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The Ioneer Ltd (ASX: INR) share price is in freefall today. At the time of writing, shares in the lithium miner are trading at 31.5 cents each – down 17.1%.

The company’s precarious position comes after the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said it would declare the Tiehm’s Buckwheat that inhabits the site of its proposed Nevada lithium mine as an endangered species.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news and why it might be worrying investors.

Ioneer share price tanks

In a blow to the Ioneer share price, the FWS says the proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine would have a “permanent and irreversible” effect on the desert flower.

In the last northern summer, 40% of Tiehm’s Buckwheat, which are only found in Nevada, had been destroyed. Conservationists blamed Ioneer and its mine, but Ioneer blamed local wildlife. The FSA found it was mostly local squirrel populations, but that the mine did and would have an exacerbating impact on the plant.

In a statement to the ASX this morning, Ioneer said it has done “significant work” to transport the plant to other parts of the state. FWS, however, says this plan would likely fail because Tiehm’s Buckwheat does best in the soil that is found on top of the proposed lithium site.

While a final designation is not due until September and will not block the mine automatically, investors seem to think it could be a significant hindrance – judging by this morning’s performance of the Ioneer share price.

Management commentary

In a statement to the ASX this morning, Ioneer managing director Bernard Rowe said the company supports and expected today’s decision by the FWS.

Mr Rowe also says Ioneer can assist in preserving Tiehm’s Buckwheat from the threats of drought and small mammals in the area. He added that the company believes the Rhyolite Ridge mine and the Tiehm’s Buckwheat can coexist.

As the price of lithium is up 91.4% since the beginning of the year, it is unsurprising the company is keen to see this mine proceed as planned, despite today’s news. However, the reaction of the Ioneer share price today suggests investors may be less optimistic about its prospects.

Ioneer share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Ioneer share price has increased by around 163%. Its value has been steadily appreciating as investors flock to lithium shares. Year to date, the company’s shares are up by around 13%.

Given its current valuation, Ioneer has a market capitalisation of $597 million.

The post Ioneer (ASX:INR) share price plummets 17% on new lithium mine hurdle appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) share price is on form again on Friday morning.

At the time of writing, the cannabis and psychedelics company’s shares are up 5.5% to 19.2 cents.

This means the Creso share price is now up a massive 35% in the space of just two days.

Why is the Creso share price racing higher?

Investors have been scrambling to buy Creso’s shares since the release of an announcement on Thursday.

That announcement revealed that the company is planning to expedite a Californian psychedelics market entry following the recent passing of Senate Bill 519.

Senate Bill 519, which remains subject to further regulatory approval from California’s lower house and the Governor of California, could make a wide range of psychedelic substances, including psilocybin, legal to use and possess for adults over the age of 21.

Creso is well-positioned to benefit from the regulatory shift through its soon-to-be acquired Halucenex Life Sciences business.

Halucenex specialises in psychedelic compounds and recently announced that had secured additional pharmaceutical grade psilocybin supply. This made it one of the largest holders of single batch GMP grade synthetic psilocybin in Canada.

Creso’s non-executive Chairman, Adam Blumenthal, commented: “This is a major development for Creso Pharma and Halucenex and provides a key strategy piece, which will underpin our expansion into the US market. Over the recent months, we have made a number of US focused appointments and Halucenex have secured multiple partnerships and agreements that will allow the Company to pursue the US psychedelics market and become a first mover in the sector.”

What else is supporting its shares?

Also giving the Creso share price a boost was the release of yet another announcement this morning.

Today’s announcement, its eighth in the space of a month, reveals that the company has extended its distribution agreement with Route 2 Pharm to allow for distribution of Creso’s products into Ecuador. This means the agreement now extends to 14 countries

Management commented: “Ecuador provides a large market opportunity for Creso Pharma as it recently passed legislation to approve the production, commercialisation, use and consumption of cannabis for medicinal or therapeutic treatment. The country has a population of over 15m and is part of the rapidly emerging medicinal cannabis market in the Latin American and Caribbean region, which has an estimated population of 655mii. Creso is confident that Ecuador will provide it with a strong foothold in the rapidly growing Latin American market, which is expected to grow to over US$300m in value by 2024.”

