Here's a quick recap:

• FTSE 100 (UK): up 0.32%
• DAX (Germany): down 0.29%
• CAC 40 (France): down 0.56%
• Dow Jones (USA): down 0.04%
• NASDAQ (USA): up 0.1%

Servcorp Limited (ASX: SRV) looks set to be in the market's bad-books today. In an update to the market, it said it now expects full-year net profit before tax (NPBT) to be around $47 million, compared to previous guidance of not less than $56 million.

Gold miner Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) released its December quarterly report as well, revealing gold production of 615,000 ounces for the quarter. Its all-in sustaining cost decreased 4.9% for the quarter.

Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) announced the acquisition of Medical Laboratory Bremen, which is reportedly a well-known and highly respected laboratory practice in Germany. The company, which cost 63 million euro ($89.4 million) has 30 million euro ($42.6 million) of revenue and employs approximately 275 staff.

Shares of Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX: LNG) have been particularly volatile recently. The shares will be back in focus again today after it announced its subsidiary Magnolia LNG had further extended the validity period of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with KSJV. It also released its quarterly results.

Adslot Ltd (ASX: ADJ) reported that its trading technology revenue growth had continued and accelerated. Revenue for the December quarter grew to $1.464 million, an increase of 16% compared to the prior quarter. It was the ninth consecutive quarter of growth.

And finally, energy business Senex Energy Ltd (ASX: SXY) has placed its shares in a trading halt pending an announcement from the group.

Before getting started on your day, it may also be worth checking out these two articles:

1. Forget the banks and buy these 6 high-yielding dividend shares instead
2. This Is The Best Way To Value A Company

The post ASX 200 to fall on Monday: 6 shares you need to watch today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here are three companies which I think investors should consider for their core, growth, and speculative holdings.

The blue-chip stalwart

When investors buy blue-chip stocks, they should look for defensive characteristics to provide comfort that their largest investments won't go belly-up in the long-run. Whilst Australia has plenty of choice through any of Australia's big four banks, consumer staple Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) and infrastructure behemoth Transurban Group (ASX: TCL), I can't help but like Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) as the one blue-chip stock every investor should own.

Like fellow candidate CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), Telstra is a defensive stock that should perform well through most economic cycles. With its coveted 6% fully-franked yield on offer at current prices, its dividend places it above CSL in my books.

The growth stock

It's no secret that today's blue-chips were yesterday's growth stocks. Each of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Wesfarmers Limited (ASX: WES) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) started off as budding growth stocks that proved themselves through years of performance to become blue-chip stars today.

As a result, investors looking to make S&P/ASX 100 Index (ASX: XTO) beating returns will need to venture past the top 100 stocks and buy up-and-coming companies that have potential to be superstars of tomorrow. This requires looking for companies with a strong growth trajectory and market-beating history.

Whilst stocks like Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT), Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) and REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) immediately fit the bill with growth potential, my preferred exposure remains Retail Food Group Limited (ASX: RFG).

The pizza-cum-cafe-cum-bakery conglomerate has experienced tremendous year-on-year profit and revenue growth, with its latest acquisition of Hudson Pacific providing it with potential to build an even larger empire in the years to come. Watch this space.

The speculative (ten bagger)

Buying speculative stocks is incredibly risky as the potential for 10-fold gains is equally as likely as the potential for the company to go bust. This means investors dabbling in speculative investments must remember the basic principles of portfolio management — asset allocation.

My preferred ratio is the 60-30-10 rule where investors hold 60% in their core holdings, 30% as growth stocks and only 10% in speculative investments in order to hedge their risk, whilst ensuring they have the opportunity to pick the next 1,000% winner like Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL).

Although the index is littered with hot stocks like Praemium Ltd (ASX: PPS) and Mobile Embrace Ltd (ASX: MBE), my preferred exposure is Adslot Ltd (ASX: ADJ).

