The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has continued its weak form from last week so far this Monday. After a rough end to the trading week last Friday, the ASX 200 has again seen losses during the session, thanks in most part to jitters over the collapse of the SVB Financial Group in the US.

At the time of writing, the ASX 200 Index is down by another 0.36% at just under 7,120 points.

But let's not dwell too long on all of that. Time now to take a look at the stocks currently at the peak of the ASX 200's share trading volume charts, according to investing.com. 

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Monday

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)

First up this Monday is ASX 200 lithium share Liontown Resources. So far today, a notable 14.34 million Liontown shares have been exchanged on the markets. This doesn't seem to be a consequence of any news or announcements out of Liontown itself, seeing as there are none today.

So this high volume looks to be a consequence of the movements of the Liontown share price this Monday. Liontown has had a fairly wild day of trading. The company is currently down by a meaty 2.57% at $1.515 a share, but fell as low as $1.48 a share this morning.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Next up is another ASX 200 lithium stock in Pilbara Minerals. This Monday has seen a sizeable 27.64 million Pilbara shares change owners so far. This looks like another result of the market's volatility today. At present, Pilbara is down by 2.51% at $3.88 a share.

But again, we saw the Pilbara share price fall by far more this morning, with the company going as low as $3.755 a share. This bouncing around looks like it is to blame for the elevated trading volumes on display here.

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)

Yet another ASX 200 lithium share is our final and most traded stock at this point of Monday's session. In Sayona's case, investors have seen a hefty 36.05 million Sayona shares bought and sold as it currently stands. And yet again, it seems this volume comes down to share price volatility.

Sayona has had a rollercoaster of a day. The lithium company is currently down 1.3% at 22.7 cents a share but fell more than 5% this morning before recovering to the levels we see now. No wonder so many shares have been zipping around the markets.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the start of each week, I like to look at ASIC's short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn't quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) remains the most shorted ASX share despite its short interest easing to 11.8%. Revenue margin headwinds may be causing concerns.
• Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) has seen its short interest ease slightly to 11.2%. This may be due to competition and cash burn concerns.
• Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has 10.4% of its shares held short, which is down slightly week on week. Falling lithium prices have been weighing on the sector.
• Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 9.7%, which is down week on week. The sustained weakness in spot lithium prices appears to be spooking investors.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) has short interest of 9.3%, which is up week on week. This may be down to short sellers doubting Zip's ability to achieve its profitability goals.
• Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) has seen its short interest ease to 9%. Short sellers will have been pleased to see this network as a service provider's shares sink last week after the shock exit of its CEO.
• Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 8.5%, which is up week on week again. This appears to be due to major cost blow outs at the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project and lithium price weakness.
• Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) has returned to the top ten with short interest of 7.2%. Concerns about the sports betting company's cash burn could be behind this.
• JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) has arrived in the top ten with 7% of its shares held short. This may be due to fears over the impact of the cost of living crisis on consumer spending.
• Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) has also entered the top ten with short interest of 6.8%. There may be fears that the economic environment could delay major contracts for this data centre operator.

The post Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

ASX 200 lithium shares are being bludgeoned on Friday following news out of Shanghai that lithium prices have fallen to their lowest level since January 2022.

Here is a summary of today's share market activity:

• The Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) share price is down 7.2% to $11.56
• The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price is down 6.1% to $4.02
• The Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price is down 6.2% to $1.59
• The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) share price is down 6% today to 24 cents
• The IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price is down 6% to $12.98
• The Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) share price is down 5.3% to $84.30
• The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is down 4.5% to 96 cents.

What's behind the drop in ASX 200 lithium shares on Friday?

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reports the lithium carbonate equivalent price has fallen to US$49,757 per tonne, according to Shanghai Metals Market data.

Lithium carbonate has been on a sustained decline since November 2022. Back then, the commodity was trading above US$86,100 per tonne. It has since lost 42% of its value.

Lithium prices are directly influenced by global demand for electric vehicles (EVs). Analysts are blaming China's cessation of EV subsidies this year for the continuing slide in lithium prices.

