Tag: Motley Fool

Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) shares have spent the past month bouncing around the $10 per share range. The Elders share price, currently trading at $10.18 per share, is down 0.59% over the last month.

Year to date, however, Elders shareholders have enjoyed a fantastic run. The company almost shrugged off the COVID-19 induced market selloff earlier this year, with the Elders share price only falling around 10% from 24 February through to 23 March. From the start of 2020 to the time of writing, the Elders share price is up nearly 58%. And no, this isn’t some upstart tech company.

Elders is part of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). By comparison the ASX 200 is down 10.6% so far in 2020.

What does Elders do?

Elders Ltd provides a range of services to customers working in the agricultural industry. These services include finance, banking and home loans, real estate, insurance and rural services.

Founded in 1839, Elders has grown to become the country’s largest listed agribusiness and provider of rural services. Elders shares have been listed on the ASX since 1981. After running into some trouble in 2008, the company has rebounded in recent years. It has a current market capitalisation of $1.6 billion.

Why could the Elders share price run higher from here?

As a company that caters to agricultural businesses, the Elders share price is linked to the fortunes of Australia’s farms. And according to the September 2020 Australian crop report — released earlier today by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) — the outlook for much of Australia’s agricultural output looks exceptionally strong.

The report notes that, “Favourable climatic conditions during spring are expected to support the ongoing development of winter crops and provide a good foundation for summer crops.”

Regarding the winter crops,  the report stated that “Winter crop production in Australia is forecast to increase by 64% in 2020–21 to 47.9 million tonnes, 20% above the 10-year average to 2019–20 of 40 million tonnes.”

As far as the major winter crops are concerned, the report forecasts wheat production will increase by 91% to 28.9 million tonnes. That’s 22% more than the 10-year average. Barley production is forecast to ramp up as well, up 23% from its 10-year average.

And the good news is forecast to continue for the summer crops. Though the area planted for summer crops is expected to be 11% below the 10-year average ABARES expects a 194% increase over last year.

With all this forecast year-on-year growth in Aussie agriculture, the Elders share price could be in for some more big gains in the months ahead.

More reading

• This ASX dividend share offers a 9% fully franked yield

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Elders Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Picking the top or the bottom of a share market has always been a dangerous game. Those who manage it (even once) are lauded as ‘share market gurus’ and are seemingly given license to predict future share market events forevermore. Yet, fuelled by our insatiable appetite for trying to predict the future, investors persist at these attempts. 

Still, there’s a difference between purely trying to call the top or bottom of a market and highlighting risk factors that one might see in today’s investing environment.

According to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR), that’s exactly what one leading fund manager is attempting to do. The AFR reports on Peter Morgan, a leading fund manager that managed to grow Perpetual from managing $70 million to $7 billion during the 1990s.

Mr Morgan does indeed see some danger signs across global markets right now, saying, “No one rings a bell at the top but I think we are getting closer to midnight in terms of where the US market is”.

Morgan says that the volatility seen in global markets during March and April was unlike anything he has seen and very different to the 1987 share market crash, the dot.com bubble in the early 2000s and the global financial crisis in 2008. He warns that, “a lot of the market seems to be trading on news and not fundamentals. Which is a dangerous sign”.

What does this mean for ASX investors?

The observation that shares are trading on ‘news and not fundamentals’ is a concerning one in my view. As legendary investor Benjamin Graham once said, “a stock market is a voting machine in the short term and a weighing machine in the long term”. In other words, it always comes back to fundamentals.

In terms of danger signs ahead for the ASX, Morgan has this to say: “The biggest concerns that I’ve got with regard to markets is you’ve still got a lot of stimulus to unwind, not only in Australia… I am still of the view that it’s still early days.”

Here’s what I think investors should take from this. Have a look at the companies in your portfolio and how their fundamentals are looking in 2020 so far. That’s revenue, expenses, earnings, and profits.

How have they performed? Is there a good chance that the company will be ‘back to normal’ next year or the year after? How will your companies respond to a wind down of government stimulus? These are all questions that I think need to be asked this year.

Morgan is right, in my view. There will come a time when the ‘clock strikes midnight’ and markets return to fundamentals. To quote Bruce Springsteen, “It’s just winners and losers and don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line”.

