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The Tassal Group Ltd (ASX: TGR) share price is slipping today after a gas leak incident at the salmon producer’s Strathblane facility yesterday.

At the time of writing, the Tassal share price is trading 1.87% lower at $3.68.

Incident impacting the Tassal share price

Media reports indicate more than 20 people were hospitalised for medical assessment after a suspected gas leak at Tassal’s processing plant in the Huon Valley.

Tasmania Fire Services’ initial on-site assessment indicated the most likely cause was carbon monoxide from forklift operations inside the building.

Fire Services Acting District Officer Barry Bones said:

On arrival [the crews] found that people had evacuated the building and there were some people that presented there with some respiratory illness and some people that had been vomiting. A few people started to present with more illness and that’s a classic way this gas affects people.

ABC News reported six people were in a stable condition yesterday afternoon, suffering suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. Three people were held overnight at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

WorkSafe Tasmania is now investigating.  

Safety at Tassal

According to Tassal’s 2020 Sustainability Report, the company recorded 20 injuries requiring medical treatment in FY20. This was a reduction from FY19’s 31.

This was despite the company’s number of employees increasing by more than 100 to 1,458.

Tassal also reports its total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) has dropped each year since FY16. This metric measures the number of injuries requiring medical treatment per million hours worked.

In FY20, Tassal recorded 8.03 injuries per million hours worked.

The company is yet to provide a market update on the incident, despite the Tassal share price impact.

Tassal share price snapshot

It’s been a challenging 12 months for the salmon and prawn producer. The Tassal share price has underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by 33.3% over a trailing 12-month period.

Consequently, Tassal’s market capitalisation now stands at $781 million.

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It was only 6 weeks ago that Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was making a new all-time high. Yep, in mid-April, Bitcoin was comfortably above US$60,000 a coin and was exploring territory as high as US$63,000. How a difference of 6 weeks matters in the cryptocurrency world.

Today, Bitcoin is worth almost half of what it was on 15 April, going for US$34,408 at the time of writing. That’s close to a 44% slide in value for the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation.

It’s not just Bitcoin either. Just 2 weeks ago, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) was at its own all-time high, reaching as far as US$4,180 a coin on 11 May. Today, those same coins are worth US$2,294, a slide of 43%.

Litecoin (CRYPTO: LTC), a cryptocurrency that is designed to function as a Bitcoin alternative, has lost 55% since 9 May. We see a similar pricing move in the finance-based coin Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP). Ripple was sitting at US$1.70 per token on 18 May. Today, it’s at 89.8 US cents, a drop of almost 50%

And the famous Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) is currently trading for 29.7 US cents per coin after climbing as high as 72 cents earlier this month. That’s close to a 60% drop.

So all of these moves represent a massive outflow of capital from the cryptocurrency space. That’s what has to be behind a halving of the value of most cryptos in just a few weeks.

Bitcoin and Elon Musk: A complicated relationship

But the origins of this ‘crypto crash’ seem to stem from just one man. That man would be Elon Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle and battery manufacturer Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).

Musk was actually one of cryptos biggest cheerleaders over the past few months. His tweets on Bitcoin and Dogecoin in particular resulted in huge surges of interest in the cryptocurrency space. And it is widely acknowledged that Tesla’s announcement that it would accept Bitcoin as a payment method for its products back in March really lit the fuse for 2021’s crypto rally.

But the man who started the fire also has helped extinguish it. On 13 May, Musk announced that Tesla would be reversing its previous announcement and would no longer accept Bitcoin as a payment method.

Musk cited the often environmentally unfriendly methods that Bitcoin miners generate coins as his reason. Mining crypto coins typically uses large amounts of electricity. And a lot of this electricity is generated through the use of fossil fuels. At least that’s what Musk told his followers was behind his thinking.

Since it was around that date that most of the cryptocurrencies named above peaked, we can pretty safely say that it sparked the sell-off.

So what’s next for Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies? Well, who knows. Some commentators out there, including ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood, continue to make bull cases for owning Bitcoin and other cryptos But with an asset class this volatile, making predictions is a dangerous game.  