Top broker Goldman Sachs has been bearish on lithium prices since mid-2022.

In its latest forecast released before today's fall in the carbonate price, Goldman said all types of lithium would dramatically fall in value over the next few years.

The broker thinks supply will start to outweigh demand, thereby putting downward pressure on spot prices from 2H FY23.

Here are Goldman's forecasted prices.

Carbonate (per tonne)

• Spot price today: US$49,757
• 2023: US$53,300
• 2024: US$11,000
• 2025: US$11,000

Hydroxide (per tonne)

• Spot price today: US$72,600
• 2023: US$58,650
• 2024: US$12,500
• 2025: US$12,500

Spodumene 6% (per tonne)

• Spot price today: US$5,080
• 2023: US$4,330
• 2024: US$800
• 2025: US$800

The post Why are ASX 200 lithium shares falling so hard today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The ASX 200 doesn't seem to have been held down by any Monday-itis today thus far, with the index currently boasting a pleasing gain of 0.69%, lifting the ASX 200 to just over 7,333 points.

Let's hope this optimism holds for the rest of the week. But let's now turn to the ASX 200 shares that are currently at the top of the share market's trading volume charts, according to investing.com. 

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Monday

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)

First up today we have ASX 200 lithium stock Liontown. This Monday has seen a decent 14.58 million Liontown shares trade hands as it currently stands. There's been no fresh news or announcements out of the company itself today.

But that hasn't stopped this ASX 200 share from rocketing by a pleasing 4.91% up to $1.71 a share. It's this gain that seems to be responsible for so many Liontown shares trading today.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Next up we have another ASX 200 lithium stock in industry-leader Pilbara Minerals. So far today, a hefty 17.25 million Pilbara shares have been bought and sold on the markets. There's been no new news out of Pilbara either. But this company's shares don't seem to have been invited to the party that Liontown is at.

Pilbara has gone the other way so far today, with its shares presently down by a meaningful 1.67% to $4.11 each, despite spending some time in the green this morning at up to $4.26 a share. It's probably this bouncing around that has prompted the high number of Pilbara shares flying across the ASX today.

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO)

Lastly this Monday, let's check out yet another ASX 200 lithium stock in Core Lithium. So far this session, a notable 20.24 million Core shares have been traded on the share market. In Core Lithium's case, we do have some news that the shares might be reacting to today.

This morning, the company announced that it has doubled its resource estimate at its flagship Finniss Lithium Project. The Core Lithium share price was up 11% at one point this Monday at $1.07 a share, but investors have since cooled their jets, with the company now up by 6.25% at $1.02 a share. No wonder this stock is topping our charts today with that kind of volatility.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn't quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has returned to the top of the chart after its short interest rose to 12%. Short sellers don't appear to be giving up on Flight Centre despite its return to form in FY 2023. Revenue margin headwinds may be a cause for concern.
• Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) has seen its short interest ease slightly to 11.6%. Competition and cash burn concerns could be weighing on this betting technology company's shares.
• Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has 10.7% of its shares held short, which is flat week on week. There are fears that lithium prices have now peaked and are about to decline materially.
• Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 10.1%, which is up week on week. As with Sayona Mining, continued weakness in spot lithium prices appear to have spooked investors.
• Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) has seen its short interest fall again to 9.3%. Short sellers have been targeting this network as a service provider after it reported softening operating trends with its results.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) has short interest of 9.1%, which is up strongly week on week. Short sellers appear to be doubting this buy now pay later provider's ability to achieve its profitability goals.
• Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 8.1%, which is up week on week. Concerns over material cost blow outs at the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project have been weighing on sentiment.
• City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX) has jumped into the top ten with short interest of 7.3%. This plus sized fashion retailer's abject performance and inventory management are likely to be behind this short interest.
• Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) has 6.9 % of its shares held short, which is flat week on week. Doubts over this lithium developer's technology and project funding are reasons why one short seller is targeting Lake.
• Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) has short interest of 6.8%, which is down slightly week on week. This also appears to be down to lithium prices being tipped to fall materially in the next 18 months.

