The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished today 0.94% in the red. But three ASX mining shares closed trade smashing the index.

The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA), Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) and Strategic Elements Ltd (ASX: SOR) share prices were all soaring today.

Let's take a look at these three ASX mining shares in more detail.

Sayona Mining

Sayona Mining shares lifted 7.35% today. However, Sayona shares sank 11% in yesterday's trade. Investors may have been buying up Sayona shares following recent declines. The Sayona Mining share price has tumbled 48.45% since 13 September. Looking ahead, Sayona recently announced its North American Lithium operation is on track to restart production in the first quarter of 2023.

Sayona shares have soared 40% in the last year.

Strategic Elements

Strategic Elements shares soared 51.11% on Thursday. In today's news, Strategic Elements advised the market of "outstanding battery development success". The company reported successful developments in Energy Ink, a new power source that produces electrical energy from moisture in the air.

Commenting on the news, managing director Charles Murphy said:

The technology is evolving at a rapid rate. It was a fantastic result to clearly produce more than enough power compared to a leading existing glucose monitoring patch being used by millions of people worldwide and to have the excess potential for a manufacturer to include more advanced sensing or other features.

The Strategic Elements share price has descended more than 30% in the last year.

Metals X Limited

The Metals X share price leapt 7.81% today. The company did not released any news to the market today. Metals X touts itself as Australia's biggest tin producer and has a 50% equity interest in the Renison Tin Operation in Tasmania. Tin futures are up 0.02% today and have leapt 7.63% in the last month, Trading Economics data shows. In a recent presentation, Metals X said it is debt free.

Metals X shares have lost nearly 27% in the last year.

The post 3 ASX mining shares that left the index in the dust on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) share price has been on fire since Monday morning, recording a 15% gain.

At yesterday's market close, the mining outfit's shares finished 10.71% higher at 62 cents. Despite not making any market-sensitive announcements to the ASX this week, the company's share price reached a multi-year high of 65.5 cents.

Let's take a look at what could be driving investors to snap up Metal X shares lately.

Metals X shares resume their upwards trajectory

The Australian base metals company has continued to power ahead this week on the back of positive investor sentiment.

Late last month, Metals X released its quarterly activities report for the period ending 31 December 2021.

According to the update, the company reported 2,359 tonnes of tin concentrate production from the Renison tin operation. While less than the 2,471 tonnes achieved in the prior quarter, this was due to a planned major shutdown of the processing plant.

Regardless of the setback, Metals X said that it continued high tin production as a result of high mined and mill feed grades. For the December quarter, this was the third highest on record, with ore mined at 186,298 tonnes at a grade of 1.58%.

Tin sold in the three months amounted to 2,175 tonnes at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $21,869 per tonne. In comparison, the quarter ending September recorded 2,381 tonnes of tin sold with an AISC of $21,088 per tonne.

Imputed earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came to $77.6 million, a 10.3% lift against the previous quarter.

In addition, imputed net cash flow stood at $60.9 million, a 12.7% increase over Q3 2021.

Metals X owns a 50% interest in Renison through its 50% stake in the Bluestone Mines Tasmania Joint Venture. It's worth noting that all the above figures are related to the total output of Renison.

Looking ahead, the company noted that the market outlook for tin remains strong and is expected to continue for 2022.

Metals X declared a closing cash balance of $46.2 million, up from $21.6 million in the prior comparable period. This predominately derives from the sale and spin out of its nickel assets portfolio including the Wingellina Nickel-Cobalt project, and Claude Hills project.

Metals X share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Metals X share price has rocketed by more than 260% for investors.

In 2022, its shares experienced a minor hiccup from a broader market sell-off before rebounding, up almost 8% to date.

Based on valuation grounds, Metals X commands a market capitalisation of roughly $562.5 million, with approximately 907.27 million shares on issue.