The post Why the Creso (ASX:CPH) share price is up 35% in two days appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Blue chip shares are leading companies that generally have strong business models, long track records, and products or services that dominate their respective markets.

It is because of these characteristics that they are considered to be quite stable and therefore lower risk options than the average share. For this reason, many investors will load up their portfolios with blue chip shares.

If you’re looking to do the same, then you might want to look at the two listed below. Here’s why they have been named as blue chips to buy:

Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

The first blue chip ASX share to consider is Aristocrat Leisure. It is one of the world’s leading gaming technology companies with a portfolio of world class poker machines and digital games.

It recently released its half year results, which revealed that Aristocrat has bounced back strongly from the pandemic. For the six months ended 31 March, the company reported a normalised net profit after tax (NPAT) of $362.2 million. This was an increase of 18.4% on the prior corresponding period.

Aristocrat’s profit growth was driven by strong performances from both its Gaming and Digital businesses. Positively, almost 80% of its revenue was derived from recurring sources during the period. This gives it a firm foundation to build on in the coming years.

This result went down well with analysts at Citi. In response, the broker retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $46.00.

Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS)

Another blue chip share to look at is Healius. It is one of Australia’s largest pathology and diagnostic imaging providers in Australia.

Like Aristocrat, Healius has been performing very strongly in FY 2021. During the first half, it reported a 16% increase in revenue to $953.5 million and a massive 190% jump in net profit to $75.6 million.

A key driver of this growth was its pathology business, which reported a 22% increase in revenue to $711.4 million and significantly wider margins. This was thanks largely to its role in testing for COVID-19.

Positively, this strong form has continued, with Healius recently reported solid growth during the third quarter. Once again, COVID-19 testing played a key role in this strong form.

One broker that is particularly bullish on Healius is Macquarie. This morning the broker retained its outperform rating and lifted its price target to $4.70.

The post Top brokers have named these ASX blue chip shares as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Noxopharm Ltd (ASX: NOX) share price is on course to end the week on a positive note.

In morning trade, the clinical-stage drug development company’s shares are up 3% to 72 cents.

This means the Noxopharm share price now up over 50% since the start of the year.

Why is the Noxopharm share price rising?

Investors have been buying Noxopharm shares following the release of an announcement this morning.

According to the release, headline data from the phase 3 VISION trial was released overnight. This trial looked at the effectiveness of Lu-PSMA-617 as a treatment for late-stage prostate cancer. Lu-PSMA-617 is owned by Novartis.

The release explains that Lu-PSMA-617 could become an important new treatment for late-stage prostate cancer on the basis of Phase 3 clinical trial data released overnight.

Why is this good news for Noxopharm?

This is potentially very good news for Noxopharm because its recent LuPIN trial data shows an even stronger survival outcome when Lu-PSMA-617 is combined with its own Veyonda product.

Noxopharm’s CEO and Managing Director, Dr Graham Kelly, said: “This result is positive news for Noxopharm for two reasons.”

“The first is that it confirms that Veyonda in combination with Lu-PSMA-617 provides a considerable survival advantage over Lu-PSMA-617 alone. The LuPIN mOS outcome of 19.7 months still remains the best survival outcome of any drug approved for use in men with endstage prostate cancer including enzalutamide, abiraterone, docetaxel, cabazitaxel, and now Lu-PSMA-617.”

“The second is that having Lu-PSMA-617 likely to come to market as a 3rd line therapy provides a clear development pathway now for Veyonda to come to market itself, with a distinct opportunity to make the Veyonda/Lu-PSMA-617 combination a new standard of care for endstage prostate cancer,” he concluded.

This sentiment was echoed by Noxopharm Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gisela Mautner.