The post Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended the week on a high, gaining 0.39% to close at 7,283.6 points. That sees it having recovered all but 0.29% of Monday's losses.

Helping it along on Friday was the S&P/ASX 200 Communications Index (ASX: XTJ). It rose 0.9%.

Bank stocks also had a good run into the weekend, with the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) lifting 0.5%.

Meanwhile, mining giants helped drive the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) 0.5% higher.

On the other hand, the S&P/ASX 200 Real Estate Index (ASX: XRE) was the worst performer, falling 0.3%.

So, with most of the market trading in the green on Friday, which ASX 200 share posted the biggest gains? Let's take a look.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Taking out the index's top spot today was the Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price.

It roared 13% higher to close at $1.63 on Friday. And that could be just the beginning if Bell Potter is to be believed. The broker recently tipped the lithium hopeful's stock to soar to $2.81, my Fool colleague James reports.

These shares made today's biggest gains:

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.

It's been a very positive day indeed for ASX shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this Friday. As we barrel towards the weekend, the ASX 200 has put on a healthy 0.42% at the time of writing, placing the index at just under 7,290 points. But that's nothing compared to the bonanza currently being enjoyed by the Liotnown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price. 

Liontown shares are on fire today, no other way to put it. This ASX 200 lithium stock closed at $1.44 a share yesterday and opened at $1.42 this morning. But as it presently stands, Liontown has rocketed by a whopping 12.15% up to $1.62 a share.

So what's going on with Liontown that might have elicited such a dramatic jump in valuation?

Well, it's not entirely clear, unfortunately. There hasn't been much in the way of news or announcements out of Liontown itself today. Or indeed, this month so far.

Looking at other ASX 200 lithium shares, we do see some gains. For example, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are up a decent 2.33% so far to $4.18 each. Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO )is up by 2.12% at 97 cents a share. And the Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) share price has risen by 1.94% to $12.34.

So some healthy moves, but none on Liontown's level.

What's with the Liontown share price spike then?

It's possible that Liontown shares' sharp rise can be explained by a recent broker recommendation on Liontown. As we covered just yesterday, ASX broker Bell Potter has come out with a speculative buy rating on Liontown shares.

The broker gives the Liontown share price a 12-month target of $2.81. If realised, this would result in an upside of more than 75% from where the shares are right now (after today's monster move higher).

That would obviously be a very alluring prospect for investors and could explain why we are seeing such a noticeable rush into the Liontown share rice this Friday.

Liontown has already had a great start to 2023. Over the year to date, the Liontown share price has now risen by a pleasing 30.9%:

Even so, the company remains down more than 26% from its most recent 52-week high of $2.22 a share. So no doubt investors will be encouraged by what they've seen today. But we'll have to wait and see if Liontown indeed does make it to $281 a share over the next 12 months.

The post Why is the Liontown share price roaring 12% higher today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What a way to start the weekend. But time now to dive a little deeper into these market moves by taking stock of the shares that are currently topping the ASX 200's share trading volume charts right now, according to investing.com. 

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Friday

Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS)

First up this Friday is the ASX 200 telco blue chip Telstra. So far today, a hefty 13.47 million Telstra shares have gone through the exchange. There's been no fresh news out of Telstra that might explain this volume. Saying that, the Telstra share price has been enjoying a lot of love this Friday.

At present, the telco is up a pleasing 1.36% to $4.10 a share after going as low as $4.03 this morning. It seems this gain is responsible for Telstra's presence here today.

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)

Next, we have ASX 200 lithium share Liontown to consider. Liontown has seen a sizeable 17.21 million of its shares dug up and sold so far this session. There's been no new news or developments out of Liontown itself either.

But that hasn't stopped this lithium stock's share price from rocketing by more than 10.4% today to $1.59 a share at this moment. This could have something to do with some recent love from an ASX broker, but this gain is almost certainly why we are seeing so many shares flying around here.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Our third, final and most traded ASX 200 share today is another lithium producer in Pilbara Minerals. This Friday has had a whopping 22.71 million Pilbara shares bought and sold on the markets thus far. There hasn't been any major news from Pilbara today. But even so, this leading lithium miner has enjoyed a notable 1.96% lift so far this session to $4.16 a share.