The post Why is the Metals X (ASX:MLX) share price going gangbusters this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Key points

• Nico Resources debuted on the ASX at midday AEDT Wednesday
• The Nico Resources share price is currently 36.5 cents – 82.5% higher than its offer price
• The company is a spin-out of Metals X, taking over its Central Musgrave Project nickel and cobalt prospects

Nico Resources Limited (ASX: NC1) has finished its initial public offering (IPO), launching onto the market this afternoon to the delight of investors.

In the wake of its debut, the Nico Resources share price has surged a massive 82.5% higher than the offer price in its prospectus.

At the time of writing, the company's stock is swapping hands for 36.5 cents apiece. That's well up on its offer price of 20 cents.

Let's take a look at the company and what went down during its IPO.

What does Nico Resources do?

Nico Resources is a spin-out of Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX), taking on its former parent company's nickel assets.

The ASX newbie has walked away from Metals X with the Central Musgrave Project – made up of around 2,000 square kilometres of prospective exploration tenure, including the Wingellina Project, the Claude Hills nickel deposit, and the Mt Davies exploration prospects.

The project's tenements host mineral resources of more than 200 million tonnes. They contain 1.95 million tonnes of nickel and 150 thousand tonnes of cobalt.

It also has a probable ore reserve of 164.8 million tonnes containing 1.56 million tonnes of nickel and 123,000 tonnes of cobalt.

Nico Resources share price surges 82% on ASX IPO

Not all ASX IPOs turn out as well as Nico Resources' has. The company's stock has soared a massive 82.5% higher than its offer price within a few hours of its debut.

The company floated at midday AEDT and reached an intraday high of 37.5 cents – representing an 87.5% gain.

Nico Resources' IPO saw it offering 60 million shares at 20 cents apiece. That raised $12 million – the pinnacle of its prospectus' expected range.

The funds will go towards advancing the Wingellina nickel-cobalt-scandium project to development as well as various exploration programs determining how to exploit potential high-grade zones of nickel, cobalt, and scandium.

It will also help fund one review of mineral processing routes to maximise the Central Musgrave Project's minerals' value and another of historical data to find information or programs needed to undertake a feasibility study update.

Following Nico Resources' IPO, the company's CEO Rod Corps and chair Warren Hallam are expected to hold respective stakes of 25% and 29.17%.

Additionally, Metals X will hold 18.33% of the company's outstanding shares. Nico Resources' IPO is expected to include a distribution to eligible Metals X shareholders.

Following the IPO, Nico Resources expects to have 91 million shares on offer – giving it an assumed market capitalisation of around $18.2 million based on its offer price.

However, at its current share price, it has an assumed valuation of approximately $31.5 million.  

The post Nico Resources (ASX:NC1) launches 82% following IPO appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The ASX will soon welcome a number of new faces as the 2022 initial public offering (IPO) season kicks off.

Here are 3 shares expected to float on the market that might be worth keeping an eye on.

3 shares expected to IPO on the ASX next week

ChemX Materials Limited

ChemX Materials is on track to list on the ASX on Friday 14 January under the ticker code CMX.

It raised $8 million through its oversubscribed ASX IPO, issuing shares for 20 cents apiece. That sees it expecting to list with a valuation of approximately $18 million.

The raised funds will be put towards an exploration drilling program set to go ahead this quarter.

ChemX holds 2 exploration licences in South Australia, each for kaolin/halloysite manganese prospects.

It also has an agreement to acquire HiPurA and its high purity alumina (HPA) processing technology. The company believes demand for HPA is surging as manufacturers scramble to create lithium-ion batteries.

NICO Resources Limited

According to the ASX, NICO Resources is expected to list on Tuesday 11 January under the ticker NC1. However, its float has previously faced delays.

The company is a spin out of Metals X Limited's (ASX: MLX) nickel assets.

Its prospectus aimed to raise between $10 million and $12 million through issuing shares in the company for 20 cents apiece.

The proceeds will go towards exploration programs for potentially high-grade zones of nickel, cobalt, and scandium. It will also fund a review of mineral processing routes and the identification of information for a feasibility study update.

The company's major project will be the Central Musgrave Project, located on the intersection of the border of South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.

Careteq Limited

Careteq is expected to IPO on the ASX on Monday 10 January under the ticker code CTQ.