Adslot is a technology stock that demonstrates strong momentum and industry-disrupting characteristics, making it an exciting speculative stock to watch.

Foolish takeaway

Notable exclusions from the above list are the big four banks and resource giants BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO). Whilst that doesn't mean these stocks don't deserve a place in a well-diversified portfolio, I believe their current prices and muted growth prospects don't leave much room for things to go wrong.

Accordingly, whilst savvy investors should allocate some of their portfolio to these core holdings, I believe investors are better off buying Telstra, Retail Food Group and Adslot at current prices.

The post 3 shares I like for big income and growth prospects appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Adslot stunned the market on Friday after announcing its "single most significant customer contract in the history of the business". Adslot's shares reacted positively to the announcement, surging 25% to close within a whisker of its 52-week high.

The question investors will now ask, is whether it's too late to buy Adlsot shares? Here is what I think.

New deal

On Friday, management announced a new long term contact with groupm to use Adslot's Symphony platform.

Who is groupm?

According to the ASX announcement, groupm is the world's largest media buyer with annual billings of $102 billion dollars. Groupm enables advertisers to find or create valuable audiences and achieve desired marketing outcomes. Put simply, it helps advertisers find the best place to market their product or service for sales leads.

Based on groupm's website, it has operations all around the world with its 10 largest markets being Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, Turkey and the United Kingdom (in alphabetical order). The scale of these operations allows groupm to leverage its network and find its customers the perfect advertising solution, resulting in it being responsible for one in every three ads globally.

Deal specifics

Under the terms of the multi-year contract, groupm will activate Adslot's workflow and trading automation platform – Symphony – to deploy advertisements globally.

The deal provides Adslot with additional revenue from licence fees as and when new markets are entered, as well as providing it with an established (and significant) footprint in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Adslot's management believes the groupm contract will result in the value of media executed via Symphony to increase from around $3 billion to over $6 billion within 2 – 3 years. This bodes well for future earnings.

Company financials

Given Adslot's Symphony trading platform is already in place, operating cash flows are relatively fixed. This was reflected in its latest trading update provided in June where cash outflows decreased by 23% for the 12 months ended 30 June 2016.

Cash receipts for the 12 months to 30 June 2016 came in at $11.3 million, a 37% increase on prior year figures. With Friday's deal to expand its fee opportunity base, I'd expect revenues to grow exponentially from here whilst expenses remain stable.

Accordingly, I believe Friday's announcement solidifies Adslot's potential as a highly profitable business for the future.

Foolish takeaway

Although Google has a stranglehold on the online advertising market, companies like Adslot and recent reverse-listed market-entrant Tech Mpire Ltd (ASX: TMP) are making headway into taking market share from incumbent Google.

The new groupm deal provides Adslot with significant momentum in an industry where scalability is key, laying the foundations for its share price to soar further from here.

The post Adslot Ltd soars 25% on giant contract win: is it too late to buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Alphabet's better-than-expected earnings sent shares soaring over 5% in after-hours trade, putting its share price on track to hit new all-time highs when it opens on Friday. Obviously, this bodes well for shareholders (and people who indirectly own Alphabet shares through ETFs like the Vanguard MSCI Index International ETF (ASX: VGS) and the Vanguard US Total Market Shares Index ETF (ASX: VTS)), but that benefit requires international exposure which most retail investors are unlikely to have .

Whilst I do believe international diversification is essential to a balanced portfolio, investors can potentially capitalise on the trend of growing advertising revenue by buying shares in Australian-listed Adslot Ltd (ASX: ADJ).

Closer to home

Adslot is not your typical household name. The company owns a proprietary advertising portal which allows media agencies to buy and sell advertising space on leading websites (think of it as eBay for advertisers).

According to its website, Adslot has offices in New York, London, Shanghai, San Francisco, Hamburg, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, enabling it to connect media buyers and sellers across the globe to deliver a unified trading platform which provides targeted advertising content for clients.

