Tag: Motley Fool

Yes, 2022 has been tough enough with all the turbulence and uncertainty. But unfortunately the picture is still pretty vague as we head into 2023.

How hard will the steep interest rate rises from the past six months hit Australian consumers going into Christmas? Will the unemployment queues lengthen? Will Australia sink into recession?

These are all still legitimate questions without clear answers.

Amid such chaos, Switzer Financial Group director Paul Rickard feels like the healthcare sector might be the most reliable to invest in.

It is considered a defensive sector, as people will still spend money on their health through tougher economic times. And the population is rapidly ageing in most developed nations.

But there is also a growth flavour in many ASX-listed healthcare stocks.

“Australia’s a little bit different because we have companies that are really focused on a global marketplace — most of their revenues actually come from outside Australia,” Rickard said on Switzer TV Investing.

“So the companies that represent the major part of our healthcare sector tend to command pretty high price-earnings multiples.”

So which are the specific ASX shares that Rickard would go for at the moment?

Four top health stocks to buy now

Rickard is a “huge fan” of biotech giant CSL Limited (ASX: CSL).

The CSL share price has so far disappointed in the post-COVID era, remaining flat for the year to date.

“It hasn’t really done a lot this year. [But] brokers like it.”

CSL shares closed Tuesday at $297.32 apiece.

Rickard pointed out that it currently has a broker consensus target of almost $325, and he suspects “at some stage” the stock will burst out to that.

The Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) share price has sunk more than 10.6% since mid-September when a takeover bid was taken off the table.

Rickard suspects this now presents a great entry point.

“It’s a hospital operator but it’s diversified,” he said.

“In the low $60s, it’s looking like a pretty attractive proposition to me.”

Ramsay shares closed at $63 each on Tuesday.

Resmed CDI (ASX: RMD) has served investors admirably over recent years.

“It’s been a hugely successful growth story… Up from a low of about five years ago, it was trading about $8 to [last year] over the $40 mark.”

The price has pulled back this year, with the stock closing Tuesday at $34.09.

Rickard can’t see any reason why the respiratory equipment maker can’t continue its growth narrative.

“I think, again, another really good stock for your portfolio.”

Pathology provider Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) was Rickard’s fourth pick.

It was a major beneficiary of COVID testing volumes in Australia, but now its growth fortunes lay offshore.   

“Although Sonic really dominates the pathology sector in Australia, it’s now a company where over 60% of its revenue is coming in from outside Australia,” said Rickard.

“It’s big in the United States, it’s big in Europe and they’re even more important markets than what’s going on in Australia.”

The share price has lost 31% year to date, closing Tuesday at $31.65.

“It’s come back a bit as a result of the reduction in PCR testing,” said Rickard.

“In the low $30s, it looks to have reasonable value.”

The post 4 ASX 200 shares to buy in an unmissable sector: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Will ASX 200 shares bottom before the year is out? Here’s Macquarie’s ‘best guess’
• To $300 and beyond! Why this top broker says CSL shares are a buy right now
• Are these the very best ASX 200 shares to buy for 2023?
• How much dividend income will $20,000 worth of CSL shares buy right now?
• Considering CSL shares? Broker says this other ASX 200 healthcare share has 30% upside

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has positions in CSL Ltd. and ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL Ltd. and ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ramsay Health Care Limited and Sonic Healthcare Limited. 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 ASX is known for its dividend shares. But as well as the more notable dividend stocks, there are other potential ideas that are currently flying under the radar.

Certainly, investors have likely heard of many of the biggest names like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), and Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS).

But a business doesn’t need to have a market capitalisation of over $40 billion to be an effective ASX dividend share.

Brokers have recently labelled these two relatively unknown names as buys. They could also pay large dividends in FY23.

GQG Partners Inc (ASX: GQG)

GQG is currently one of the largest fund managers on the ASX with a market capitalisation of $4.5 billion according to the ASX.

It offers a number of different investment funds for investors, such as US shares, dividend shares, and global shares.

One of the main differences with this fund manager is that a vast majority of its revenue comes from management fees, rather than performance fees. This means there’s more consistency in the company’s earnings.