It creates and provides software-as-a-service-based solutions to assist the elderly and those with disabilities to continue living their best lives.

To do so, the company has created its Sofihub platform.

It raised $6 million through its prospectus' offer, wherein its shares were sold for 20 cents apiece. That sees the company expecting to list with a market capitalisation of $24.7 million.

The raised funds will go towards Careteq's growth and cross-selling opportunities, as well as the development of new products, features, and applications.

Additionally, the company is planning to expand internationally, partnering with the SiTa Foundation in the United States to develop a safety device to be used against domestic violence.

The post These 3 companies are set to IPO on the ASX next week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Ask A Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with fund managers so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In this edition, Datt Capital principal Emanuel Datt reveals how he's counting on his 2 largest holdings doubling in value in the coming year.

Investment style

The Motley Fool: How would you describe your fund to a potential client?

Emanuel Datt: Datt Capital seeks to identify high growth and special situation opportunities within Australian markets with no institutional constraint. We aim to exploit informational, analytical, behavioural and structural edges in a high prediction environment over time to really try and capture the right feel risks out there. Overall, we're opportunistic and disciplined, with a strong emphasis on risk control. 

The fund basically blends longer duration holding, which we anticipate compounds over time, interspersed with shorter term catalyst-orientated opportunities. We recognise that time arbitrage can be a huge advantage if exploited appropriately in a disciplined manner, so accordingly the funds may have a longer duration holding profile than typical. 

The fund invests in a concentrated manner. It could be holding [fewer] than 20 positions and with the flexibility to invest across asset classes. Ultimately, we aim to hold at least 70% of the portfolio in our top 10 positions.

Biggest convictions

MF: What are your two biggest holdings?

ED: The first one would have to be Adriatic Metals PLC (ASX: ADT), which has found and advanced just a remarkable high-grade polymetallic mineral deposit in Bosnia. Polymetallic means multiple metals, basically. It also holds base metal assets in Serbia. 

In a nutshell, we consider this to be the best undeveloped mineral asset globally. It trades at a material discount at a transaction price of similar deposits that we consider to be quite inferior to this one. We believe a lot of this situation is largely due to the fact that Bosnia is not well known as a mining jurisdiction, [but] we consider it quite comparable to Serbia, which is right next door and has major companies like Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO). 

When we first bought Adriatic, it was in the low $1s. It's gone up about 3x. 

But notwithstanding, the project since that time has advanced to the point of a final investment decision and project financing, so we expect this to occur imminently. Also, basically, the project is now shovel ready. It's just a matter of pulling the trigger for development. 

We still consider the company to be materially undervalued. We think that their value is about double the current price of about $3, and that's really driven by the projected financial metrics, which are just absolutely incredible. On a post-tax basis, the net present value, NPV, using a discount rate of 8%, is over US$1 billion dollars. That gives it a post-tax IRR [internal rate of return] of 134%.

The project CAPEX [capital expenditure] has been paid back after only 8 months of operation, so this is just absolutely amazing, this deposit. [And] that's only for the flagship deposit, so it really allows for the significant exploration upside because they hold all the surrounding area as well as the Serbian-based metal assets, which we think would be worth at least $100 million in the current price environment. 

That's why we think that it's probably only been trading at about half of the price it should. And that's why I'd say it's our biggest holding at this point in time.

MF: What's your second biggest?

ED: Second biggest is a company called Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX). Metal X's core asset is a 50% interest in the Renison Tin Mine and a tin development project known as Rentails. These assets are located in Tasmania. The company itself is only 1 of 2 listed tin producers globally. 

That's because tin itself is a unique but very, very important niche market. Tin [is] an unsubstitutable ingredient in solder, which is used for stuff like circuit boards. The whole shift toward clean energy and a greater emphasis on technology really drives demand for circuit boards, and hence tin.

Basically, the forward projection for tin market supply is very highly constrained in terms of supply. The market itself has been in deficit for many, many years now, but there's always been sort of a stockpile to draw down upon. But the strategic stockpile is now depleted. 