That's despite some significant volatility that we've seen today, which has seen this company fluctuate between $4.05 and $4.20 a share all day. All of this bouncing around, as well as the big gain we're currently seeing, is the most likely explanation as to why it's Pilbara topping the ASX 200's volume charts right now.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are charging higher:

Block Inc (ASX: SQ2)

The Block share price is up 3% to $114.37. This follows a solid session for the payments company's shares on the NYSE overnight. The company's US listed shares rose after investors piled back into tech stocks, driving the NASDAQ index 0.75% higher.

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)

The Liontown share price is up 10% to $1.59. This is despite there being no news out of the lithium developer today. However, as we covered here earlier, the team at Bell Potter sees a lot of value in its shares at the current level. So much so, prior to today, it was predicting 100% upside for its shares over the next 12 months.

MMA Offshore Ltd (ASX: MRM)

The MMA share price is up 8% to $1.22. This morning, this marine and subsea services company revealed that it has been awarded three contracts supporting offshore windfarm developments in Taiwan during 2023. The three contracts will increase the company's contracted revenue by a total of approximately $30 million and provide for additional potential revenue of approximately $15 million.

Norwest Energy NL (ASX: NWE)

The Norwest Energy share price is up 8% to 6.9 cents. Investors have been buying the energy explorer's shares after Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) made an improved and final takeover offer. It has offered one fully paid ordinary MinRes share for every 1,300 Norwest shares held. This equates to 7 cents per share based on the current Mineral Resources share price.

The post Why Block, Liontown, MMA, and Norwest Energy shares are charging higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares have gained 4% so far this week.

Shares in the ASX lithium stock are currently trading for $1.40 apiece, which gives it a market cap of $3.1 billion. 

But Stuart Howe, an analyst at Bell Potter, believes Liontown shares could have much further to run.

The broker has a speculative buy rating on the stock, with a price target of $2.81 per share.

That's 101% above the current Liontown share price.

What's happening with the ASX lithium stock?

Liontown is currently developing its Kathleen Valley Lithium Project, located in Western Australia.

Lithium mineralisation at the project is hosted within spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes.

The miner expects first production at the project in mid-2024 with a capacity between three to four million tonnes per year.

In the company's quarterly results, released 31 January, Liontown did note that it was facing industry-wide cost escalations. However, its balance sheet was strong, with a cash balance of $384 million as at 31 December and an undrawn $300 million debt facility with Ford Motor Company.

Liontown shares closed down 5.7% on the day it reported.

Commenting on the company's progress towards production, managing director Tony Ottaviano said:

The December quarter marked a significant period of progress for Liontown with construction activity stepping up on-site at Kathleen Valley, key contracts awarded and new personnel joining us as we continued to build our high calibre team.

Ottaviano added, "The rapid and efficient achievement of so many early critical path construction milestones set us up for the successful delivery of the project."

While first production is still likely more than a year away, Liontown shares could benefit in the meantime from an alternate source of revenue. The company is progressing with a Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) opportunity. This will enable it to sell material that wasn't originally expected to be processed.

How have Liontown shares been performing?

As you can see on the chart below, Liontown shares are down 7% over the past 12 months.

Longer-term, the ASX lithium stock has gained a whopping 3,400% over five years.

The post Buy Liontown shares for 100% upside: broker appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

That's because analysts at Morgans have named these lithium shares as buys this week.

What is the broker saying about ASX 200 lithium shares?

The good news is that Morgans believes that lithium prices will remain higher for longer due to tight supply conditions.

It expects this to be driven by a post-holiday recovery in the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) market and lithium project delays. It explained:

Spot prices have softened but remain above contract prices. The Chinese EV market, still the world's largest, has slowed recently for the Spring Festival but we expect activity to increase in the near future. Meanwhile, lithium projects are taking longer to complete leaving the market tight. Decreasing lithium production but increasing demand reflected in analyst consensus of key Chinese companies points to tightness continuing.