Funds under management (FUM) play a large part in the company’s earnings generation. In the month of October 2022, GQG saw FUM rise from US$79.2 billion to US$83.8 billion. In the three months to September 2022, the business saw net inflows of US$0.8 billion.

GQG looks to pay out approximately 90% of its quarterly distributable earnings, making it attractive as an ASX dividend share.

The broker Ord Minnett currently rates it as a buy, with a price target of $2.20 – that’s 40% higher than where it is right now. The estimated FY23 dividend yield could be 5.4%.

EQT Holdings Ltd (ASX: EQT)

This business is more than 130 years old. It describes itself as a leading specialist trustee company, offering services like asset management, estate planning, philanthropic services, and responsible entity services for external fund managers.

FY22 saw ongoing growth for the business. Funds under management, administration, advice, and supervision (FUMAS) grew by 3.3% to $148.9 billion, revenue rose 10.4% to $111.5 million, and net profit after tax (NPAT) went up 12.5% to $24.2 million. The FY22 dividend also grew 6.6% to 97 cents per share.

It’s currently in the process of buying Australian Executor Trustees for a total cash consideration of $135 million. This will add $5.4 billion of FUMAS, boost overall revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by “more than a third”, and is expected to be “earnings accretive”.

The ASX dividend share is expecting to achieve synergies from a restructuring of its platform service business and additional investment revenue in relation to the trustee services business.

Ord Minnett also rates EQT as a buy, with a price target of $35. That implies a possible rise of more than 30%. EQT could pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.7% in FY23.

The post Broker reveals 2 of the best under-the-radar ASX dividend shares to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 obscure ASX All Ords shares going gangbusters today
• I think right now is the time to buy these 2 ASX dividend shares

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. 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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Ask a Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with fund managers so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In part three of this edition, we’re rejoined by Andrew Martin, principal of Alphinity Investment Management. The Alphinity Concentrated Australian Share Fund has delivered an annual return of 7.6% after fees over the past five years.

The Motley Fool: With higher interest rates crimping share price gains, ASX dividend shares are gaining more retail investor attention. Do dividends play a role in determining your investment decisions? 

Andrew Martin: We care about dividends in terms of what it means from a valuation perspective. We care about franking credits and take those into account.

But we ultimately see the dividend yield as an outcome rather than something that drives our investment decisions.

There are points of the cycle where dividends mean more. But in a period where interest rates are rising, it puts more pressure on dividend yield types of stocks on average because the alternative in cash looks more attractive relative to yields. And cash has less risk obviously. So suddenly, you have competing assets that you can go into rather than buying a stock and getting yield on that.

That’s not to say you can’t find good dividend stocks in this environment.

I mentioned banks, for example [in part two of our interview]. Banks are reasonably decent value, they’re getting upgrades, and the yields are looking pretty decent. Unlike potentially other yield type stocks, banks are actually benefiting from rising rates rather than getting hit by the rising rates.

MF: If interest rates do continue to ratchet higher, perhaps reaching 4% or more in 2023, do you think this could significantly impact the banks via rising bad debts and lower levels of new loans?

AM: Yes, that’s one thing we have to keep our eyes on.

But I would say the banks are entering any kind of potential downturn in probably as good a position as they ever have. They all got prepared for a massive recession in 2020 that never happened. So they still have excess provisions, they still have very strong capital positions, and credit quality is pristine.

That’s largely off what happened in the pandemic. Everyone got handed free money and got ahead on their repayments. And interest rates went to nothing, so people built up savings buffers.

That’s not to say the banks won’t have losses in a downturn. They absolutely will. But at this stage, it appears very manageable.

MF: Are there parts of the market you believe will outperform over the next 12 months?

AM: We think the whole market is probably due a large proper earnings downgrade, frankly. And if you’re getting earnings downgrades hitting the whole market, there are parts of the market that can hold their earnings, that are much more defensive. That’s the part of the market that’s likely to do well.

So, we’re talking about the Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) companies of the world. Those staple type companies.

MF: And are there areas you’re more likely to steer clear of?

AM: Yes, on the flip side, you probably want to avoid sectors that are particularly impacted by slow income growth.

