These three shares are sliding today for different reasons.

MYOB Group Ltd (ASX: MYO) which provides cloud based accounting and other business management solutions, has pulled out of its takeover of competitor software maker Reckon Limited (ASX: RKN). The company says that "uncertainty" about the deal is one of the reasons, probably not helped by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission voicing concerns that MYOB would have a monopoly on accounting software. 

Domain Holdings Australia Ltd's (ASX: DHG) investors have reacted negatively to the news that the former Domain chief executive Antony Catalano has taken up a role at the real estate advertiser's biggest client,  Tomorrow Agency, as well as investing in the company. 

Beacon Lighting Group Ltd (ASX: BLX), which retails lighting, ceiling fans, and light, has traded up for the most of May, with a share price performance of 12% but today the shares have pulled back despite the company posting no news to the market.

The post MYOB Group Ltd is among 3 shares sliding today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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A fall in April's building approvals by 5% was the result of a steep decline in apartment approvals. The outlook for the Australian housing market is mixed with some in-demand new projects in the pipeline, while residential property prices have already started to fall.
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Over the year there is expected to be an oversupply of apartments and tighter lending standards, which will contribute to further softness in prices. 

Government data has already shown that lending to housing investors was down 9% in March.

Australian REITs operating in the residential housing market, especially those that develop apartments, will be under pressure and are likely to see further weakness in prices and demand over the next few years. Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX: SGP) was downgraded to a sell by UBS based on the weaker outlook. Mirvac Group  (ASX:MGR) and Lendlease Group (ASX :LLC), are also involved in the residential housing market.

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

The share price of Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) continues on an upward trajectory, gaining 17% in eight days. Despite 3Q18 China sales being disappointing, high hope for 4Q18 has provided some solid support for the share price. China is the most important overseas market for Blackmores, but with counterfeit issues and supply problems, shoppers have lost some of their faith in the brand.  But, the company is working hard to overcome these issues and says that there will be strong growth going forward in China.  

The recent The ABC (Australian Brands in China index) 2018 produced by Monash University and marketing company Digital Crew found that while health and baby formula brands were ranked low due to recent supply issues, beauty products were among the highest ranked products. 

BWX Ltd (ASX: BWX) is under an indicative takeover offer but is also a supplier of beauty products to China, including its highly valued Sukin brand. 

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Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX:SGP) has been downgraded to a sell from hold by UBS, due to tighter lending standards leading to house price falls, peak in activity, higher than expected debt levels, and a downwards revisions of earnings in FY20 and FY21 of 3%/8%.

Stockland has successfully launched some long dated projects in Melbourne and Sydney as well as new projects to be started in Melbourne and Brisbane, which will limit downside to earnings as well as ongoing population growth. The price target is $4.08, while the current share price is $4.23.

Other AREITS involved in the residential housing sector include Mirvac Group (ASX:MGR), which also has exposure to the office, industrial and retail sectors, and Lendlease Group (ASX:LLC), also involved infrastructure with operations in Australia, Asia, Europe and America.

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As reported in The Australian newspaper, the Investa Office Fund (ASX:IOF) portfolio of offices, which is currently managed by Investa, may have another manager, with advanced talks with an institutional partner underway.

The interest by another party to manage the platform is a separate move to the recent takeover bid for Investa Office by Blackstone.

Investa Commercial Property Fund (ICPF), which is an unlisted company, owns a major stake of 20% in Investa Office but owns 100% of the management rights.

If the manager did change, Investa says that there would be no impact on the Blackstone proposal.

DEXUS Property Group (ASX:DXS) and Cromwell Group (ASX:CMW) are also involved in the office sector, and in the past have made attempts to take over Investa's office portfolio.

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Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) has been downgraded by credit rating agency S&P Global Inc (S&P), due to "intense competition" and "weak profitability". The long-term rating has gone from A to A-, while the short-term rating is now A-2 from A-1. Despite the downgrade, S&P says the outlook remains stable for Telstra due to the size of the company's market share.

Telstra has gone from having a monopoly of the market to seeing vigorous mobile competition from Vodaphone and Optus. The competition looks to step up with TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) entering the mobile market to become the fourth player.

The downgrade in the S&P rating may mean higher interest rates for Telstra when the company rolls over its debt. But, the rating is still investment grade so should propose a significant problem yet.

The share price is down 1% after a bounce on Friday following a buy recommendation by UBS.

Vocus Group Ltd's (ASX: VOC) share price is down nearly 4% today.

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Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) was sold down in February after reporting a profit that disappointed the market, despite being up 20% for 1H18. 3Q18 results were similar, and the company said China sales were disappointing but indicated 4Q18 would be stronger. A shareholder briefing last week highlighting China as the single most important overseas market for the company led to a bounce in the shares. The Chinese business is worth about $250 million with the expectation of strong growth going forward.

