eCargo Holdings Ltd (ASX: ECG) shareholders enjoyed gains exceeding 230 per cent on Monday as the company announced it had entered an agreement to acquire Jessica's Suitcase Pty Ltd.

eCargo, which is also listed in Hong Kong, provides e-commerce services, offering clients a range of outsourcing options including operation of online sales channels, warehousing, customer delivery and marketing expertise.

The China-based e-commerce company stated it will acquire a 45 per cent stake in Jessica's Suitcase for an additional 53.4 million CDIs in eCargo plus $5million.

Jessica's Suitcase was established by Jessica Rudd, daughter of former prime minister Kevin Rudd and a director of the Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (ASX: AAC), and targets Chinese consumers looking to buy Australian products.

The online retailer sells numerous well-known Australian brands such as Sukin skin care products, manufactured by BWX Ltd (ASX: BWX), various wine labels including Penfolds, owned by Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) and milk products from Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB), to list a few.

Once the deal is complete, Ms Rudd will be appointed as a director of eCargo Holdings.

The recent surge in the eCargo Holdings share price will come as a welcome reprieve for the company's shareholders who have watched the price of their stock sink over the past few years.

In late 2015 eCargo Holdings shares were trading for around 44 cents but had sunk to 8 cents by Friday last week.

And, despite the recent gains exceeding 233 per cent, the eCargo Holdings share price has only increased by 33 per cent over the past year.

In 2016 eCargo Holdings, with a market value of about $45 million, reported a gross profit of HK$62.2 million on revenues of HK$124.5 million.

Jessica's Suitcase's profit for the first five months of Financial Year 2018 came to $5,392, according to eCargo Holdings.

The post Why this share gained 200% in a day appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Merry Christmas, Foolish readers, I hope you enjoyed your holiday break.

The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) is certainly feeling the holiday cheer, rising 0.7% to 5,242 points. This is down 4.2% from where we started the year.

A number of companies considerably underperformed the index today, however, and here's why:

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) shares fell 7.5% to $0.49 after the value of crude oil lost another 3% over the weekend to trade at US$36.70 a barrel. While shareholders have been punished, the number of investors looking to speculate on a rebound in decade-low oil prices is growing, and Beach alongside several other companies like Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) can expect to draw its share of interest.

However, as I wrote in this article, investors must be cautious to compare the scale of the risk-reward trade off (ie, the size of the potential losses/gains) with the likelihood of making a gain. To my mind, a rebound is far from certain in the near term, meaning there is too much uncertainty for oil stocks to make an attractive speculative purchase right now.

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) shares lost 1.6% to $18.05 today, likely also as a result of falling oil prices since BHP owns a significant number of oil and gas assets. With both iron ore and oil now trading hands for under US$40 a barrel, it looks as though BHP shareholders can expect much lower profits and dividends in the current financial year.

While today's fall is modest, I consider there to be a fair chance that shares in BHP could fall further over the next 12 months. In particular, there is a big question mark over global demand for steel, which will have an impact on iron ore and coal markets.

Trustee for AMP Capital China Grwth Fund (ASX: AGF) – fell a hefty 18.5% to $1.18 today on no news, although its benchmark index fell 2.5% in the most recent day's trade. AMP's China Growth fund has been bedevilled by a share price that continuously trades substantially below its Net Asset Value – estimated to be around $1.72 per share as of December 22.

Investor perceptions of the risks associated with the Chinese stock market could be partly to blame, although management recently conducted a review into the undervaluation and investors will have to see if it makes a difference.

eCargo Holdings Ltd (ASX: ECG) shares lost 17% today to $0.36 after a bumpy few days following on from its announcement that it had won a contract with Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) to operate the latter's online store on Tmall, China's largest online marketplace. Shares in eCargo jumped from around 10 cents to as high as $0.44, before again losing some of their lustre today as buying enthusiasm fades. The contract announcement omitted key financial details, making it hard to evaluate just how much of a winner eCargo is likely to be from the arrangement.

The post Here's why these 4 shares crashed on the market today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.