When you think about it, all central banks are trying to do is engineer a slowdown. As economies are slowing you want to avoid companies that get hit by falling economic growth.

Therefore, avoiding companies like consumer discretionary types of business, like some cyclical things that benefit from economic growth, and then some companies that are exposed to China as well. You want to be watching that pretty closely. Of course, if China decides to change tack and stimulate massively and open up, then we may need to change our view on that.

MF: If the market closed tomorrow for five years, which ASX share would you want to be sure to hold in your portfolio?

AM: Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) is the bottom of the drawer stock. The last few months, it’s been hit by the market volatility, and it’s been a bit beaten up. And I think that volatility will probably continue for the next six months or so.

But over the next five years, the opportunity sitting in front of it is just so large. There’s the traditional infrastructure business they’re in, which is still pumping along.

Then there’s the whole green energy transition business they’ve been building for the last six or seven years. That’s really coming into its own. They’re world-leading in that area now, just as everyone is starting to focus on it. The global market in that space is growing at a huge rate. So the opportunity set is huge for them. It comes down to how they execute, frankly.

Over the next six months, as market volatility continues, they could jump around a bit. But the quality of the business, quality of the management, and the opportunity set in front of them is huge.

MF: What do see as the biggest threat for ASX investors in the year ahead? 

AM: We all know that there’s an economic downturn coming. The biggest risk is that will be bigger than the market expects.

I think the market is being a little complacent around earnings. We’re only at the tipping point of where earnings are starting to come off. Interest rates take up to 12 to 18 months to flow through to the real economy. We’re only six months in. So I think, as we head into next year, you’re going to start seeing the real earnings impact out of that.

That’s the biggest risk.

MF: And what’s the biggest opportunity for ASX investors? 

AM: The biggest opportunity is that things get cheaper. I’m not sure we’re all the way to the bottom yet. But a lot of the market is already negatively positioned. It lends itself to at some point if there is a change in direction – whether that’s from the Fed, or economies are holding up, or inflation is rolling over – it could well give you that bounce.

We may not be at the bottom, but we’re not at the top either. So I’d say, start to look out for some bargains around, particularly as we head into next year, as that real interest rate bites in terms of earnings and the economy.

That may be the opportunity to find some really interesting stocks at good prices.

***

If you missed part one of our interview with Andrew Martin, click here. For part two, click here.

(You can find out more about Alphinity’s Australian, Global, and Sustainable funds here.)

The post Why ASX shares in these sectors should outperform in 2023 while these are ones to avoid: fund manager appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 2 ASX shares perfect for the current climate: expert
• Why Telstra shares have 16% upside right now: fundie
• Looking to buy Macquarie shares? The bank is ‘positioned for an earnings recovery’: fundie
• Over half of millennials own shares. Here are 3 ASX share ideas to start your own portfolio
• Ballin’ on a budget: The best ASX shares to buy for under $5

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 positions in and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. 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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On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) found its legs again and charged higher. The benchmark index rose 0.6% to 7,181.3 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to rise again

The Australian share market looks set to push higher on Wednesday following a positive night on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 47 points or 0.65% higer this morning. In late trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones is up 1%, the S&P 500 is up 1%, and the Nasdaq is up 0.8%.

Oil prices rise

Energy shares Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) could have a good day after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 1.2% to US$81.04 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has risen 1.2% to US$88.46 a barrel. News that Saudi Arabia is sticking to its output cuts boosted prices.

Annual general meetings

Another group of ASX 200 shares are scheduled to hold their annual general meetings today and could provide the market with trading updates. Among the companies holding events are property company Abacus Property Group (ASX: ABP), wealth management platform provider Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL), and logistics solutions company WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC).

Gold price edges lower

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch after the gold price edged lower overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down a fraction to US$1,738.4 an ounce. Gold is on course to decline for five sessions in a row.

TechnologyOne shares downgraded

Although TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) delivered a strong full year result on Tuesday, analysts at Morgans have downgraded the enterprise software provider’s shares to a hold rating with an improved price target of $13.50. It commented: “We view this as another high quality result […] following an 18% share price run in the last 6 months we move to a Hold recommendation.”