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The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) has had a volatile start to the trading week. At market open this morning, the ASX 200 went on to hit yet another record all-time high, surpassing 7,200 points for the first time ever and topping out at 7,203 points at around 10:30am. Since then the index has hit the brakes, sliding 0.14% at the time of writing and sitting at 7,169.4 points. But some of the ASX shares pushing up against the broader index’s falls are ASX gold miners.

Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) shares are up a healthy 3.76% today to 60 cents a share at the time of writing. That comes after Resolute was one of the worst ASX 200 performers last week.

But Resolute isn’t the only gold miner on fire today. Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU) is up 3% to $1.44 a share at the time of writing, while Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) are also performing well, up 2.84% and 2.66%, respectively.

So why are gold miners shining today?

It probably has to do with the price of gold, which seems to be going from strength to strength. The yellow metal is currently back above U$1,900 an ounce as we start the week. Three months ago, gold was priced at close to US$1,700 an ounce. So there has been a solid appreciation in gold price over this period, which might be what’s supporting gold miners today. Gold miners are usually leveraged to the price of gold itself. So even a small increase in gold can result in a significant boost in a mining company’s profitability.

Gold (and by extension gold miners) is regarded as something of a safe haven for investors. So after a couple of months of market gyration (particularly in the tech sector), it’s not hard to see why some investors are seeking out safety in their portfolios. The recent inflation numbers out of the US might also be a factor here. Gold is held up by many investors as an effective inflation hedge.

It could be a combination of these factors that are supporting the ASX gold miners like Resolute, Gold Road and Perseus today. 

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Its been a long, drawn-out recovery story for the Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR) share price. The company’s shares delivered a classic ‘V-shaped’ recovery after the brutal March 2020 selloff, but have not quite managed to break above their pre-COVID highs.

Just as things appeared to be settling somewhat, the company was hit with a significant EFTPOS terminal outage in early January that resulted in many of its small business customers being unable to process card payments.

In more bad news for investors today, the Tyro share price is slipping 2.04% to $3.83 after the company released its weekly COVID-19 trading update.

Tyro shares slip despite surge in transaction value

Tyro today advised that transaction values from May to 28 May (date-on-date) had increased 84% to $2.116 billion compared to $1.148 billion for the same period in FY20. Despite the significant face-value increase, it is worth noting that these figures are coming off a low, lockdown-induced base from last year.

Year-to-date transaction values, which were also heavily impacted by the pandemic in 2020, are currently up 24% compared to the prior corresponding period.

What about Victoria’s lockdown?

Victoria is currently enduring another week-long lockdown due to end at 11:59 pm on Thursday 3 June.

According to Tyro’s FY21 first-half results, health, hospitality and retail verticals represent 86% of its merchant count and process 91% of its total transaction value. More specifically, health, hospitality and retail account for a respective 11%, 43% and 37% of the company’s total transaction values.

From a transaction value perspective, 39% is derived from New South Wales, Queensland delivers 23%, Victoria 18% and Western Australia 11%. Less than 5% of Tyro’s transaction value is generated by South Australia, Tasmania, ACT and the Northern Territory.

Despite Victoria accounting for less than a fifth of its overall total transaction values, Tyro’s half-year results reported that the state’s “lockdowns significantly impacted performance”. However, it is worth noting that Victoria experienced a prolonged second lockdown between June through to late October last year.

The Tyro share price hardly flinched on Victoria’s lockdown announcement last week. As a matter of fact, its shares managed to finish the week 3.7% higher at $3.91.

Given Tyro’s transparent approach to reporting the impacts of the pandemic on its business, investors will be able to see the impact of Victoria’s lockdown in next week’s COVID-19 trading update.

Foolish takeaway

While the Tyro share price is sliding on Monday, for context, the broader tech sector is also having a lacklustre day. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech Index (ASX: XIJ) is trading 0.78% lower for the day so far.

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The Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) share price is falling despite the company appointing a lithium expert to lead its team in Germany. Shares in Vulcan Energy are swapping hands for $7.55 at the time of writing – 2.45% less than Friday’s closing price.

Vulcan Energy announced today it has appointed Dr Stephen Harrison – a lithium process expert ­– to the role of chief technical officer (CTO).

Vulcan Energy is aiming to be the world’s first zero-carbon lithium producer. It hopes to produce lithium for Europe’s fast-growing electric vehicle market.

Let’s take a look at today’s news from Vulcan Energy.