In light of this, the broker believes that Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE), Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN), and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are buys, with fellow ASX 200 lithium share Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) a higher risk speculative buy.

Its ratings are as follows:

• Add rating and $15.20 price target on Allkem's shares.
• Add rating and $102.00 price target on Mineral Resources' shares.
• Add rating and $5.30 price target on Pilbara Minerals' shares.
• Speculative buy rating and $1.96 price target on Liontown's shares.

Commenting on its ratings, the broker said:

We continue to prefer AKE amongst the lithium pure plays as we see a longer growth runway for production and greater potential valuation upside. PLS is generating strong cash flows and holds opportunities for more tactical trades given speculation about potential uses of the growing cash balance.

MIN has been more resilient than peers and offers more diversified commodity exposures. The potential upside is less than other lithium large caps but it has also shown less volatility and stronger potential dividend yield. We retain our ADD rating. We initiate coverage of LTR (SPECULATIVE BUY) and CXO (HOLD). Both are near-term developers of Australian spodumene deposits. We see upside for LTR if it can resolve its funding issues and avoid further significant cost increases.

The post 4 ASX 200 lithium shares to buy now: broker appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the lithium developer's shares are up over 2% to $1.35.

Why are Liontown shares rising?

Investors appear to have been buying Liontown shares on Tuesday in response to the release of a broker note out of Morgans.

According to the note, the broker has initiated coverage on the lithium developer with a speculative buy rating and $1.96 price target.

Based on its current share price, this implies potential upside of 45% for investors over the next 12 months.

Though, given its speculative rating, it is a high-risk option and thus only suitable for investors with a higher tolerance for risk.

What did the broker say?

Morgans notes that the company is a near-term developer of Australian spodumene and believes there's significant potential upside for Liontown shares if it can resolve its funding issues and avoid further significant cost blowouts. It commented:

LTR is an early stage developer with spodumene assets in central and southern WA. It is currently constructing the Katherine Valley (KV) project. Planned capacity is 3Mtpa – 4Mtpa (ROM tonnes) with first production expected in mid 2024. The KV project is supported by offtake agreements with several tier one customers.

The company and its flagship project have been impacted by cost increases however and additional funding will be required to complete it. We initiate with a SPECULATIVE BUY rating with potential 12-month upside of 44% to our $1.96 price target. However, we see LTR as a higher risk opportunity than its established peers.

The broker's preferred pick in the industry remains Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE). It has an add rating and $15.40 price target on the lithium giant's shares. It stated:

We continue to prefer AKE amongst the lithium pure plays as we see a longer growth runway for production and greater potential valuation upside.

The post Roar! Broker initiates coverage on Liontown shares with buy rating appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn't quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) has become the most shorted share on the Australian share market despite its short interest easing slightly to 11.8%. This high level of short interest appears to have been driven by competition and cash burn concerns.
• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) saw its short interest fall meaningfully to 11.4%. With its shares up strongly this year, some short sellers appear to have been closing positions in a hurry.
• Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has 10.7% of its shares held short, which is up week on week. This seems to have been driven by fears that lithium prices have now peaked.
• Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 9.9%, which is flat week on week. Continued weakness in spot lithium prices appears to have spooked investors.
• Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) has seen its short interest fall to 9.4%. This network as a service provider appears to have been targeted after reporting softening operating trends with its results.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) has short interest of 7.7%, which is up week on week again. This buy now pay later provider's shares took a tumble last week following the release of its half-year results. Short sellers appear to believe it will struggle to achieve its profitability goals.
• Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 7.7%, which is down week on week. Major cost blow outs at the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project have been weighing on sentiment.
• Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) has 7.1% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. This appears to be due to competition and cash burn concerns.
• Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) has 6.9 % of its shares held short, which is down sharply week on week. Lake Resources has come under-fire due to doubts over its technology and project funding.
• Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) is the fifth lithium share in the top ten with short interest of 6.9%. With lithium prices tipped to fall materially over the next 18 months, there may be concerns that this Germany-based developer could miss out on the sky high prices.

The post Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) traded in the red on Tuesday, falling 0.21% to close at 7,336.3 points.