Basically, growing demand has been driven by the adoption of the new technologies, and stable, or trickling, supply has just caused the tin price to explode over the last 6 months or so. 

One important factor that we should point out is the price component. Tin, within a finished good — like a computer — is just very, very minimal. Maybe for an iPhone, it's probably about 20 cents of an iPhone's total cost. So when you consider that the price can really go up multiples without too much impact on the end price of the finished good…

One thing that's really held back the company is that historically the company has tried to go into other commodities like copper and nickel. But basically, it started to shed all these non-tin assets that were accumulated by past management teams. 

It should be a pure tin player by the end of the year. 

A lot of change has really been driven by its major shareholder. They're an Asian-based shareholder known as APAC Resources. The management team are Australian, but they come from APAC Resources. 

We think that Metals X is materially undervalued by a large factor given the strong outputs of tin, and generating a hell of a lot of cash at the moment. There's quite a number of monetisable assets on its balance sheet, as well. I think at the moment it's trading about 35 cents, so it really wouldn't be a surprise to see it double over the next 6 months to a year.

The post 2 ASX shares set to double in the next year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Copper prices have surged to US$4.44/lb, the highest since 2011.

While ASX mining shares such as Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) are diversified producers with copper production, here are the pure copper majors and juniors of the ASX. 

Copper majors 

Oz Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) 

Oz Minerals is the largest copper-focused ASX share with a market capitalisation of approximately $8 billion. Its shares have soared alongside copper prices, up 26% year-to-date and more than 150% in the past 12-months to record territory. 

The company delivered a mixed first-quarter update with the softer copper product due to its Carrapatenna mine switching contractors, which lowered fleet availability and grades. Despite quarterly production potentially missing expectations, the company believes it is on track to meet its FY21 production guidance.

Oz Minerals continues to eye several growth pipeline projects with a number of drilling programs underway. 

Brokers are relatively mixed on Oz Mineral shares with an average price target of $23.16 across Morgans, Macquarie, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. Commentary has highlighted a stronger performance out of Carrapateena in the June quarter and the solid copper price to continue to drive earnings upside momentum. 

Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR)

Sandfire is another mid-tier copper producer with a market cap of approximately $1.1 billion. The company has leveraged the recent surge in copper prices, with its interim net profits surging from $34.2 million in 1H20 to $60.8 million in 1H21. 

Sandfire has started developing its significant copper-silver production hub in Botswana, receiving board approval for the initial 3.2Mtpa operation.

The most recent broker update from Macquarie on 9 March believes higher copper prices will significantly impact Sandfire Resources.

The broker estimates the earnings forecast could rise by an average of 90% over the next five years. Macquarie rates its shares as outperform with an $8.8 target price. Sandfire shares are currently fetching $6.35. 

Copper juniors 

Copper Mountain Mining Corp (ASX: C6C)

Copper Mountain shares have more than doubled this year and are up an eye-watering 800% in the past 12 months. The company has made an outstanding transition from explorer to producer, with record production and revenues flowing through. 

Copper Mountain released a quarterly activities report on Tuesday, highlighting quarterly revenue of $162.2 million and gross profit of $96.3 million from the sale of 27.5 million pounds of copper, 8,553 ounces of gold and 161,657 ounces of silver. 

While the company may sound like a mid-tier producer, it boasts a market capitalisation of just ~$67 million. 

Cyprium Metals Ltd (ASX: CYM) 

Cyprium focuses on mid to late-stage local copper projects that could be fast-tracked into the production of copper metal.

The company recently acquired a portfolio of copper projects from Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX). Cyprium executive director Barry Cahill commented on the acquisition, saying: 

We look forward to leveraging our many years of combined team experience, to position Cyprium to establish itself as a significant Australian mid-tier copper producer.

The post Which ASX mining shares can take advantage of soaring copper prices? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Metals X share price has not been insulated from volatility in the mining sector over the past year, but it did climb to $1.21 in mid-January as the stock rallied before its quarterly activities report announcement. 