New CTO appointment

Vulcan Energy’s new CTO, Dr Harrison, has a background in electrochemistry and lithium extraction.

His experience fits well with Vulcan Energy’s aim to extract lithium from its German lithium brine resource in the Rhine Valley, the largest lithium resource in Europe.

Dr Harrison began working in the lithium industry in 1998. He holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a Master of Science from the University of Southampton.

Dr Harrison’s most recent role was as CEO of Rakehill Technology, where he consulted to the lithium industry.

Prior to that, he was Simbol Materials’ CTO. There, he developed a process to extract lithium from geothermal brine. Dr Harrison’s process is still the cheapest production method of lithium hydroxide available.

Commentary from management

Vulcan Energy’s managing director Dr. Francis Wedin commented on the company’s new appointment:

With Stephen joining us as CTO, we welcome one of the world’s leading experts in lithium extraction from geothermal brines, and a wealth of experience in the lithium industry, to lead our lithium team in Germany. We extend a warm welcome to Stephen and look forward to building our Zero Carbon Lithium Project together, at this critical juncture for truly sustainable battery raw materials supply into Europe.

Vulcan Energy share price snapshot

2021 has been a great year so far for the Vulcan Energy share price on the ASX.

Currently, the Vulcan Energy share price is up by 173% year to date. It’s also gained more than 2,000% since this time last year.

The lithium producer has a market capitalisation of around $814 million, with approximately 107 million shares outstanding.

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The DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS) share price is lifting today after the company announced an upgrade to its FY21 guidance. At the time of writing, the Dexus share price is trading 0.87% higher at $10.47.

Dexus is one of Australia’s leading real estate investment trusts (REIT) with a portfolio valued at $36.5 billion. Its diversified portfolio focuses on offices, followed by industrial, retail and healthcare properties.

What’s driving the Dexus share price today?

Dexus announced that its board has upgraded its distribution per security growth to approximately 3% for FY21.

Its previous guidance was to deliver an FY21 full year distribution consistent with FY20 (50.3 cents).

Dexus CEO Darren Steinberg welcomed the improved guidance, saying:

Today’s upgrade is a result of better-than-expected outcomes across the underlying property portfolio, as well as delayed settlements for asset sales and other initiatives across the business.

A mixed recovery for REITs

It’s been a mixed recovery for REITs since COVID-19 significantly impacted the sector last year, with certain portfolios performing better than others. The Dexus share price performance sits somewhere in the middle of the pack, not breaking above pre-COVID highs but not underperforming either.

More broadly speaking, industrial REITs including Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) and Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP) have been the quickest to recover to pre-COVID levels. This could possibly be driven by blue-chip customers and more in-demand properties in high growth sectors such as data centres and e-commerce.

Here’s how Goodman CEO Greg Goodman described the company’s portfolio:

We have concentrated our portfolio in high barrier to entry markets where land is scarce and use is intensifying. With a focus on long-term customer requirements, we are developing to meet demand in these consumer markets, providing essential real estate infrastructure for our customers

In contrast, office-centric REITs such as GPT Group Ltd (ASX: GPT), Centuria Office REIT (ASX: COF) and Dexus need another 20% to 30% to top pre-COVID highs. These REITs have been able to deliver positive year-to-date gains.

In the case of Dexus, its March quarter update advised a solid occupancy rate of 95.4% and 97.8% respectively for its office and industrial portfolios. This was underpinned by an increase in physical occupancy across CBD office locations and positive economic indicators.

Retail REITs including Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) and Scentre Group Ltd (ASX: SCG) have struggled to make headway this year. Commentary from Vicinity Centres March quarterly results could shed further light as to why these REITs are underperforming .

Vicinity CEO Grant Kelley said in response to the company’s results:

After a challenging 12 months, we are seeing signs of recovery, with improved centre visitation and retail sales during the quarter. Whilst overall retailer confidence remains fragile, retailers are increasingly committing to new leases versus previous quarters which is encouraging.

However, as the recent quarter has demonstrated, risks of further disruptions from snap lockdowns remain, while tourism and the timing of office workers returning to CBD offices is uncertain. We are focused on continuing to navigate the risks and uncertainties whilst managing the business for the long term.

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Some ASX growth shares could make interesting considerations in June 2021 as share prices change and businesses continue to grow.

