month.

Since then, the company’s shares have continued their downward trend, hitting a 52-week low of $1.04 just yesterday.

Starpharma is down by more than 20% in the past 12 months, and almost 30% lower in 2021.

The post Starpharma (ASX:SPL) share price lifts on supply and distribution deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Fletcher Building, Magellan, Sezzle, & Starpharma are racing higher
• Here’s why the Starpharma (ASX:SPL) share price is charging 4% higher today
• These were the best performing ASX biotech shares in September

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. owns shares of and has recommended Starpharma Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Starpharma Holdings 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has given back the majority of its intraday gains and is on course to record a very small gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up slightly to 7,443.4 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are sinking:

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN)

The Mineral Resources share price is down 7% to $39.85. This follows the release of a disappointing first quarter update from the mining and mining services company. As well as reporting a sharp decline in the price of its iron ore, the company produced and shipped less lithium than the previous quarter. Production from Mt Marion was down 13% and shipments were 54% lower. This was due to rainfall and shipment delays.

Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)

The Paladin Energy share price has fallen 5% to 91.7 cents. This appears to have been driven by a pullback in the uranium price. According to CommSec, the weekly uranium price is down US$4.00 or 9.7% to US$37.25 per pound.

Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL)

The Regis Resources share price has dropped 5% to $2.16. Investors have been selling this gold miner’s shares following the release of its first quarter update. Regis reported gold production of 101,989 ounces for the three months, down 11% from the previous quarter. This lower production led to Regis’ all-in sustaining cost (AISC) rising 9.7% to $1,521 per ounce.

Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX: SIQ)

The Smartgroup share price is down a further 3% to $8.08. Investors have been selling this fleet management and salary packaging company’s shares this week after takeover talks with the TPG Global and Potentia Capital consortium collapsed. After a period of due diligence, the consortium withdrew its $10.35 per share offer and then made a lower offer of $9.25 per share. This was swiftly rejected by the Smartgroup Board.

The post Why Mineral Resources, Paladin Energy, Regis, and Smartgroup are sinking appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) share price slumps 7% on quarterly update
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Crown and Pilbara Minerals surge higher
• Why ASX lithium shares are surging higher on Tuesday
• Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) share price drops on quarterly update
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares 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 owns shares of and has recommended SMARTGROUP DEF SET. 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 up just over 1% over the past 24 hours, currently trading for US$62,726 (AU$83,630).

That’s down 6.3% from the token’s all-time highs of US$66,930, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Those highs were set last week, on 20 October.

Crypto investor enthusiasm at the time looked to be spurred on by the launch of the first futures-based Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to trade on United States exchanges.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (NYSE: BITO) launch was highly successful. It saw a turnover of approximately US$1 billion on its first day of trading.

Yet, despite what would appear to be the growing popularity of the world’s biggest crypto, a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has raised concerns. It shows a potentially alarmingly few entities hold a huge portion of all the Bitcoin mined to date.

And the concentration among the token’s miners is even more striking.

A highly concentrated crypto market

NBER’s research indicates the “top 10,000 individual investors in Bitcoin control about one-third of the cryptocurrency in circulation”, Bloomberg reported.

That’s 10,000 investors controlling a token with a current market valuation of more than US$1.18 trillion.

Determining who holds precisely how much of the token and where is no easy task. Crypto exchanges, for example, often hold onto Bitcoin for investors.

However, according to NBER, 1,000 individual investors control at least 3 million of the 18.8 million Bitcoin in circulation.

Why “at least”?

According to researchers Igor Makarov and Antoinette Schoar (quoted by Bloomberg), “This measurement of concentration most likely is an understatement since we cannot rule out that some of the largest addresses are controlled by the same entity.”

Bitcoin mining’s systemic risk

The larger concern raised by NBER centres on the concentration of miners.

The researchers found 90% of Bitcoin’s mining capacity is controlled by just 10% of the world’s miners. Moving up the ladder to the biggest players, the top 50 or so miners, representing 0.1% of the total, are believed to control 50% of mining capacity.

Why should this concern Bitcoin investors?

Because the way the blockchain works leaves it vulnerable to what’s known as a majority, or 51%, attack. That’s where the majority manages to get control of a blockchain’s hashing power.

According to the NBER report:

Our results suggest that despite the significant attention that Bitcoin has received over the last few years, the Bitcoin ecosystem is still dominated by large and concentrated players, be it large miners, Bitcoin holders or exchanges.

This inherent concentration makes Bitcoin susceptible to systemic risk and also implies that the majority of the gains from further adoption are likely to fall disproportionately to a small set of participants.