Metals X, with global reach from Madagascar to Mongolia and interests in several Australian resource projects, presented a strong balance sheet with closing cash and working capital of $90.4 million and an EBITDA of $8.5 million, up from $4.5 million in the September quarter. 

A Macquarie report in November 2017 valued the shares at $1.42 with a recommendation Metals X would maintain or outperform targets with exploration drilling at its Pilbara-based copper mine, Nifty.

Metals X also reported a consistent quarter in its Renison Tin operations in Tasmania. 

The post Why the Metals X Limited share price has been moving higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four shares that haven't been able to following the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they have dropped lower:

The HT&E Ltd (ASX: HT1) share price has fallen 6% to $1.69 after the ATO issued the outdoor advertising company with amended income tax assessments. The amended assessments are for the financial years ended 31 December 2009 to 31 December 2012 inclusive, with tax adjustments of $72 million plus interest of $32 million. Further amended income tax assessments may also be forthcoming according to management.

The InvoCare Limited (ASX: IVC) share price is down 2% to $14.65. This is the second day in a row that the funeral services company's shares have been in the red and is likely to be related to a profit warning from one of its international peers. The UK-listed shares of Dignity lost almost 50% of their value on Friday after warning of lower profits due to sizeable price cuts as a result of increasingly price-conscious consumers in an over-supplied industry.

The Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) share price has tumbled almost 3% to $1.10 following the release of its quarterly update. Investors appear to have been disappointed with the company's Nifty copper operation. Although copper production was much improved, it still appears to have been a loss-making quarter for the copper segment despite prices being at high levels.

The Pact Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: PGH) share price is down 3.5% to $5.29 despite there being no news out of the packaging company. Today's decline may be related to a note out of Deutsche Bank which revealed that its analysts have reduced their profit estimates and price target slightly. The broker does, however, still have a buy rating on its shares. Its price target is now $6.50.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares have dropped lower today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In afternoon trade the diversified mining company's shares are down 3% to 74.7 cents.

Why have its shares fallen?

Despite a solid quarter from its Nifty copper operations which saw quarter-on-quarter production improve 17% and costs fall 6.6%, investors still appear to be disappointed that there wasn't a greater improvement.

Which is understandable. Although Metals X delivered a much improved performance during the most recent quarter, it still doesn't come close to comparing to previous quarters.

For example, during the most recent quarter the company's all-in sustaining cost at its Nifty operation improved from US$8,537 a tonne to US$7,893 a tonne.

As pleasing as this was, the quarter prior to this at the company enjoyed an all-in sustaining cost of US$6,348 a tonne.

It will come as no surprise to learn that Metals X's share price has fallen 53% since this time last year.

The post Metals X Limited share price falls on quarterly update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In afternoon trade the miner's shares are up over 5% to 71 cents.

Why did it climb higher?

This morning Metals X announced the results of its updated Definitive Feasibility Study for the Renison Tailings Retreatment Project.

According to the release, the study found that the project provides the opportunity to expand production at the Renison Tin Operation by approximately 5,400 tonnes of tin and 2,200 tonnes of copper per year through the re-processing and recovery of tin and copper from the existing historical tailings at Renison.

Furthermore, cash operating costs are estimated to be A$13,400 per tonne, providing it with an operating cash margin of approximately A$12,600 per tonne based on a prevailing tin price of A$26,000 per tonne.

Finally a bit of good news for shareholders. The Metals X share price is down 54% in the last 12 months.

The post Metals X Limited share price up 5% on DFS results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This is an interesting development for all investors who have been asking themselves if mining stocks need higher commodity prices to look attractive. This has been a particularly poignant question given that the price of most hard commodities, such as iron ore, have been sliding over the past two to three months due to oversupply worries at a time when the global economy is struggling to gain growth traction.

These worries have not stopped Glencore from offering up US$2.55 billion for Rio Tinto's Hunter Valley coal assets, which is US$100 million more than what Yancoal was willing to cough up.