More reading

• Electro Optic (ASX:EOS) share price shoots higher on new product release
• Afterpay and Brainchip were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week
• Latest ASX stocks top brokers are urging you to buy today
• Why the Elders (ASX:ELD) share price could leap higher
• The biggest global stock winners from the lockdown revealed

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns have defined global share markets over the course of 2020. Apart from the nasty share market crash that March brought, 2020 has mostly been about a ‘decoupling game’ – finding the stock winners of this new paradigm as well as ditching the losers. It’s true that crises like the one we’re going through tend to accelerate change. Things had been moving towards cashless payments, online shopping and video streaming for years now. But 2020 has seen these trends become ever more pronounced. And investors are reacting accordingly.

So where to look for the stock winners of 2020? Well, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) has done some reporting on the biggest global winners and losers from the lockdowns, and it makes for some interesting reading.

Global stock winners from the lockdowns

In its report, the AFR names the following shares as winners from the global pandemic and associated lockdowns:

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
• Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX)
• Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP)
• Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)
• YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL)
• Pinterest Inc (NYSE: PINS)
• Dow Jones & Company, a subsidiary of News Corporation (ASX: NWS)

The AFR also names the shares that it views as being the biggest losers of the pandemic:

• HBO, a subsidiary of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)
• News Corporation and other media publishers
• Alphabet’s Google services
• Spotify Technology SA (NYSE: SPOT)
• Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR)
• Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)
• iHeartMedia Inc (NASDAQ: IHRT)

As is evident, this is a pretty mixed bag of winners and losers, sometimes overlapping. So what can ASX investors take form this? Well, I think one of the most striking themes is that a rising tide isn’t lifting all boats. Many social media companies are doing well in these tough times (e.g. Snap and Facebook), while others (Twitter), not so much.

The AFR reports that revenue from Alphabet’s YouTube division is growing revenues at a rate of 6% year on year, while revenue from its larger Google search division was down 10% over the same period.

We also see the fortunes of Netflix and Spotify diverging. Both offer subscription services for entertainment that you would think would be in high demand during a lockdown. Yet Netflix’s revenue is reportedly up 25% year on year, while Spotify saw a 21% drop in advertising revenue.

Foolish takeaway

I think these observations prove nicely that it takes more than a presence in a ‘growing industry’ to be a real winner in the Brave New World we are all living and investing in today.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Friday crash pulls ASX back below 6,000 points
• After the crash, is it time to buy this Nasdaq ETF?
• NASDAQ plunges 5%. What next?
• Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet led the stock market lower on Thursday
• Facebook threatens to block news on its platform

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and Facebook. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and Twitter and recommends the following options: short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The OptiComm Ltd (ASX: OPC) share price has been among the best performers on the Australian share market on Tuesday.

The telecommunications company’s shares jumped as much as 12% higher this morning to $5.73.

And although it has dropped back a touch in afternoon trade, the OptiComm share price is still up a solid 9% to $5.59 at the time of writing.

Why is the OptiComm share price surging higher?

Investors have been buying OptiComm’s shares today after superannuation fund First State Super made a last-minute takeover approach.

This has been a major blow to Uniti Group Ltd (ASX: UWL), which was just days away from potentially sealing its $532 million acquisition of Opticomm.

If that acquisition doesn’t complete, Uniti will be left both red-faced and with a lot of surplus cash. It recently completed a $270 million equity raising and executed a $150 million debt facility agreement with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) to fund the acquisition.

Unsurprisingly, this news has hit the Uniti share price hard and it is down over 8% in afternoon trade.

What offer has been made?

This morning OptiComm revealed that it has received a non-binding and conditional competing proposal from First State Super of $5.85 per share in cash.

This is a 12.5% premium to the all-cash consideration offered under the Uniti scheme of $5.20 per share. It is also a 16.77% premium to the implied value of the all-scrip consideration offered under the Uniti scheme.

Given the premium on offer, the OptiComm board believes it is appropriate to engage in further discussions with First State Super. Though, due to the conditionality of the offer, at this stage it does not currently consider it to be a superior proposal to the Uniti scheme.

Nevertheless, OptiComm has granted First State Super with limited due diligence access until 18 September. At which point, it has requested a binding proposal be made.

In light of this, Uniti has postponed its scheme meeting which was due to take place on Thursday and vote on the acquisition.

More reading

• Why Jumbo, St Barbara, Sydney Airport, & Uniti shares are dropping lower
• Why Magellan, Nufarm, Opticomm, & Scentre shares are storming higher
• Why G8 Education, Monash IVF, NIB, & Uniti shares are dropping lower
• Uniti share price drops lower despite quadrupling its FY 2020 sales

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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If you take a look at the past month’s chart of the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) you may see the resemblance to a shark’s jagged maw. That’s because volatility has ramped up, buffeting share prices on the ASX, and most global indices, with some big daily swings.