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

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More reading

• Why is the Renascor Resources share price rocketing 46% this month?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Will ASX 200 shares bottom before the year is out? Here’s Macquarie’s ‘best guess’
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• What has this top broker got against South32 shares?

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 positions in and has recommended Netwealth and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Netwealth and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended TechnologyOne Limited. 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’re wanting to invest after 2022’s market weakness and aren’t sure which shares to buy, then ETFs could be a good option.

This is because ETFs allow you to buy a large number of shares through a single investment.

With that in mind, listed below are two high quality ETFs that could be good long-term options for investors. Here’s what you need to know about them:

BetaShares Global Energy Companies ETF (ASX: FUEL)

The first ETF for investors to look at is the BetaShares Global Energy Companies ETF.

This ETF provides investors with an easy way to gain exposure to the energy sector, which is benefiting from high oil prices. This is because this ETF allows investors to own a slice of some of the biggest energy companies in the world.

BetaShares points out that these companies are larger, more geographically diversified, and more vertically integrated than Australian-listed energy companies. Among the fund’s holdings are energy giants BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total.

iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV)

Another ETF for investors to consider buying is the iShares S&P 500 ETF.

This ETF aims to provide investors with the performance of Wall Street’s famous S&P 500 Index before fees and expenses.

The operator of the fund, BlackRock, believes the ETF can be used by Australian investors to diversify internationally and seek long-term growth opportunities for a portfolio.

Among the 500 companies included in the fund are some absolute giants. These include Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Facebook, JP Morgan, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and Tesla.

The post 2 high quality ETFs for ASX investors to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 excellent ETFs for ASX investors to buy next week
• 3 ETFs for ASX investors to buy right now
• Guess which was the best-performing ASX ETF in October
• 2 excellent ETFs to buy for portfolio diversification
• Why I think every investment portfolio should include at least one ASX ETF

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended iShares Trust – iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. 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 Renascor Resources Ltd (ASX: RNU) share price has been on a massive bull run this month and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Shares of the mineral explorer opened for 21.5 cents each on 1 November and closed for 31.5 cents apiece on Tuesday for a 46.5% gain. That includes a gain of 5% on Tuesday alone.

Renascor, which can be classified as an ASX energy share, is also beating the aggregate performance of its peers month to date by a substantial margin.

The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) opened at 11,214 on 1 November and edged higher to close at 11,591 this afternoon, recording a 3.4% increase. That’s nothing to complain about but also pales in comparison to the Renascor’s extreme performance over the same timeframe.

So why has Renascor been on such a hot value climb in November? Let’s take a look.

What happened?

Some important developments unfolded for Renascor this month and at the very end of October, which is just before its share price rally kicked off.

Most recently, Renascor managing director David Christensen gave a presentation at the International Mining and Resources Conference held in Sydney at the start of November.

There, Christensen gave an overview of Renascor’s plans to produce purified spherical graphite (PSG) from its projects located within South Australia and noted that its sites hold the largest verified reserves of graphite in the world.

Strong demand forecasts for lithium-ion batteries and PSG were also presented, with the major tailwind being the world’s transition to electric vehicles.

Renascor releases strong results via quarterly activities report

On 31 October, Renascor released its quarterly activities report. Some of the report’s highlights included the company securing approval to construct its battery anode material (BAM) manufacturing plant north of Adelaide. The initial production capacity of the site is expected to be 28,000 tonnes per annum of PSG.

Additionally, upgrades were given for its Siviour graphite deposit by Snowden Optiro mining consultants. The experts said the site contained 17% more indicated resources and 14% measured and indicated resources than previously estimated.

And finally, Renascor announced that its annual general meeting would be held on 30 November in Adelaide.

Renascor Resources share price snapshot

The Renascor share price is up 110% year to date. That’s a massive gain over the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which has lost 3.5% of its value over the same period.

The company’s market capitalisation is around $657 million.

The post Why is the Renascor Resources share price rocketing 46% this month? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Will ASX 200 shares bottom before the year is out? Here’s Macquarie’s ‘best guess’
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• What has this top broker got against South32 shares?
• Why are ASX 200 coal shares smoking hot on Tuesday?
• Guess which ASX 200 share is rocketing 13% on a ‘milestone year’

Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley 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 Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) recovered yesterday’s slump and then some today. It closed Tuesday’s session 0.59% higher at 7,181.3 points.