This news is likely to give Rio Tinto's share price good support when the stock starts trading again on Tuesday, although all investors should be paying close attention too as this development will lend support to the argument that mining stocks are good value even though some analysts are expecting iron ore prices to fall towards the US$40 a tonne level in the not too distant future.

That could well lead to further declines in the mining sector over the near-term as mining shares are heavily correlated to commodity prices. What's more, I am also expecting a further market correction that may well drag resource stocks lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO).

But investors should be using any weakness as a buying opportunity as there are a number of reasons to be bullish on the medium-term to longer-term investment horizon.

For one, the larger mining companies are arguably one of the most cashed-up sectors on the market thanks to aggressive cost cuts, a significant ramp-up in production from the last capex cycle, and extreme conservatism as they had to bunker down a few years ago when commodity prices looked like they were falling off a cliff.

This means their fairly attractive dividend yields are sustainable and investors are likely to benefit from capital returns from the likes of BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) as cashed up miners struggle to find meaningful ways to deploy their cash. This is one sector where some value can still be found.

Further, falling commodity prices are largely reflected in share prices. Consensus estimates are forecasting a drop in profits until FY18 at least.

Lastly, the "smart money" has been coming back into the sector, particularly the junior end of the market. Brokers and wealth managers in Perth only wanted to look at tech and biotech companies 12 to 18 months ago and had no appetite for resources.

However, the tables have turned in more recent months with these same parties telling me they have lost interest in tech stocks and are now actively seeking meetings with mining juniors.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bull market for resources by any stretch of the imagination as there is still a pervasive air of caution, but it's clear that risk appetite is returning after several years of famine.

Outside of the mining giants, I think BHP's unwanted child South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) looks very attractive too. I "inherited" some from holding BHP shares and I am hoping to top up my holdings if the stock pulls back under $2.50.

Those looking for more speculative plays, should keep an eye on Sliver City Minerals Ltd (ASX: SCI) and Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX).

The post Risk appetite on the comeback in mining stocks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three shares which fared well and received buy ratings are listed below. Here's why brokers think they are in the buy zone:

Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX)

A research note out of Bell Potter reveals that its analysts have upgraded the diversified miner to a buy rating with an 85 cents price target. Although production in its latest quarter was reasonably mixed, its new target of 40,000 tonnes of copper-in-concentrate per annum appears to have caught the eye of brokers. Whilst it wouldn't be my first pick in the resources sector, I do believe there would be reasonable upside potential if the company can deliver on its targets.

RCG Corporation Ltd (ASX: RCG)

Analysts at Citi have upgraded the footwear retailer to a buy rating with an 88 cents price target. With its shares down by almost half since the turn of the year, Citi's analysts believe its shares are now attractive to value investors. With its cheap price and generous dividend yield I would agree that it looks attractive right now. But I am concerned that earnings could continue to decline, forcing a cut to its dividend. For this reason I would hold off an investment until things improve.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

According to another research note out of Citi, its analysts have reiterated their buy rating and increased their price target on REA Group's shares to $72.50. Citi appears to be pleased with the company's new pricing structure. It expects agent fees to increase by an average of 15%, which is greater than anticipated. Whilst REA Group has not confirmed these reports, if they are true then I feel it would be a major boost to the company's bottom line. This will go some way to justifying the premium its share trade at.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Six shares which have made notable gains today are shown below. Here's why they've stormed higher:

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) shares have jumped almost 3.5% to $26.20 thanks to a jump in base metal prices overnight. According to CommSec the copper price rose 3% to US$5,736 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange after data revealed that Chinese producer prices surged 5.5% year on year. The iron ore price was also up 3% to US$80.10 a tonne.

Freelancer Ltd (ASX: FLN) shares have surged higher by 6% to $1.14. Today's gain means that the operator of the world's largest freelance and crowdsourcing marketplace has seen its share price rally a massive 14% so far this month, despite there being no news out of it. With its full year results due at the end of the month, it would appear as though some investors expect Freelancer to deliver a strong result.

Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU) shares have risen 5% to 40 cents. Most of Australia's leading gold miners have risen today thanks largely to the gold price edging higher. Currently the spot gold price fetches US$1,187 an ounce, which is the highest level it has traded at since early in December. Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) were the other standouts in the industry today.

Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) shares have jumped over 4% to $15.76. The liver cancer treatment company's shares have bounced around this week following its dose sales update on Monday. That update revealed year-on-year dose sales growth of 5.6% for the first half of FY 2017. Although this hit the high end of its revised guidance for growth between 4% and 6%, it still falls well short of previous guidance of double-digit growth given in October.

The post Why these 6 ASX shares have stormed higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Source: Google Finance, S&P Global Markets Intelligence

It probably won't be a surprise to learn that a number of gold miners are on the list – given the spot gold price has been in freefall since early November. Cardinal Resources, Alkane, Blackham and Beadell are all gold miners.

Metals X is a diversified miner with gold, nickel, tin, cobalt and copper assets, but most of its price decline is due to the demerger earlier this week of its gold business into Westgold Resources Ltd.

We've covered the woes of uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd earlier, but it's not the first time we've warned investors to be wary of the miner given the heavily depressed uranium price.

CSG Ltd is a print and business solutions provider, but saw its share price hammered in mid-November following a profit downgrade, that may indicate that the company is facing structural issues.

Hills is trying to turn its business around after diversifying its business too far, but was forced to put the demerger of its Health Solutions business on hold, "due to current market volatility".

S2 Resources has seen its share price slide on what appear to be poor exploration results.

And finally homewares retailer Adairs shocked the market with a profit downgrade at the start of November which saw its share price hammered.

The post The top 10 worst stocks in November appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Acting as a drag on the market today have been four shares in particular that have dropped significantly. Here's why they have been smashed:

Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) shares are down 5% to $4.61 despite no news out of miner. Today's decline is all the more surprising considering the rest of the gold miners have put on strong gains today following a slight rise in the gold price overnight. At present the spot gold price is US$1,194 an ounce, up by around 2% from last week's lows.

Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) shares have plunged a staggering 50% to 79.5 cents. Today's decline is related to the company's demerger, so don't panic. Shareholders on the register at market close yesterday will receive one share in its separate ASX-listed gold entity Westgold Resources Limited for every two Metals X shares they hold. Westgold is expected to start trading on the ASX on Friday.

Orion Health Group Ltd (ASX: OHE) shares have dropped 8.5% to $1.85 after the release of its interim results. Although its performance is showing signs of improvement, the eHealth software company continues to post heavy losses. In the first half of FY 2017 the company made a NZ$19.5 million loss. Management expects a significant improvement in the second half, but investors don't appear confident in this judging by the reaction today.

Vocus Communications Limited (ASX: VOC) shares are down an incredible 22% to $4.50 following the release of a trading update prior to the growing telco's annual general meeting. For the full year revenue is expected to be approximately $1.9 billion, with EBITDA coming in between $430 million and $450 million. Although it was a largely disappointing update, the company does have a huge amount of potential in my opinion. Once the dust settles it may well be worth a second look. TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) also fell sharply on the news.

The post Here's why these 4 ASX shares are cratering today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Currently the S&P 200 Index is around 3.2% lower as markets across the world sell-off and investors head to safe haven assets. This drove the spot gold price higher by 4% from US$1,272 an ounce to US$1,322 an ounce.

With the majority of shares now deep in negative territory, the gold miners are amongst the only shares making gains today.

So much so the S&P/ASX All Ords Gold (Index: ^AXGD) (ASX: XGD) has surged higher by over 10% as the chart below shows.

If Trump does in fact win the election then some believe the gold price could climb as high as US$2,000 an ounce. But before investors get too excited and pile into the gold miners, it is worth remembering that the same was said about the Brexit. But those gains never eventuated.

At the moment the gold miners making strong gains are as follows:

Instead of diving into the market and investing in the gold miners, I would suggest investors wait for things to settle and pick up some bargains after the sell off. No doubt there will be many.

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Sure, there mightn't be as many public businesses in Australia as there are in the United States or Europe, but there are still nearly 2,200 shares listed on the ASX.