Investors usually get just two, or perhaps four, insights into a business’ performance over a 12-month period. But some businesses are consistently growing in size throughout that period, even if investors don’t get monthly confirmation of that.

These are two ASX growth shares that could be good to look into for June 2021 and beyond:

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is a leader in the cloud accounting software space. The Xero share price has fallen by around 10% since 16 April 2021.

The business is one of the few ASX shares that could claim to be a global leader in their industry. It already has a strong market position in Australia and New Zealand with over 1.5 million subscribers between those two countries alone.

Its market share in the UK is quickly rising. In its FY21 result, UK subscribers grew by 17% to 720,000. Its online offering, which includes plenty of automation tools, is proving popular in that market.

Whilst it doesn’t have a huge amount of subscribers in other countries, it is still growing numbers and revenue rapidly. North America saw subscriber growth of 18%. The rest of the world saw subscriber growth of 40% to 175,000, with revenue growth of 32% in constant currency terms.

Xero has a very high gross profit margin of 86%. That means these new subscribers are pretty profitable for the business. The main reason its net profit isn’t shooting higher is that it’s investing heavily for long-term sustained growth.

The ASX growth share stated:

Xero will continue to focus on growing its global small business platform and maintain a preference for re-investing cash generated, subject to investment criteria and market conditions, to drive long-term shareholder value.

Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF)

At a share price of $8.74, the Australian Ethical share price has fallen 10% in just under a week, presenting a lower price for potential investors.

Its investment philosophy is focused around “leading edge” ethical frameworks. It has been doing this for over 30 years.

Before I get to some financial information about the company, investors may want to know that Australian Ethical donates 10% of its annual profit through its foundation to charitable organisation and social impact initiatives.

Managing superannuation money is a key part of the business, although it sees a “strong” growth opportunity in the investment space. It’s also looking to grow in the advised channel and high net worth (HNW) segment, whilst continuing to foster the direct channel, which is where 83% of netflows are coming from.

The business is expecting growth from investing in its business and operating leverage from achieving greater scale. Australian Ethical could benefit from the trend of increasing demand from people for greener products and services.

Since 31 March 2021, the fund manager has seen 5% FUM growth to $5.68 billion. That’s a 40% rise from 30 June 2020.

It’s expecting that underlying profit after tax before performance fees for FY21 will be between $8.8 million to $9.3 million. That would represent a mid-point increase of 29% compared to FY20.

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It’s a trend that’s taken the United States by storm. CBS News reports Americans who’ve had a COVID-19 jab can be eligible to get free beer, museum entries, and even Super Bowl tickets. Could freebies help encourage Australians to get involved in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout?

In a first for Australia, Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) might soon be offering travel vouchers and frequent flyer points to Australians vaccinated against COVID-19.

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly appears to agree with the airline’s move. He told a press conference last week that using discounts, merchandise or cash lotteries to motivate Australian’s to get a COVID-19 jab were all “potentially on the table”. He said:

I think we really do need to look for incentives, as many incentives as we can, for people to become vaccinated.

With 16% of Australians surveyed in April for The Essential Report saying they will never get the jab, could businesses offering freebies spur more confidence in COVID-19 vaccines?

Let’s take a look.

Qantas’ offerings

According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Qantas’ chief customer officer Stephanie Tully has said the airline is considering offering rewards to encourage more Australians to get vaccinated.

Qantas hasn’t yet confirmed if it will offer rewards for vaccinated Aussies, but Tully was quoted by the AFR as saying Australia’s vaccine rollout is “the key to keeping our domestic borders open and safely restarting international travel”.

“As a large company that relies on travel to put our people and planes back to work, we’re obviously motivated to help with the national vaccine effort,” she said.

According to the AFR, Qantas is considering offering frequent flyer points, flight vouchers, and other perks as a reward for travellers who have completed their course of COVID-19 jabs.

Normalcy as motivation

Right now, it seems the motivating factor for most Australians to get vaccinated is the chance to return to normality.

Talks of another lockdown in Victoria recently saw a record number of Australian residents getting vaccinated. Last Wednesday 111,388 jabs were given out.

Perhaps the chance to travel internationally – potentially as early as the end of this year – could spur more people to roll up their sleeves.

Previously, Qantas’ CEO Alan Joyce has said it’s possible the airline will only let vaccinated Australians fly internationally once borders open.