Dr Mautner said: “Noxopharm welcomes this news because it has a major interest in seeing Lu-PSMA-617 come to market and become a standard of care for prostate cancer. The Company believes that the LuPIN study has demonstrated that Veyonda has the ability to enhance the efficacy of Lu-PSMA-617, with a greater survival benefit from the combination than Lu-PSMA-617 alone. This well-tolerated combination therapy should increase the attractiveness of radioligand therapy for men with late-stage prostate cancer even more.”

The post Why the Noxopharm (ASX:NOX) share price is charging higher again appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Some ASX shares have relatively small market capitalisations but they are capable of having quite high dividend yields.

The below businesses have yields that are higher than the market average:

360 Capital REIT (ASX: TOT)

360 Capital is a real estate investment trust (REIT) which invests in a wide range of property-related assets.

It has invested in a few different ASX shares in recent times. Peet Limited (ASX: PPC) is a residential developer that delivers master planned communities, medium density housing and apartments. Another investment was Irongate Group (ASX: IAP), which is a diversified real estate investor and it also has a third-party funds management platform.

360 Capital has also bought half of PMG Group, a New Zealand commercial real estate funds management business.

The forecast distribution guidance for FY21 is 6 cents per security, which translates to a forecast yield of 6.25%.

Pengana Capital Group Ltd (ASX: PCG)

Pengana is a fund manager that runs a number of different strategies including ASX shares, international shares and private equity. The company said that it’s looking to diversify over time by adding new strategies.

In the six months to December 2020, the ASX share said that funds under management (FUM) increased by 15% thanks to both investment performance and net inflows. All of its strategies outperformed their respective benchmarks for the period. The fund manager said that it’s growing FUM on higher margin products.

The Pengana Property Securities Fund was one of the latest products to be launched.

In the half-year result, Pengana grew its interim dividend by 25% to 5 cents per share. That brought the trailing annual payment to 9 cents per share, translating to a grossed-up dividend yield of 8%.

In the latest monthly FUM update, Pengana said its FUM had increased from $3.7 billion to $3.8 billion.

Pacific Current Group Ltd (ASX: PAC)

Pacific is an asset management ASX share that aims to partner with exceptional investment managers. It combines capital (offered through different economic structures) with strategic business development to help those investment managers grow.

Some of its investments include GQG, ROC, Carlisle, Proterra and Victory Park. Those were the ones that saw elevated inflows in the three months to 31 March 2021. It also acquired a stake in Astarte Capital Partners. In that same quarter, it experienced 8.9% organic FUM growth.

Over the last 12 months, Pacific Current has paid an annual dividend of $0.35 per share. That equates to a grossed-up dividend yield of 8.9%.

The post 3 small ASX shares with big dividend yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Reject Shop Ltd (ASX: TRS) share price has come under significant pressure today following the release of a trading update.

At the time of writing, the discount retailer’s shares are down 15% to $5.37.

What did Reject Shop announce?

Reject Shop began by reminding the market that in February it warned that its sales were being impacted in the second half due to the Brisbane, Perth and Victoria lockdowns, COVID-19 concerns in New South Wales, and changing State border restrictions.

It also noted that its stores in CBD locations and large shopping centres continued to be negatively impacted by reduced footfall and that it was facing ongoing challenges in the international supply chain. That latter was expected to result in increased costs during the second half.

What’s the latest?

Unfortunately, since that update, trading activity has continued to be challenging.

Management advised that its stores in CBD locations and large shopping centres, typically in metropolitan areas, continue to trade well below pre COVID-19 levels.

As a result, preliminary and unaudited comparable sales for the 48 weeks ended 30 May 2021 were down 1.4% compared to the comparable period in FY 2019. This comprises a 12% decline in comparable sales at CBD locations and large shopping centres and a 0.9% lift in the remainder of its portfolio.

In addition, the company continues to incur materially increased supply chain costs, particularly higher international shipping costs, as well as costs associated with holding inventory due to international shipping delays.

Guidance

Although the company is aiming to offset the above through a reduction in costs, it isn’t going to be enough to stop Reject Shop from reporting a second half loss.