That’s one more thing to keep in mind before investing your hard-earned money.

The post How this ‘systemic risk’ could take down Bitcoin: experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the DigitalX (ASX:DCC) share price rallied 57% in a month?
• This cryptocurrency is a 130-bagger just this year
• Here’s what’s next for the Bitcoin price: expert panel
• Why cryptocurrencies are moving wildly today
• Could the Ethereum price track Bitcoin to new record highs?

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin. 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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Yesterday I looked at three ASX shares brokers have given buy ratings to this week.

Unfortunately, not all shares are in favour with them right now. Three that have just been given sell ratings are listed below. Here’s why these brokers are bearish on these ASX shares:

Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)

According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have retained their sell rating and $28.00 price target on this banking giant’s shares ahead of its full year results. The broker believes that ANZ will deliver a result a touch short of the market’s expectations in FY 2021 due to lower markets income. In light of this, it sees no reason to change its rating at this point. The ANZ share price is trading at $28.46 this afternoon.

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)

A note out of Credit Suisse reveals that its analysts have retained their underperform rating but lifted their price target on this retail giant’s shares slightly to $31.40. The broker has downgraded its earnings estimates for Woolworths’ key Australian Food business to reflect its belief that labour and supply chain costs are rising quicker than product prices. The Woolworths share price is trading notably higher than this price target at $40.55 on Tuesday.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

Analysts at UBS have retained their sell rating and $5.40 price target on this buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares. UBS notes that the Reserve Bank is planning to remove the no surcharge rule from the BNPL market. This would allow merchants to charge consumers more to cover the costs of paying by the BNPL payment method. The broker sees this as an incremental negative for Zip. The Zip share price is fetching $6.86 this afternoon.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price up amid childcare partnership news
• 3 buy-rated ASX shares
• Why Core Lithium, Firefinch, Smartgroup, and Zip shares are falling
• Here’s why Morgans is tipping 21% upside for the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price

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 ZIPCOLTD FPO. 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 Podium Minerals Ltd (ASX: POD) share price is gaining ground on Tuesday, currently trading up around 5% higher at 31 cents each.

Podium Minerals’ shares are on the move as the company released a suite of price-sensitive updates to the market today.

Let’s get straight into analysing each one.

What was announced?

Podium released 4 price-sensitive announcements for the market to digest today. The first is in reference to a share purchase plan (SPP) the company is affording its shareholders.

Under the SPP, eligible shareholders are able to acquire up to $30,000 worth of Podium shares without paying any brokerage costs, commission or transaction fees.

The offer supports the company’s recently completed placement of $4.5 million to sophisticated investors at 29 cents per share.

Participants in the SPP will have the right to purchase Podium Minerals shares at 29 cents per share too, which represents a 6.5% discount to its current market price. It closes on 8 November.

The company hopes to raise up an additional $2 million via the SPP, which will be fed straight into its Parks Reef PGM project, in addition to beefing up working capital.

Regarding the Parks Reef project, Podium released another update concerning it as well today. The release notes that diamond drilling is set to commence at the site, to run tests greater than 500m below the surface.

An initial two 750m “deep diamond drill holes” will be dug to test the continuity of the mineralisation identified at the site.

Drilling will take around 4 to 6 weeks to complete, and will test the reef around 520m below the surface. Then, Podium intends to drill a third hole to “target the central sector”.

These depths Podium intends to drill to “is more than twice the depth of any previous drilling conducted at Parks Reef”.

It follows on from the recent drilling programs where Podium intersected high grade platinum and palladium zones, alongside traces of rhodium and iridium.

What else did Podium release?

Finally, Podium also released two investor presentations today. One of these covers the entire company and the full scope of its operations, capital structure, risks and goes into great detail on mining studies and drill results.

Whereas the other is a specific presentation to the “Canaccord Genuity South-West Connect ASX Showcase” scheduled on 27–28 October.

The latter appears to be a more consolidated version of the full presentation and contains several slides on the Parks Reef site and other strategic supply opportunities.

Investors appear to be piling in on the flurry of updates from the resource company’s camp today and have driven the Podium Minerals share price higher on a volume 90% of its 4-week average.

Podium Minerals share price snapshot

The Podium Minerals share price has gained 210% this year to date, however is down around 30% in the last month.

Yet, it has climbed 138.5% in the last 12 months, well ahead of the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s return of around 21% in the same time.

The post Here’s why the Podium (ASX:POD) share price is up 5% on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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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