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) CEO Geoff Culbert also believes boosting the vaccine rollout is the best way to restart international travel. In March he said:

The faster we get the country vaccinated, the earlier we can talk about opening the border. It’s as simple as that.

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The Mandrake Resources Ltd (ASX: MAN) share price is one of the best performers on the ASX today. This comes after the company announced it will commence a new drilling programme.

During early afternoon trade, the mineral exploration and development company’s shares are up 23.68% to 23.5 cents, a record high.

Mandrake Resources accelerates drill targets

Investors are driving Mandrake shares into new territory after the company provided a pleasing update.

According to the release, Mandrake Resources advised it has received all the necessary permits and land access agreements to begin drilling operations at the Newleyine Prospect.

Located 30 kilometres east of Chalice Mining Ltd’s (ASX: CHN) Julimar discovery in Western Australia, the Newleyine Prospect is a rich PGE-Ni-Cu target. Mandrake controls 100% of a 140 square kilometre exploration licence prospective in the Jimperding Metamorphic Belt.

PGE-Ni-Cu stands for a number of different minerals. The first, platinum group elements (PGE) consist of palladium (Pd), iridium (Ir), osmium (Os), rhodium (Rh) and ruthenium (Ru). Next on the list is nickel (Ni), and then copper (Cu).

The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) approved the Programme of Work (PoW) application for the drilling campaign.

Mandrake Resources will target three electromagnetic (EM) conductor plates that were identified by a fixed-loop electromagnetic (FLEM) survey. The geophysical interpretation suggests the EM conductor plates could be the response of massive sulphide mineralisation.

The company will seek to run a drilling program targeting PGE-Ni-Cu mineralisation similar to the Julimar Project.

A drill contractor has been secured and is scheduled to start work on 14 June 2021.

In addition, Mandrake Resources noted that it has also completed a geological mapping, sampling and portable X-ray fluorescence program across the Jimperding Project. In particular, anomalies were identified by a recent heli-Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) survey.

The company said that it will release the results shortly.

Mandrake Resources share price snapshot

Established in 1986, Mandrake Resources is a mineral exploration company that is focused on the development of PGE-Ni-Cu and gold in Australia.

The company’s share price has jumped by more than 840% over the past year, and is 170% higher year-to-date.

Based on today’s price, Mandrake Resources commands a market capitalisation of roughly $85 million, with 363 million shares outstanding.

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The News Corporation (ASX: NWS) share price is falling lower during Monday’s session. At the time of writing, shares in the media giant are trading for $32.99 – down 2.4%. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently sitting 0.23% higher.

News Corp comes into focus as the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reports the company is in talks to launch a new bet making service in Australia.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s report.

Some investors aren’t betting

Investors are driving the News Corp share price lower after SMH reported the company is in talks with a consortium backed by BetMakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) major shareholder Matthew Tripp to launch FOX Bet in Australia. The betting division would be run by News Corp.

While Mr Tripp is tied to the proposal via the partnering consortium, according to SMH, BetMakers may also be involved by providing “the back-end systems” necessary for the FOX Bet launch in Australia.

Today’s news comes on the back of BetMakers’ $4 billion bid to acquire the wagering and media arm of Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH). According to today’s SMH report, if BetMakers’ bid for the Tabcorp division is successful, the former would takeover FOX Bet from News Corp after it is launched, and then run both betting companies as separate brands within the group.

When BetMakers announced its bid for Tabcorp, its share price sank. Judging by today’s News Corp share price falls, it looks like a similar story is playing out today. It seems many investors are not willing to take a punt on these latest moves in the gaming industry.

BetMakers, which is at this stage only speculatively involved in the rumours, is seeing its share price collapse today. The online bet maker’s shares are currently down a staggering 16.42% to $1.12. The Tabcorp share price is down a comparatively minor 0.68% to $5.135.

News Corp declined to comment when approached by SMH.

News Corp share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the News Corp share price has increased by around 84%. In the last 6 months alone, the company’s value has increased by around 37%. News Corp shares are only slightly off their all-time high of $34.33.

Given its current valuation, News Corp has a market capitalisation of $1.22 billion.

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• Here’s why the Betmakers (ASX:BET) share price just hit a 52-week high

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