As a result, management expects full year sales of between $776 million and $778 million and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $8 million to $10 million.

While the latter is higher than FY 2020’s EBIT, it is down markedly from its first half EBIT of $23.3 million.

The post Why the Reject Shop (ASX:TRS) share price is getting hammered appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price was out of form and dropped lower on Thursday following the release of its strategy update.

The conglomerate’s shares ended the day with a 2% decline to $55.11.

Why did the Wesfarmers share price drop?

Investors were selling Wesfarmers shares after it provided an update on current trading conditions at its strategy briefing.

That update revealed that Wesfarmers’ retail businesses have been cycling the impacts of COVID-19 in the prior year from mid-March. This has led to significant volatility in monthly sales growth results.

Wesfarmers also revealed that online sales growth has moderated and that its Catch business has experienced a decline in sales since March.

Is this a buying opportunity?

One leading broker that believes the weakness in the Wesfarmers share price is a buying opportunity is Goldman Sachs.

This morning its analysts retained their buy rating and $59.70 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the latest Wesfarmers share price, this implies potential upside of 8.5% over the next 12 months excluding dividends. If you include dividends, the potential total return stretches to almost 12%.

Goldman commented: “Wesfarmers hosted its strategy day today outlining the priorities for each division. From the group’s perspective, key priorities have been aligned towards developing a market leading data and digital ecosystem, investing in platforms and accelerating the pace of continuous improvement.”

“Most retail divisions have been trialing supply chain expansions with more details expected to be announced over the upcoming months. This is the clear theme coming out of the WES strategy day: digital investment and supply chain automation increasingly likely to soak up increased amount of management time and capital over the medium term.”

Goldman also notes that Wesfarmers has the balance sheet strength to make acquisitions.

It explained: “Management is looking to rightsize the balance sheet and hopes to do that in a tax effective way. However, a decision has not been made regarding the level or method to do so. The group continues to evaluate acquisition opportunities, although availability of capital has not increased the priority on this front.”

Overall, the broker remains positive on the future and continues to forecast robust profit growth in the years to come.

Goldman estimates earnings per share of $2.18, $2.25, and $2.44, respectively, between FY 2021 and FY 2023.

The post Is the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price in the buy zone after its update? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) share price is on fire in 2021. After years of slipping lower, shares in the Australian lithium miner are rebounding, and in a big way.

Orocobre’s market capitalisation has swelled to $2.4 billion after climbing 1.6% higher on Thursday. That means the Orocobre share price is now up more than 50% in 2021 alone and sitting 5% below its May 2021 record high.

What is driving the price hike?

Orocobre is a major lithium miner. In fact, it is one of the world’s largest lithium chemicals producers. As is usually the case with commodity-based shares, the underlying commodity price has a lot to do with the company’s valuation.

While there have been several lean years since 2018, things are looking up again. Lithium prices have skyrocketed in 2021 thanks to supply-side restrictions and surging demand. A big part of that demand has been driven by lithium-ion batteries and the electric vehicle space.

According to Trading Economics data, lithium prices are sitting at US$13,900 per tonne, up from US$6,800/t in November 2020. That’s been reflected in the Orocobre share price gains we’ve seen in 2021. Shares in the lithium miner have surged 182% since the start of November 2020 as prices have rallied.

A broader commodities boom has also helped lift ASX energy shares higher and fuelled the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) to a new record high. Concerns around global inflation and strong demand for basic materials has boosted the prices of key commodities including iron ore and oil in recent months.

The Orocobre share price has been a beneficiary of the surging lithium price with supply constraints and growing electric vehicle interest helping pull the ASX lithium share higher.

Foolish takeaway

The Orocobre share price has been on fire in 2021. Shares in the Aussie lithium miner continue to outperform its ASX 200 peers amid climbing commodities prices. That’s good news for investors who are riding the wave right now.