Its dip came amid a particularly busy earnings season session, with more than a dozen market giants posting results.

Among them were BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), and Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH).

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes of its February meeting, stating it didn't even consider not hiking rates earlier this month. Instead, the central bank debated between a 0.25% rise and a 0.5% rise.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) was today's top-performing sector, rising 0.6% despite the BHP share price sliding on the mining giant's first-half earnings.

Though, many of the company's iron ore-focused peers posted strong gains amid one top broker's positive outlook for the steel-making ingredient's price.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Communications Index (ASX: XTJ) weighed heaviest, falling 1.2%.

But which ASX 200 shares posted the biggest gain on the index today? Let's take a look.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Today's top-performing ASX 200 share was Johns Lyng Group Ltd (ASX: JLG) after the building services company dropped its earnings for the first half.

It revealed an 84% jump in post-tax profit and hiked its dividend by 67% to 4.5 cents per share.

These shares made today's biggest gains:

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.

After a heavy decline on Monday, they are rebounding strongly this afternoon.

ASX lithium shares rebound

Here's what is happening in the lithium industry today:

• The Allkem Ltd(ASX: AKE) share price is up 3%
• The Core Lithium Ltd(ASX: CXO) share price is up 4%
• The IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price is up 2%
• The Lake Resources N.L.(ASX: LKE) share price is up 4%
• The Liontown Resources Ltd(ASX: LTR) share price is up 4%
• The Pilbara Minerals Ltd(ASX: PLS) share price is up 4%

What's happening?

On Monday, investors were selling off ASX lithium shares amid news that the world's largest battery maker, CATL, is offering discounts to Chinese automakers.

According to Reuters, these discounts are being offered in response to a downturn in the price of lithium and a bid to win more orders. This sparked fears that this was an indication that CATL believes prices are going to be coming down rapidly from recent highs.

However, a note out of Canaccord Genuity this morning could have eased investor nerves. It has responded positively to an update out of Pilbara Minerals on Monday regarding a new sales arrangement for a 15,000 tonne cargo of spodumene concentrate.

This agreement has been structured to be based on a tolling arrangement under which Pilbara Minerals will receive the value of lithium hydroxide price for the product sold less an agreed amount for conversion and other costs.

Canaccord Genuity was pleased with the news and notes that the pricing implied by the agreement is "well north of our US$4,500/t MarQ'23 assumption and US$3,500/t JunQ'23 assumption."

All in all, the broker appears confident that Pilbara Minerals is well-placed to deliver strong earnings in the near term and appears to see recent weakness is a buying opportunity. As a result, it has retained its buy rating and $5.00 price target on this ASX 200 lithium share.

Investors appear hopeful that sky high prices may not be over as feared, at least for now.

The post Why are ASX 200 lithium shares having such a stellar run today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

There's quite a bit of variety when it comes to the pricing of ASX lithium stocks.

There's market-leader Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS), which is currently asking $4.40 a share at the time of writing:

Then there are other lithium leaders like Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR). Liontown has a lower share price than Pilbara but is still well over $1 each – $1.36 a share at the present time.

Or Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO). Core Lithium is asking just under $1 a share at present, but has been as high as $1.88 in the past 12 months.

But others have far lower share prices. Take popular lithium stock Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA). Right now, Sayona is going for 22 cents a share.

Fellow lithium company Anson Resources Ltd (ASX: ASN) is trading at 19 cents per share.

And you can pick up a single share of Latin Resources Ltd (ASX: LRS) for just 13 cents.

So these last three shares are the cheap ones, right? The shares you might choose if you want the maximum upside?

Well, no.

It's a common misconception on the share market that a lower share price equates to a 'cheaper' price. Sure, you can buy more shares if a share price is lower. But that's it.

A share price is a function of two things – a company's market capitalisation, and how many shares it has on issue. The price of those shares is entirely determined by the company's market cap. So when you see shares moving up and down in price, what you are really seeing is a company's market capitalisation changing.

Low-price ASX lithium stocks aren't cheap

Let's say a company has one million shares on issue.