The ABC (Australian Brands in China index) 2018 produced by Monash University and marketing company Digital Crew monitors the "health" of Australian brands in China. Health and baby formula brands were among the lowest ranking in the list due to supply problems and limited availability of stock.

The shares are trading on a hefty forward price-earnings (PE) of 35x, which is well above the Household & Personal Products industry median PE of 14.95x.

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A CLSA banking analyst has said that the banking sector now offers "relative value".

Despite all the negatives, including the royal commission, slowing credit growth, higher loan losses, and a softer housing market, the regulatory environment is "more accommodative than perceived".

The analyst believes that if the housing market looked like it was going to crash, the Reserve Bank of Australia would intervene with a cut to the official cash rate.

The big four banks, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX:NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) have continued to spiral downwards close to two-year lows yesterday in the market.

Other banks liked by CLSA are Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) and the Clydesdale Bank, known as CYBG PLC/IDR UNRESTR (ASX:CYB) in Google Finance, which are rated as "buys". National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are rated as "outperform", while Westpac and Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX:BOQ) are "underperform" and ANZ has a "sell" rating.

The analyst does not see a situation where dividends are likely to be cut.

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The directors of Investa Office Fund (ASX: IOF) have advised investors to accept the $3.4 billion takeover proposal by US private equity group Blackstone. It is offering $5.35 per unit, while the share price of Investa has jumped 11% today to $5.12. 

In an ASX announcement today, Investa notes that there will be discussions between Investa Property Group and Blackstone about potentially continuing the management of Investa Office. 

The share prices of Australian REITs have been hurt by rising bond yields, with many of the REITs trading below their Net Tangible Assets per share, which does increase the appeal of a takeover. The Australian 10-year bond yield is back below 3%, which will support the sector's performance.  

The finalisation of the takeover of Westfield Corp Ltd (ASX: WFD) also provides cash that may go back into REITs. 

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Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd's (ASX: SYD) chief executive, Geoff Culbert, is upbeat about the future of global travel in anticipation of Boeing's new 777X and Airbus A350-900 hitting the market.  

At the annual general meeting, Culbert said that with a growing middle class in parts of the world, especially in China with only 8% of the population having a passport, there will be more international passengers passing through Sydney. 

The company expects to meet distribution guidance of 37.5 cents per stapled security, up from 34.5 cents last year. The shares are trading on a forward price-earings-ratio (PER) of 44x and are paying an annual dividend yield of 5%, which is unfranked. 

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL), in the same sector, is trading on an even higher forward PER of 61x, and pays an annual dividend yield of 4.8%, which is 8% franked. 

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A global UBS survey has revealed as expected, an increase in travel spending for 2018, with Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN), and Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd (ASX:VAH) positioned to do better than other airlines.

Australia is the only country in the survey with lower volume although total spend is up. Government data reveals that domestic travel is the most expensive it has been for nine years, so lower future price expansion is expected, as well as a relatively soft consumer environment.  

UBS maintains its Neutral rating (after downgrading from a buy recently) for Qantas with a price target of $6.50. The current share price is $6.26, and forward price-earnings-ratio (PER) is 10x. Qantas can pass on fuel price rises as well as maintain its premium brand, but going into FY19 higher fuel costs may be harder to recover.  

Virgin has a sell rating due to limited free cashflow generation and the FY19 high PER of 24x.  

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A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) had a fantastic year with the share price up over 200%. At the time of writing, the company's share price was up 5% after being sold down following a disappointing investor presentation by the company on 16 May, which indicated lower revenue in FY18 by around 5%. 

According to analysts, the main reason for the lower forecast revenue is related to a change in the packaging for the baby formula, which resulted in the holding back of some product until the change took place. 

A2 Milk Company sources and supplies the A2 brand of milk in Australia as well as owning the intellectual property. The company also supplies the A2 brand of milk in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The company is trading on a forward price-earnings-ratio of 40x. 

Other companies bouncing today include Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) and Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS). 

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According to UBS improving prospects for the REIT sector in the second half of 2018 are due to: 

• Key yield sectors such as banks have more downside risk 
• Ten year bond yields will remain around current levels of 2.9%.
• A potential capital return of $7 billion from the sector 

As REITs are seen as bond proxies, rising bond yields can be negative for share prices. REITs pay distributions that support a predictable and reliable dividend stream. During times of low returns from bonds, REITs are seen as an alternative. Bond yields remaining around current levels will stabilise prices of REITs. 

UBS believes that Scentre Group (SCG) will see an upturn in speciality retail sales on the back of recent strong employment growth, tax cuts, improving household cashflows and strong population growth. The discount to Net Tangible Assets of 5% is likely to be narrowed due to asset sales allowing acceleration of the buyback and the latest sales evidence with Blacktone's Top Ryde sold for $700 million.  

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Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) manufactures and distributes cochlear implantable devices for hearing impaired patients in Australia and more than 20 countries. 