That’s despite major commodities, including oil, iron ore, and gold all having fallen overnight.

Interestingly, the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) led the way today, gaining 2.4%. The sector was mainly driven by coal shares amid the black rock’s rising value. Though, oil majors also lifted despite softer oil prices.

The Brent crude oil price fell 0.2% to US$87.45 a barrel overnight while the US Nymex crude oil price slumped 0.4% to trade at US$79.73 a barrel.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) came in next best despite the price of major commodities slipping. It lifted 1.1%.

Gold futures price dropped 0.8% overnight to US$1,739.60 an ounce and iron ore futures fell 1.5% to US$91.54 a tonne.

It wasn’t such a good day for the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ), however. It fell 0.3% on Tuesday.

All in all, eight of the ASX 200’s 11 sectors closed higher today. But which share outperformed all others to take out today’s top spot? Keep reading to find out.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Today’s top performing ASX 200 share was none other than Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK). The stock posted a 10.6% gain as the company revealed a 42% year-on-year jump in profits.

Today’s biggest gains were made by these shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK)	$2.81	10.63%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	$9.11	7.81%
New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC)	$5.77	7.25%
TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)	$12.98	5.1%
BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX:BSL)	$16.93	4.83%
Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX)	$7.45	4.49%
BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN)	$0.65	4%
Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN)	$1.995	3.91%
Sims Ltd (ASX: SGM)	$12.73	3.83%
IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)	$16.06	3.55%

Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Galan Lithium, New Hope, TechnologyOne, and Virgin Money UK shares are rising
• Why are ASX 200 coal shares smoking hot on Tuesday?
• Why is the Whitehaven share price soaring 8% on Tuesday?
• Guess which ASX 200 share is rocketing 13% on a ‘milestone year’
• Here’s how I’d invest $20,000 in ASX shares today to double my money

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 Scott Phillips.

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Investors love it when a director of an ASX company buys up shares in their own company. It can show skin in the game, integrity, confidence in a company’s future, and that ‘money-where-the-mouth-is’ factor too.

But equally, investors don’t normally like to see their directors selling out shares of the company they are running.

This is true for all of those same, but inverted, reasons. If you caught, for example, the CEO of Coca-Cola buying Pepsi shares, there would certainly be some questions to ask.

Thus, shareholders of Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB) might want to know that not one but two of their company’s directors have recently been offloading Brambles shares on the open market.

Yesterday, the logistics solutions company released an ASX announcement. This declared that Nessa O’Sullivan and Graham Chipchase have both sold shares recently. Chipchase is Brambles’ CEO, while O’Sullivan is the chief financial officer.

According to the ASX release, Chipchase disposed of 11,377 Brambles shares on 18 November. This was executed at a price between $11.37 and $11.43 per share. The CEO would have received close to $130,000 for this trade.

O’Sullivan disposed of 6,466 shares on that same day, executed at similar pricing points. These trades would have been worth around $74,000.

Brambles directors sell shares. What’s the deal?

Before you lose all confidence in Brambles due to the senior management team selling these shares, there are a few things to consider. Firstly, both Chipchase and O’Sullivan still own significant interests in Brambles.

Chipchase still holds 478,486 shares indirectly, as well as conditional performance share rights over 1.07 million shares.

O’Sullivan owns 9,000 shares directly, and another 262,362 shares indirectly. She has conditional performance rights over another 600,075 shares and conditional matched share prices over another 903 shares.

So it’s not like these two directors don’t still have significant skin in the game.

Additionally, we must also consider the nature of these sales. In the ASX release, Brambles declared that the reason for Chipchase’s sale was this :

Automatic sale under the Brambles Limited Performance Share Plan (PSP) of 11,377 ordinary shares held by Certane SPV Management Pty Ltd on behalf of Mr Chipchase to cover additional employer withholding tax liability arising upon the exercise on 19 October 2022 of 219,564 vested Conditional Performance Share Rights granted under the PSP.