If the market wants to value that company at $1 million, it will give each of its shares a share price of $1. If the company does well over time, and the market decides it is now worth $2 million, then the shares will rise to $2 each.

But then say that same company decides to issue more shares, enough to double its share count. Now there are two million shares on issue. But if the market still thinks the company should be worth $1 million, then each share will be priced at 50 cents.    

So just because Latin Resources shares are 13 cents each, doesn't mean that it is cheaper than another ASX lithium stock like Pilbara Minerals at $4.40. It just means that Pilbara has a greater market capitalisation, with proportionally fewer shares, than Latin Resources.

If the market decides to double the value of either Latin or Piblara, investors will enjoy exactly the same monetary gain.

Just because an ASX lithium stock's share price is numerically lower doesn't mean it has more potential to rise over time. The only thing that matters at the end of the day is how profitable a company is, and how much value the share market places on those profits.

The post At under 30 cents each, are these ASX lithium stocks cheap? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn't quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) continues its long run as the most shorted ASX share after its short interest rose to 12.8%. Weak revenue margins appear to be a concern for investors.
• Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) has seen its short interest reduce to 11.9%. Competition and cash burn concerns seem to be weighing on this betting technology company's shares.
• Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) has seen its short interest rise to 10.2%. This network as a service provider's slowing growth may have attracted short sellers.
• Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 9.9%, which is up week on week. Continued weakness in spot lithium prices has been weighing on investor sentiment.
• Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has 9.5% of its shares held short, which is up week on week. This also appears to have been driven by fears that lithium prices have peaked.
• Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 8%, which is up week on week. As well as lithium price concerns, cost blow outs at the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project have caught the eye of short sellers.
• Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) is the fourth lithium share in the top ten with 7.8% of its shares held short, which is up week on week. A well-known short seller is targeting Lake Resources due to doubts over its technology and project funding.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) has short interest of 7.4%, which is up strongly week on week. Concerns over major regulatory changes could be partly behind this high level of short interest.
• Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) has 7.3% of its shares held short, which is flat week on week. As with Betmakers, competition and cash burn concerns appear to be behind this.
• NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) has short interest of 7.1%. This may be due to concerns that economic conditions could weigh on this data centre operator's performance.

The post Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

A large number of ASX lithium shares are under pressure and have sink deep into the red today.

What's going on with ASX lithium shares?

Investors have been selling down ASX lithium shares on Monday in response to heavy declines from their Wall Street-listed peers on Friday.

Lithium giants Albemarle, Livent, and SQM all fell 10% amid concerns over lithium prices.

This was driven by reports that the world's largest battery maker, CATL, is offering discounts to some of the Chinese automakers it supplies batteries.

According to Reuters, these discounts are being offer in response to a downturn in the price of lithium and a bid to win more orders. CATL has also reportedly been negotiating with its lithium suppliers to bring prices down.

This appears to indicate that CATL, which has a 37% global share of the EV batteries market, is confident that lithium prices have peaked and are now on the way back down again.

The state of play

Most ASX lithium shares are trading sharply lower today. Among the biggest moves are the shares listed below:

• The Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) share price is down 5% to $11.30.
• The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is down 4% to 92 cents.
• The Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) share price is down 5% to 60.5 cents.
• The Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price is down 4% to $1.29.
• The Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL) share price is down 13% to 93.5 cents.
• The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) is down 7% to $4.10.

Time will tell what happens with prices, but it seems that many investors are not sitting around to find out. Particularly given how spot prices have now fallen 30% since their November peak.

The post Why are ASX lithium shares being hammered on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE) share price closed Friday's session down 3.8% to 63.5 cents.

This caps off a hideous month for the ASX lithium share, which has slid 22% over this short period.

Why is the Lake Resources share price falling so much?

So, let's get a bit of context here. Lake Resources is not the only ASX lithium share that has been falling over the past month.

Take a look:

• Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) shares are down 13%
• Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares are down 7%
• Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) shares are down 2.9%
• Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are down 10%
• IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) shares are down 5%.

But you see the problem, right?

It's the scale of the Lake Resources share price fall at 22% that stands out.