UBS has updated its modelling of crucial drivers of Cochlear shares, resulting in minor changes to forecast earnings per share (EPS) by -3%. Forecast EPS growth will average 10.5% over the next three years.

Based on management's comments at a recent investor day around operating expenditure to increase future market penetration and maintain net profit margins, UBS sees downside risk to FY19/FY20 Bloomberg's consensus Net Profit After Tax.  

UBS has increased its share price target to A$170, up from $150. The share price is up 37% in a year, and at the current share price of $194, the company is a sell according to UBS.

Cochlear is trading on a forward price-earnings-ratio of 46x, which is a premium to the Health Care Equipment & Services industry median of  19.8x. 

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Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) is up 6% at the time of writing. The company comes under the Diversified Financial Industry classification and is trading on a very high forward price-earnings-ratio (PER) of 81x relative to the median PER of the industry. But with the company's wealth management platform offering superannuation and non-superannuation products, it is more of a financial technology company or "Fintech".  

The bounce in the share price may be due to the founder, Michael Heine, being named for the first time in the 2018 AFR Rich List, with wealth of $1.3 billion due to his holdings of Netwealth shares. 

Another fintech operating in the same industry is Hub24 Ltd (ASX: HUB), which has a Hub24 platform for financial advisers. The PER of 130x is exceptionally high, but is likely to be supported by strong future earnings as the company operates in a growth industry. 

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How far can the Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX:TLS) share price fall? So far the price has fallen 37% in a year, which includes a 1% bounce at the time of writing.  

UBS believes that Telstra cannot support its 'A' credit rating, so if it is downgraded to 'A-' and even lower long term, the interest payments on debt are going to rise. Finding the funds to pay for a higher interest bill will be restricted by the fact that the company has already committed to spending $3 billion on upgrading and modernising its network. If this is suspended, competitors are likely to gain ground.  

Cutting dividends may be the other way. UBS believes that Telstra may find it necessary to have progressive dividend cuts from FY20. The current UBS forecast for FY18-19 dividends per share is held at 22 cents, FY20 falls to 18 cents, and FY21-FY22 falls to 14 cents. 

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In the wake of the competing takeover bids for Healthscope Ltd (ASX: HSO), the company has decided to shut two private hospitals in Geelong and Kew after a portfolio review, due to the hospitals not being viable.

After completing its review of 45 hospitals, in a statement to the ASX, the company revealed its plans to rationalise its portfolio by closing the underperforming hospitals, which together are expected to incur a 'Hospital Operating EBITDA' loss in FY18 of approximately $8 million.

The company's updated FY18 earnings guidance expects that Hospital Operating EBITDA for FY18 would be between $340 million and $345 million, compared to previously being forecast to be in-line with FY17 Hospital Operating EBITDA of $359.4 million.

Reasons for a downgrade are due to "softer than planned market conditions in recent months and the continued impact of site-specific issues at Geelong Private, Cotham Private and Frankston Private hospitals".

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Australian Bureau of Statistics, hourly pay rates excluding bonuses, as measured by Australia's wage price index (WPI) rose by less than 2.1% in the year to March 2018, which is below levels last seen in previous recessions.

According to a report by Credit Suisse wage growth headwinds include:

• Unemployment is above the 5% wages pressure point
• Lower unionisation
• Increased labour flexibility
• Rising female participation
• Ageing population

So, what does this mean for retailers? Not only do people have less money to spend, and vast amounts of debt, unless a retailer has a competing and functional online presence, they are also losing out to offshore and local retailers who have risen to the challenge.

Companies feeling the pressure have been JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) and Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR).

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With Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) suffering from increased mobile phone competition and the ongoing impact of the National Broadband Network, cutting dividends is one of the few options available according to the analysts. Telstra has already cut its dividends from 31 cents a share to 22 cents a share for FY18 and FY19.

But, with lack of solutions to make up for the falling earnings, cutting dividends may be the only way to support the company as there is already a $3 billion commitment to upgrading the network.

The shares are at a seven year low but could go lower if further dividend cuts are made. The share price was down 2% at the time of writing to $2.75, trading on a forward price-earnings-ratio of 9x.

Vocus Group LTD (ASX: VOC) competing in the same industry as Telstra has come off nearly 3% today despite the positive response to the new MD and CEO announced yesterday.

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Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Charter Hall Core Logistic Partnerships (CLP) have announced a partnership to develop a $100 million-plus major produce facility in Laverton, according to The Australian newspaper today. Charter Hall CLP invests in institutional-grade industrial and logistics centres.

Charter Hall already has the Drystone Estate in Laverton with facilities for Target, Reject Shop, Couriers Please, Rand and Laverton Cold Storage. The Woolworths facility will add to the already high quality clients in its CLP portfolio.

The Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) also has two listed vehicles, which it manages as well as the unlisted property funds, called Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX: CQR) and Charter Hall LONG REIT (ASX: CLR). The two REITS have recently been divesting properties to enhance the quality of their property portfolios.

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