There was an almost identical declaration for O’Sullivan. So this is not Chipchase or O’Sullivan taking their shares and running. This was an automated process designed to cover tax costs for both parties.

That sounds a lot less ominous than what an investor might first fear when they hear that management is selling out of Brambles shares.

The post 2 directors of this ASX 200 company have been selling down their shares in the past week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2024 $47.50 calls on Coca-Cola. 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 Scott Phillips.

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1) Even though investors know it’s impossible to predict when the market will bottom, it doesn’t stop us trying.

Nor does it stop the so-called professionals, including Goldman Sachs.

According to a Reuters report, the investment banking giant – famously described in 1999 by Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi as a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money” – warned the US equity bear market is not over yet.

This is despite the S&P 500 having rallied 10% off its recent lows, with the ASX 200 index up 11% since the beginning of October. Excerpt:

Goldman Sachs on Monday warned that the global equity bear market is not over as the markets are yet to see a trough in the momentum of global growth deterioration, a peak in interest rates and valuations lowered to reflect a likely recession.

“We continue to think that the near-term path for equity markets is likely to be volatile and down before reaching a final trough in 2023”, Goldman Sachs said in a note.

2) According to the Australian Financial Review, Morgan Stanley equity strategist Chris Nicol has set an ASX 200 index target at 7200 with a total return of 7 per cent. Excerpt: 

The range of outcomes is wide with a bullish forecast of 8100 or a 20 per cent return and a bearish forecast of 5900 or a negative 11 per cent return.

The firm is overweight energy, healthcare and diversified mining companies, and underweight banks, housing and consumer stocks.

“2023 looms as a year of peaking signals and stress. Australia lags in terms of tightening impact, with earnings and activity still to adjust. Index target [is] seen at 7200,” Mr Nicol says.

At the close of trade on Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished at 7181, almost bang on the target set by Morgan Stanley.

It seems Nicol is banking on the big dividends from the likes of BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO), and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) continuing into next year to get to his total return target of seven per cent.

3) A trading update today from discount apparel retailer Best & Less Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: BST) makes sombre reading for shareholders like myself. It also delivers pain to shareholders, with the Best & Less share price plunging over 13% lower to $2.35. Excerpt:

After reporting +38.0% total sales growth for the first eight weeks of FY23, sales growth has since moderated, reflecting the delayed start to summer weather and supply chain delays.

While unaudited year to date (YTD) earnings to the end of October are in line with the prior corresponding period (PCP), a significant increase in sales growth from current levels is required to maintain this result for the first half.

Last week, I named Best & Less as “one consumer discretionary stock I’m playing for the coming economic slowdown”. 

Today’s update suggests trading has fallen off a cliff in recent weeks. I’m hopeful it’s weather related, although subdued consumer confidence largely as a result of rising interest rates will no doubt have played a role. The big unknown is the competitive threat from the likes of Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) owned K-Mart, something that will be far more enduring than a bout of soggy weather.

Buying something because it’s cheap – Best & Less shares previously traded at less than nine times earnings and on a fully franked dividend yield of over 9.1% – offers some level of downside protection, but not enough to offset a poor trading update and the real possibility that profits will fall. 

It’s yet another reminder to myself that…

• Investing in the retail sector is incredibly tough, courtesy of the competitive and economic environment. 
• You are better to pay up for a quality company with a sustainable competitive advantage – one that can steadily compound earnings for years to come – than buying a mediocre company on the cheap, hoping it will re-rate before the inevitable profit warning.
• Investing is hard.

I’m holding onto my Best & Less shares for now. They are a small position in my diversified portfolio, and I hold out hope that trading will improve in the run-up to Christmas. I’m most certainly not adding to my position – even after today’s sell-off, the risks are to the downside for Best & Less shares.

4) Crypto investors are in a world of hurt, with the Bitcoin price down 72% over the past 12 months.

Writing on Livewire, Coolabah Capital’s Christopher Joyce says the crypto crash “bears the hallmarks of a standard non-bank financial crisis that inevitably arises every time there is a liquidity shock. Unfortunately, it is likely to get worse.” Excerpt:

Non-banks, including many crypto concerns such as exchanges and coins, have almost no regulation and/or scrutiny. And they tend to be murky private businesses, run by anonymous individuals, often located in dubious jurisdictions, that are protected from the reporting demands of public market enterprises.