At the heart of Adslot's operations is its technology platform which integrates seamlessly into clients' websites, allowing them to easily sell space to advertisers. The technology appears to be well regarded in the industry, with Adslot's list of exclusive publisher clients including eBay Inc., The Economist and Fairfax Media Limited (ASX: FXJ).

Importantly, media buyers (aka media agencies) buy the space from publisher clients to market a particular product on behalf of their client. This means minimal input is required from Adslot, making its business model akin to a trading platform like REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) and Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR).

Company financials

Management revealed results for the June quarter on Friday morning, reporting a rise in cash receipts of 6% to $2.77 million. Whilst this figure pales in comparison to Alphabet's earnings, the strength of Adslot lies in its scalability of product.

As a large part of its online eco-system is already in place, operating cash flows are relatively fixed, reflected in the 23% decrease of cash outflows for the 12 months ended 30 June 2016.

Although this means it still operates at a loss, Adslot's current negotiations on a "significant contract" with an international media buying organisation could provide a catalyst to grow earnings and start taking meaningful market share from industry heavyweight Google.

Foolish takeaway

Let me make one thing clear; Adslot is not the next Google. Adslot is a much riskier proposition as the company is still proving itself in the digital advertising market.

What Adslot offers, however, is leverage to online advertising growth, by tapping into this burgeoning market. Although Google remains the gold standard in online advertising, if Adslot manages to win even a fraction of Google's market share over time, I believe it could be a big winner from current prices.

The post Could this under-the-radar stock be the next Google? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices

The thing to keep in mind when investing in micro-caps is that they all have a great story to tell, but most will not turn out to be good investments.

Having found something that ticks all the boxes, a common approach used by early stage investors is to make a small initial investment and to increase the commitment later if and when the company has achieved a predetermined milestone, such as reaching positive cash flow or hitting a revenue target.

Using a watch list is a good way to monitor the progress of interesting companies to see if they are on track. Here are five micro-to-small caps which are worth keeping an eye on:

Smart Parking Limited (ASX: SPZ) has developed technology which uses sensors to provide information on car park availability. It can also help generate data for car park owners and managers. Smart Parking currently operates over 1,100 car parks.

The company is not yet profitable, but has no debt and revenues are growing quickly. Clearly there is massive potential if Smart Parking can become a leader in this space.

Shares are up around 220% in the last 12 months.

LiveTiles Ltd (ASX: LVT) provides a platform for creating digital dashboards and sites using Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365. LiveTiles has an agreement with Microsoft under which their product is offered as a free trial to all commercial Office 365 customers in the US.

The company is still very early stage, with around 120 paying customers and annualised subscription revenue of $649,000 at 31 March.

It is interesting to note that award winning fund manager Regal Funds Management has recently become a substantial shareholder.

IOT Group Limited (ASX: IOT) recently commenced trading on the ASX after a reverse takeover of Ardent Resources.

IOT has a range of smart watches, a drone product designed to produce video and take selfies, and a global internet TV platform known as Intervision.

News reports of IOT's flying selfie stick and announcements regarding distribution deals in the US, Japan and Australia have put a rocket under the share price, which is up nearly 700% in the last month.

The company is currently sending out its product to prominent selfie taking celebrities, which seems like a good strategy for generating more publicity. Time will tell whether this translates into sales and IOT can become a contender in the competitive tech hardware industry.

Adslot Ltd (ASX: ADJ) has developed a platform for trading digital media.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $100 million and is not yet profitable, but has been growing revenues strongly and recently completed a $4.6 million capital raising.

Shares have been volatile over the last 12 months, but are pretty much back where they started, at around 10 cents.

Vmoto Ltd (ASX: VMT) manufactures electric scooters which it sells worldwide. Initially with a focus on the Chinese market, it is now looking to grow sales in other regions with better profit margins.