Most of these ASX lithium shares are down, at least partly, due to some bearish outlooks for lithium prices. But that's a common factor affecting all lithium stocks. Why is Lake Resources down so much more?

Short seller attack

A few lithium stocks are being targeted by short sellers right now, and Lake Resources is one of them.

Short-selling is a trading strategy where investors try to profit from a fall in the share price. They borrow, then sell the shares, with the intention of buying them back later when they fall in value to make a profit.

As my colleague James reported this week, Lake Resources remains among the ASX's 10 most shorted stocks with 7.6% of its capital currently shorted. But there are a few lithium stocks on that list.

Core Lithium actually has a higher short interest than Lake Resources with 9.6% of its shares shorted. But as James points out, the reason for that shorting is valuation concerns. A bunch of investors think the Core Lithium share price is too high right now, so they're betting on a correction.

The unique element of the short activity on Lake Resources is that it's being directly attacked by a United States short-selling activist group called J Capital.

In July last year, J Capital released a report questioning operational matters relating to Lake Resource's technology and project funding.

Lake Resources responded at the time saying the report "puts forth incorrect information on technical matters and inaccurate assertions … ".

J Capital has issued further reports since then, with the latest report released in December.

In short, J Capital doesn't believe Lake Resources can achieve what it says it can, and they're proactively hassling them on the details.

Should you buy Lake Resources?

This sort of thing is pretty confusing for ordinary investors. Many people don't even understand what short selling is because it's not a trading strategy that is typically available to retail investors. It's the domain of institutional and sophisticated investors, like hedge fund managers.

To state the obvious, buying an ASX share that is the subject of a short attack is pretty gutsy. You need to really understand the ins and outs of the Lake Resources business and what J Capital is saying about it.

In order to decide whether to buy Lake Resources shares or not, prospective investors would have to do an enormous amount of research to satisfy themselves that what J Capital is saying isn't right.

And that research is on top of the usual fundamental analysis that every investor should do on every ASX share they are considering investing in.

So, we're talking about a serious time commitment here, and this might be one reason why the Lake Resources share price isn't trading so well at the moment.

The post Down 22% in a month, is it time to dive in and buy Lake Resources shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In afternoon trade, the lithium developer's shares are up almost 2% to $1.37.

However, this gain cannot hide the fact that Liontown shares are down 38% from its mid-November peak of $2.22.

Why have Liontown shares been smashed?

There have been a number of catalysts for the sudden pullback by Liontown's shares over the last three months.

The first is concerns over the outlook for lithium prices. With some analysts suggesting that the price of the battery making ingredient could fall materially in the next 18 months, investors appear worried that lithium miners may not deliver earnings as strong as hoped. This has obvious consequences for valuations in the industry.

Also weighing on Liontown's shares has been short sellers loading up on its shares, as well as a number of other lithium developers. They may believe that lithium prices are indeed heading lower and have been shorting their shares.

Finally, a cost blowout at the Kathleen Valley lithium project has shaken confidence. The cost of the project continues to rise and there are fears that Liontown will need to raise funds in the near future given its cash shortfall.

Is this a buying opportunity?

Not everyone is bearish on Liontown shares. The team at Bell Potter remains positive and recently retained its speculative buy rating with a $2.81 price target. This suggests that its shares could double in value over the next 12 months.

Bell Potter acknowledges that project costs are rising but is overlooking this due to an increase in its production capacity. It commented:

LTR has announced that the Kathleen Valley capital cost is now expected to be $895m (June 2022 estimate of $545m), a 20% increase in initial plant capacity to 3.0Mtpa (from 2.5Mtpa) and the potential for early revenues from sales of Direct Shipping Ore (DSO). The capital cost increase is due to industry cost inflation, the increased plant capacity and prioritising schedule to maintain first concentrate production from mid2024. Around $75m has been spent on the project to date, implying $820m remaining. LTR has cash reserves of $385m, undrawn debt of $300m and is progressing a range of further funding options which it does not expect will be required until late 2023.

The post Down 38% since mid-November, is it time to bag some Liontown shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.