Most of what we see today in the crypto universe will die. There will surely be some residual winners, and there are doubtless some impressive technological innovations that will sustain. But anything of serious value will likely be absorbed by the traditional banking system. The dominant digital currencies of the future will be those issued and guaranteed by nation states.

As an equities person, I’ve happily let the whole crypto craze pass me by, not tempted by the once seemingly easy money on offer in months and years gone past. I’ve had no problems losing money this past year without adding crypto to my list of things to worry about.

Still, I never like to see people losing money, especially those who trusted the now-bankrupt FTX exchange with their crypto assets. They are staring down the barrel of a near-total loss.

I’d warn against trying to bottom-fish the crypto space. The current lack of trust in the asset class combined with a potential liquidity crunch means future returns are highly unpredictable and incredibly risky. There are surely easier ways to make money. 

5) That said, Cathie Wood of Ark Investment Management is wading into the space, scooping up shares of struggling cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN), despite the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. 

According to Bloomberg…

Wood’s Ark Investment Management funds have bought more than 1.3 million shares of Coinbase since the start of November, worth about $56 million based on Monday’s trading price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The shopping spree, which started just as FTX’s demise began, has boosted Ark’s total holdings by roughly 19% to about 8.4 million shares. That equates to around 4.7% of Coinbase’s total outstanding shares.

The Coinbase share price has fallen almost 84% so far this year, outpacing the 64% fall in Cathie Wood’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF. It’s been a very tough year for growth investors, crypto and stocks alike.

The post Bear market not done yet says Goldman Sachs, while Morgan Stanley predicts dividends will be the driver of returns in 2023. appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Best & Less, Cettire, Life360, and Paradigm shares are sinking today
• Buffett buys up big amidst recession fears. One cheap ASX share I’m backing, plus why I’m dissatisfied despite a huge one-day windfall
• 3 impressive ASX dividend shares you’ve probably never heard of
• The bear market rally has seen the ASX 200 jump five percent higher in October. It could all be about to run out of steam

Motley Fool contributor Bruce Jackson has positions in Best&Less Group Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Coinbase Global, Inc. and Goldman Sachs. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. 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 Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) share price is soaring 40% today. However, earlier, the company’s share price exploded 70%.

ASX cannabis shares Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX: IHL) and Bod Australia Ltd (ASX: BOD) are also up 6% and 14% respectively today. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index is climbing 0.33%.

Let’s take a look at some recent announcements from this ASX cannabis share.

What’s happening?

Creso Pharma advised the market today that it is no longer under ASIC investigation.

In November 2021, ASIC served Creso a notice requiring it to produce documents in connection with an investigation. This year, in August, Creso received a further notice from ASIC.

Today, Creso said it has received a letter from ASIC confirming that the scope of the investigation “no longer includes any suspected contraventions by Creso Pharma” or any directors of the company.

Commenting on this news, Creso said:

The board of the company does not expect that any enforcement action will be taken against Creso Pharma, or any of its current officers or employees.

The company has provided, and continues to provide, assistance to ASIC, as required.

What else?

Yesterday, Creso advised it has signed a scheme implementation deed to acquire Health House International for $4.6 million.

This deal will provide Creso with “another revenue generating operating division”.

Meanwhile, on 18 November, Creso announced Mernova Medicinal has received its largest ever purchase orders from Saskatchewan. Mernova Medicinal is a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary of Creso Pharma.

Creso Pharma share price snapshot

The Creso Pharma share price has descended 72% in the past year. In the year to date, Creso shares have lost 66%.

For perspective, the ASX 200 healthcare index has descended 9% in the past year.

This ASX cannabis share has a market capitalisation of nearly $51 million based on the current share price.

The post Remember ASX cannabis shares? Well, this one is rocketing 50% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Core Lithium, Creso Pharma, Nickel Industries, and Perpetual shares are dropping
• Looking to buy ASX cannabis shares right now? You’ll want to watch this

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea 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 Scott Phillips.

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