While it's nice to have optionality as an investor, however, it can also be difficult to know where to start looking for new ideas.

Stocks to avoid

First, you can forget about all the mining exploration businesses which are speculative, at very best. There are plenty of others with market values so small, and shares so illiquid, that you'd have a tough time buying as well.

It's likely that you're also familiar with certain industries based on your own career and experiences. Perhaps you've worked in retail, for example, and are aware of the changes that are impacting businesses such as Myer Holdings Limited (ASX: MYR), making you inclined to avoid them.

Other industries that have struggled in recent years include mining and mining services, while airlines typically make for bad investments as well.

Stocks to buy

Thus, there are plenty of ways to narrow down your search for new investment ideas. Sticking with companies you know or are familiar with is also smart, which helps to focus your search even further.

Reading through broker reports and upgrades are another way to get new ideas, together with reading through company updates on the ASX website.

Of course, there is no sure-fire way to find new winning investment ideas: some you will stumble upon by chance while others can take days or even weeks of research.

For an idea of what many other investors have been investing in recently, Al Bentley, CEO and founder of Simply Wall St, recently noted on the ASX website the top 10 shares Australian users have invested in over the last three months. Not surprisingly, many of them are names that most Australians are very familiar with…

Data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence

The shares in that list can be found in the Simply Wall Street portfolio. Of course, just because these shares are popular among other investors doesn't automatically make them a buy. In fact, following the investing crowd too much can result in sub-par returns in the long-run – especially when you buy in later than most others.

That said, however, I do particularly like a2 Milk and Bellamy's, which both produce infant formula and stand to benefit from growing demand both in Australia and in China.

Telstra Corporation is another great business and one that dividend investors ought to take a closer look at, while Flight Centre could also be a business worth your attention.

The banks, on the other hand, I'd be inclined to avoid. Although their shares have retreated in price since the highs they achieved in 2015, they are still facing a number of headwinds which could drag their shares (and dividends) lower over the coming years.

Same goes for the miners. BHP and Northern Star Resources have surged in price in recent months, but both rely on higher resource prices – especially iron ore, petroleum and, in Northern Star Resources' case, gold.

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There's long been speculation that the big banks' golden run is coming to an end and that it is the unloved large miners' turn to be in the spotlight.

That will certainly be the case again today as higher commodity prices will see our listed miners outperform.

In contrast, our big banks – Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) – are likely to come under some pressure after financial system inquiry chairman David Murray warned that the Australian government could lose its coveted "AAA" credit rating and that would impact on the big four.

Traders do not think that is enough to offset another positive day for our market with the futures market pricing in a 0.2% rise in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) thanks to the miners.

There is a very real chance that the top 200 stock benchmark will recapture its seven-year high of 6,000 points today.

Iron ore registered its fourth consecutive day of gains as the Metal Bulletin reported a 2.2% increase in the steel making ingredient to $US59.09 a tonne – its highest since March 6.

Copper and gold also registered gains and that will see the likes of BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) and Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) extend yesterday's gains.

However, BHP's tax fight with the Australian Tax Office could weigh on the stock. The big miner is challenging a $522 million tax dispute, and while that doesn't seem like a very big deal to a Goliath that is forecast to deliver $9.6 billion in net profit for the current financial year, it would still sting.

Packaging products company Pact Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: PGH) is also likely to enjoy buying support today after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral".

Takeover target iiNet Limited (ASX: IIN) was lifted to "neutral" from "underweight" by JPMorgan, while gold, tin and nickel miner Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) was upgraded by Canaccord Genuity to "buy" versus "hold".

On the flipside, fuel supplier Caltex Australia Limited (ASX: CTX) has been cut to "sell" from "hold" by Morningstar after the stock rallied over 16% over the past six months.

Mining services company Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND) and insurer Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) were also unceremoniously dumped to a "sell" equivalent rating by analysts from CCZ Statton and Commonwealth Bank, respectively.

On the reporting front, UK fund manager Henderson Group plc (ASX: HGG) and oil & gas stock Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) will hand in their quarterly reports today.

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