The post Why the Orocobre (ASX:ORE) share price continues to soar in 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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

A common critique of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is that it is outdated technology in the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency and it will eventually be replaced by something better. There are different versions of this theory, with some saying another decentralized cryptocurrency will overtake bitcoin as the best crypto money and others saying bitcoin will eventually be made obsolete by central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Let’s focus on the former theory. The Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) network’s underlying ETH cryptocurrency has the most support. During the initial coin offering (ICO) bubble of 2017, various crypto market commentators claimed that ETH overtaking BTC as the largest and most popular cryptocurrency is inevitable. Although this didn’t happen back then, the idea of a “flippening” taking place has gained traction once again, as the BTC-denominated price of ETH has nearly tripled so far this year.

The argument for ETH over BTC

The main argument for Ethereum over Bitcoin is that the latter of the two cryptocurrency networks is limited by a lack of technical functionality in the form of smart contracts. Smart contracts enable advanced crypto use cases such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi). Mark Cuban has pointed to these sorts of use cases as his reasoning for preferring ETH over BTC.

DeFi in particular has been the main source of attention for Ethereum over the past year or so, as various apps have enabled new ways of doing traditional financial activities like issuing assets, trading, borrowing, lending, and more. The argument is that ETH will overtake BTC as the most widely used cryptocurrency due to these additional applications.

The argument for BTC over ETH

A key argument against the idea that DeFi and other types of decentralized applications is that much of the activity on Ethereum today is likely unsustainable. Many of the Ethereum use cases that are popular today, such as stablecoins and the trading of those stablecoins against ETH, involve the reintroduction of third-party risk, which puts into question whether it makes sense to build these applications on a decentralized blockchain.

Bitcoin itself also has various solutions for implementing many of the use cases that have gained popularity on Ethereum. Sovryn is a relatively new DeFi application built on Bitcoin that combines many of Ethereum’s touted use cases into a single interface. It has long been argued that Bitcoin can adopt any new tech that is developed by its competitors, and Sovryn is an illustration of that point happening right in front of our eyes.

If Bitcoin is able to adopt the features of its competitors, then the real competition between cryptocurrencies has more to do with their monetary properties than anything else. And in that department, bitcoin is still by far the most liquid, stable form of crypto money with the most credible, unwavering monetary policy.

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

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

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 FYI Resources (ASX: FYI) share price is performing swimmingly. In 12 months, the company’s shares are up 1,300%. In the last 6 months, they’re more than 200% higher. And at the market close yesterday, the FYI Resources price was up 9.52% for the day, closing at 69 cents.

Decarbonising the global economy, it’s a thing.

According to its own company literature, FYI is positioning itself for high quality, high purity alumina (HPA) through low carbon and environmental footprint production.

FYI Resources says that there are two ways to apply HPA. There is the application in LED screens and other sapphire glass products, substrates, electronics and specialty abrasives. 

The second market — and longer-term driver for HPA — is the application in lithium-ion batteries for the burgeoning electric vehicle and static energy storage markets. HPA in these markets allows better functionality and safety of the battery cells, according to the company.

Decarbonising the global economy is a priority for governments in the United States and Europe, so it is little wonder that FYI Resources has caught the attention of Australian investors.  

Agreement with Alcoa 

Alcoa is a leading global aluminium producer. On 8 September 2020, FYI Resources entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Alcoa to explore the possible joint development of FYI’s HPA project. 

In a company release last month, FYI Resources managing director Rolland Hill said:

We believe there is a highly complementary fit between the corporate objectives, cultures and operational expertise of FYI and Alcoa.

Any commercial agreement would also seek to leverage the corporate capabilities of Alcoa, who are globally recognised as a leading producer of alumina, and FYI who have developed and demonstrated an innovative, fully integrated and environmentally conscious HPA refining process.

The future looks bright

With governments pushing to decarbonise the economy, a possible joint venture with Alcoa, and HPA becoming increasingly sought-after for its unique properties, FYI Resources seems well-positioned in the market.

And judging by the upward trend of the past 12 months, the FYI Resources share price appears to be gaining momentum.

The post Why FYI Resources (ASX:FYI) share price is roaring higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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