Last week, for example, the All Ords leapt 2.6% higher in Wednesday and Thursday’s trade. Then it gave all those gains back, and more, losing 3.1% on Friday.

This week got off to a positive start, with the All Ords gaining 0.3% yesterday.

The Clean TeQ Holdings Limited (ASX: CLQ) share price led the charge, finishing the day up a stellar 27%. The Melbourne-based metals recovery and industrial wastewater treatment company has enjoyed a great month. Clean TeQ’s share price, up 8.2% in intraday trading today, is up 71.1% since August 10.

The All Ords is marching higher today as well, up 1.0% in late morning trade, although it’s still down about 0.8% for the month.

With this kind of volatility back in the markets, it can be tempting to hunker down and wait for things to settle before investing in any more shares. But, depending on your circumstances, that’s probably a mistake.

Take a long-term view

Mark Haefele is the chief investment officer of global wealth management at Swiss multinational investment giant UBS. In a Friday note, he indicated last week’s share market selloff was to be expected. After the strong run higher, particularly in US shares, investors were taking some profits off the table.

But Haefele added (as quoted by Business Insider), “Stocks are still well-supported by a combination of Fed liquidity, attractive equity risk premiums, and an ongoing recovery as economies reopen from the lockdowns.”

Haefele, like us Fools, doesn’t recommend taking a short-term perspective on investing. He writes, “Rather than trying to time the market and potentially miss out on gains, we recommend an averaging-in approach by establishing a set schedule to commit capital to stocks within a 12-month timeframe.”

If you’re not familiar with it, he’s talking about dollar-cost averaging (DCA). This is a tried and true method to help reduce the impact of volatility in your share portfolio by investing a certain amount in your favourite shares each month (or period of your choice) over time, rather than investing the full sum all at once.

In a nutshell, it’s a system to help you grow your wealth over time without anxiously analysing the daily price swings of your shares.

Diversify your share holdings

Haefele also highlighted the importance of something you’ll find we stress here at Motley Fool as well. Namely the value of diversification, particularly during these days of COVID-19.

In his Friday note, he wrote:

The mega-cap IT complex has driven an outsize portion of the year-to-date gains in the US equity market. But while we don’t think tech is in a bubble, we do recommend that investors with excess exposure to the biggest US stocks consider rebalancing into areas accelerated by COVID-19, such as companies exposed to the 5G rollout, and sustainability-aligned companies set to profit from a ‘green recovery’…

COVID-19 has brought unprecedented uncertainty for investors, and further volatility cannot be ruled out. Diversification across asset classes and regions is the best way to manage the risks in one’s portfolio.

It’s worth reading that last sentence again. While there are many great shares on the ASX, simply diversifying across asset shares that are all listed on the ASX won’t provide you with the diversity you need to protect your portfolio.

As the Motley Fool’s Scott Phillips writes:

By investing part of your funds internationally you not only increase the opportunity to find the big winners of tomorrow, but you also reduce the risks that are specific to Australia. Risks that could seriously damage your portfolio.

Ignore the index

Prime Value portfolio manager Richard Ivers also sounds off on the benefits of taking a long-term view in share investing (as quoted by the Australian Financial Review):

If you look at the wealthiest people around Australia they’ve done it over a long period of time by compounding. So you fill up your portfolio with stocks that can do 10-15 per cent with relatively low risk…

We invest to generate an investment return, not to beat an index. So you just throw out the index. You don’t really care what’s the biggest weighted stock in the index. You’re worried about making money.

In case you’re wondering, Ivers’ Prime Value Emerging Opportunities Fund returned 18.1% after fees for the year ending June 30. That compares to a -5.7% return of the Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index.

And if you want to uncover the powers of compounding on share prices, you can find out more here.

More reading

• Clean TeQ share price jumps 8% on drilling news

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on form again on Tuesday and is storming higher in early afternoon trade. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 0.8% to 5,993.7 points.

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

The Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX: JIN) share price is down 3% to $13.51 despite there being no news out of the online lottery ticket seller. I suspect that this decline may be due to profit taking after some strong gains in recent weeks. For example, prior to today, the Jumbo share price was up 19% in the space of a month.

The St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price has dropped 2.5% to $3.31. Investors have been selling St Barbara and a number of other gold miners today after the gold price softened. Improving investor sentiment appears to have led to investors switching out of safe haven assets on Tuesday.  

The Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price has fallen 2.5% to $5.60. This morning the airport operator announced the completion of its $2 billion equity raising. Sydney Airport’s Chairman, Trevor Gerber, was pleased with the success of the equity raising and believes it leaves the company well-placed to ride out the storm. He commented: “We would like to thank our securityholders for their continued support. The funds raised will enhance our financial resilience in these challenging times and ensure that we are strongly positioned when the recovery emerges.”

The Uniti Group Ltd (ASX: UWL) share price is down 7% to $1.33. This morning the telco was dealt a major blow when superannuation fund First State Super made a last-minute takeover approach for Opticomm Ltd (ASX: OPC). Uniti looked to be close to sealing the $532 million acquisition of Opticomm and was scheduled to vote on the proposed acquisition on Thursday. That scheme meeting has now been postponed until further notice.

More reading

• Sydney Airport share price lower after completing $2 billion equity raising
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 2 stellar mid cap ASX shares to buy in September
• Why Afterpay, ASX, Mesoblast, & Sydney Airport shares are dropping lower
• New to investing? Here are 5 ASX dividend shares to buy now

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 recommends Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Jumbo Interactive Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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At lunch on Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another solid gain. The benchmark index is currently up 0.95% to 6,002.1 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

Big four bank shares push higher.

The big four banks have continued their rebound and are all trading higher on Tuesday. The best performer in the group is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price with a 0.75% gain. Investors appear to have shaken off a poor business survey out of National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) today. NAB’s monthly survey revealed a weakening in Australia business conditions in August.

Scentre’s rental collections improve.

The Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) share price is storming higher on Tuesday after announcing a further improvement in its rental collections. The Westfield shopping centre operator was able to collect a total of $183 million of gross rent in August. This represents 86% of its monthly gross rental billings. This means that its rental collections are now within sight of its pre-pandemic levels. In both January and February Scentre collected 94% or $200 million of gross rental billings.

CSL shares on the rise.

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is pushing higher today. This appears to be a delayed response to the biotherapeutics company’s COVID-19 vaccine announcement on Monday. CSL has signed an agreement with the Australian Government to supply 51 million doses of University of Queensland’s potential UQ-CSL V451 COVID-19 vaccine. It also signed an agreement with AstraZeneca for the expected manufacture of approximately 30 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine candidate AZD1222 for supply to Australia.

Best and worst ASX 200 shares.

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Tuesday has been the Nufarm Limited (ASX: NUF) share price with a gain of almost 7%. This morning Morgans upgraded Nufarm’s shares to an add rating with an improved price target of $4.85. The worst performer has been the Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) share price with a 3% decline. A number of gold miners have come under pressure today after the gold price softened.

More reading

• Air New Zealand share price flat on market update
• Here’s why I avoid these terrible ASX shares at all costs
• Why Magellan, Nufarm, Opticomm, & Scentre shares are storming higher
• Why the Scentre share price is pushing higher today
• ASX investors given a $1.7bn injection of COVID-19 hope

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 CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ) share price is at its opening trade level of $1.23 at the time of writing, after the company released a market update.

This compares to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which is 1.1% ahead to 6007.5 points.

What did Air New Zealand say?

Air New Zealand provided a monthly investor update this morning. The airline advised that passenger numbers had fallen for July to 714,000 from 1.4 million in the prior corresponding period. Furthermore, revenue passenger kilometres also fell to $499 million from $3,215 million. Both metrics represent a decline of 56.9% and 86.8%, respectively.

Passenger load factor has plunged by 26.7%. Air New Zealand’s aircraft are running at 57.2% capacity compared with 83.9% last July.

While short-haul flights have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s long-haul flights have been almost non-existent with passenger numbers slumping 95.5% to just 9,000 for the month.

What did management say?

Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran is wary about the pressure COVID-19 has impacted on the business. He said:

Physical distancing means we can only sell just under 50 per cent of seats on a turboprop aircraft and just 65 per cent on an A320 which also means we won’t be able to offer our lowest lead in fares until physical distancing measures are removed. This has put huge pressure on our business as it means we need to move some of our customers to other flights.

Outlook for 2021

Management did not provide any specific guidance earnings for 2021. However Air New Zealand is expected to make a loss as a result of travel restrictions.

The airline company remains focused on servicing domestic routes and chasing opportunities in the cargo space. Air New Zealand noted that its domestic business is highly encouraging and will look towards driving domestic tourism.

Air New Zealand will provide more context at its annual shareholders’ meeting on 29 September, which will include a discussion of the airline’s network focus, loyalty program enhancements, sustainability focus and digital priorities.

Should you invest?

In light of the trading update, I would stay away from Air New Zealand until we see a global recovery in international travel. I think there are safer opportunities in the ASX market that may have seen their share price beaten down, but don’t necessarily reflect its long-term growth prospects.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.95%: Big four banks rise, Scentre collections improve, Nufarm jumps
• Here’s why I avoid these terrible ASX shares at all costs
• ASX investors given a $1.7bn injection of COVID-19 hope
• A practical guide on how to invest in ASX shares
• Polynovo and one more ASX growth share to buy in 2021

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Avoiding underperforming ASX shares can help to provide market-beating returns. The reason is purely mathematical. If you lose 30% of your initial investment in an ASX share, just to break even you’ll need to earn a return of 50%. And it can cost you even more. If you lose 50% of your capital, you need to earn a return of 100% to break even!

Warren Buffett has some great rules for investing in stocks. The following 2 are some of my favourites and simply explain why you should avoid bad ASX shares at all costs:

1. Never lose money;
2. Don’t forget rule No. 1.

So with that in mind, here is one type of ASX share that I believe investors should avoid at all costs.

Junior explorers – boom or bust

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is made up of a lot of what I call ‘terrible shares’. And a lot of these terrible shares are junior explorers. Now, I don’t have an issue with savvy business folk trying to make it big, but as an investment, junior explorers are a bad idea in my opinion. For every Twiggy Forrest and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), there are thousands of stocks you’ve never heard of… And never will again.

Show me the money

My main issue with investing in junior explorers is that, in my view, they have terrible business fundamentals. The companies need to raise (your) capital to acquire tenements and to perform test drilling. All in the hope that the results are favourable. There is no product, no pricing power, no brand, no moat and certainly no operating cash flow.

Market mechanics

Given the size of most junior explorers, they can often be more thinly traded than their large cap counterparts. This can cause problems for investors that don’t utilise limit orders to buy these ASX shares. It also lends itself to people with a vested interest in the share price over-hyping the stock.

You work hard for your money

Most people’s money comes from their business or their job. Now I work really hard to earn an income and I bet you do too. Having a punt on junior explorers can be thrilling, and great for the office banter. But at the expense of your hard earned cash, it’s an expensive undertaking.

You should only be investing with cash that you don’t need in the next few years. Drill down even further (hilarious mining pun), and if you do want to try and become the next Gina or Clive, allocate an appropriately small portion of your stock portfolio to it. If it goes to zero, you only want a little! If it goes to the moon, you only need a little!

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.95%: Big four banks rise, Scentre collections improve, Nufarm jumps
• Air New Zealand share price flat on market update
• ASX investors given a $1.7bn injection of COVID-19 hope
• A practical guide on how to invest in ASX shares
• Polynovo and one more ASX growth share to buy in 2021

Motley Fool contributor Lloyd Prout has no position in any of the stocks mentioned and expresses his own opinions. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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In late morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has broken through the 6,000 points mark again and is on course to record a strong gain. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 0.8% to 5,991.8 points.

Four shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are storming higher:

The Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price is up 2.5% to $59.92. The catalyst for this appears to be a broker note out of Credit Suisse this morning. Its analysts have upgraded the fund manager’s shares to an outperform rating with an improved price target of $65.00. This follows the release of its latest funds under management update on Monday.

The Nufarm Limited (ASX: NUF) share price has jumped 5% to $4.05. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Morgans this morning. Its analysts have upgraded Nufarm’s shares to an add rating with an improved price target of $4.85. While it expects a soft FY 2020 result later this month, it appears optimistic that this could be the bottom of the cycle.

The Opticomm Ltd (ASX: OPC) share price has stormed 10% higher to $5.62. Investors have been buying the telco’s shares after it received another takeover approach. Superannuation fund First State Super is looking to snare Opticomm from the hands of Uniti Group Ltd (ASX: UWL), which was reasonably close to finalising a takeover. Uniti has postponed its scheme meeting until further notice.

The Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) share price is up 4% to $2.27 after releasing an update on its rental collections. The Westfield shopping centre operator revealed that it was able to collect a total of $183 million of gross rent in August. This represents 86% of monthly gross rental billings. This is another month on month improvement for Scentre. This compares to pre-pandemic collections of 94% or $200 million of gross rental billings.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.95%: Big four banks rise, Scentre collections improve, Nufarm jumps
• Magellan share price up after reporting increased FUM for August
• Why the Scentre share price is pushing higher today
• ASX 200 rises 0.3%, CSL reveals COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing deals
• Last chance to buy ASX REIT shares cheaply

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Why Magellan, Nufarm, Opticomm, & Scentre shares are storming higher appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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