Unlike many of its fellow microcaps, Vmoto is profitable. However, the company has indicated a potential softening of sales in China this year. Based on its latest market update, it sold around 19,000 units in the March quarter, which was below expectations.

It will be interesting to see if the company can offset slower sales in China with growth in other countries.

Vmoto's products have received positive reviews, however it has plenty of competition. Shares are down 60% in the last 12 months.

The post 5 small-cap shares for your watch list  appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

However, investors in the following 4 companies probably wouldn't be all that happy…

Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC) share price plunged 9.9% to 7.3 cents. The rare earths miner today reported that it was unable to sustain its breakeven performance into the March quarter, after the first two quarters. Continued low rare earths prices means the company has been unable to fund improvements with cash flow, and the company has just $10m cash in the bank (non-restricted) at the end of March 31.

Adslot Ltd's (ASX: ADJ) share price dropped 7% to 9.3 cents. Adslot offers companies the ability to control their advertising needs via its Symphony technology, and allows advertisers and publishers to work together in a more coherent form. The company is only small, but is growing revenues strongly – however cash receipts for the March 2016 quarter fell by 22% compared to the prior quarter. Compared to last year, cash receipts were up 19%, but the company has just $2 million in cash at the end of the quarter, prompting it to raise $4.6 million in capital recently.

Mobile Embrace Ltd (ASX: MBE) saw its share price fall 5.5% to 34.5 cents, despite no news from the company in more than 2 weeks. Mobile Embrace is a small technology firm that focuses on mobile payments and allows consumers to pay for goods and services via their mobile phone carrier plan. The company reported $2.6 million in net profit for the first half of the 2016 financial year in February, but trades on a fairly high P/E ratio (above 20x), suggesting the market is expecting strong growth in the years ahead. Shares can be illiquid, causing the share price to surge or sink depending on the day.

Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD) saw its share price plummet 6.6% to $1.42, despite no news from the outdoor apparel retailer in the past month. After reaching $1.60 two weeks ago, the share price has slipped, and the company is still heavily reliant on its upcoming winter sales season. Much depends on the weather – with colder weather likely to spur sales, and warmer weather putting a giant hole in the company's revenues. At current prices, Kathmandu shares appear expensive based on FY2016 net profit of NZ$30 million, which equates to a P/E ratio of around 24x.

The post 4 small cap shares plunging on the ASX today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

However, revenues from continuing operations rose 81% to $3.09 million which the small-cap attributed to growth in the adoption of its trading platform by large media buyers. This was particularly evident in the U.S. market which the company said had driven the majority of Trading Technology growth to date.

Adslot is an online advertising business which allows companies to more accurately direct their content at a targeted audience than if they chose to advertise with Google, as an example. It has a market capitalisation of just over $100 million and has managed to reach a number of agreements with companies such as Microsoft, Operative and PubMatric. This stock could deserve a position on your watchlist today.

The post Adslot Ltd reports earnings: Is this small-cap tech stock a buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's our take on why they have soared today…

Graphite explorer Triton Minerals Ltd (ASX: TON) is up 19.5% at 46 cents. Earlier this week Triton reported that it had issues 2.6 million shares at a deemed issue price of 61 cents, and 5 million options, exercisable at 70 cents which expire in 3 years' time. The securities were issued as part consideration to acquire an 80% interest in a number of graphite projects. Triton now has 3 prospective graphite projects in the same region.

Intrepid Mines Limited (Australia) (ASX: IAU) shares have soared 10.6%, after the company announced a merger with Blackthorn Resources Limited (ASX: BTR). The combined company will then have a world class copper project in Zambia, named Kitumba, as well as more than $80 million in cash, post-merger.

Adslot Ltd (ASX: ADJ), an internet technology and marketing company has seen its shares rise 14.3% today, despite no announcements from the company. In the past month, shares in Adslot have climbed 60%, partly as a result of a flurry of agreements with some very large companies, including one with Microsoft (PDF), Nielsen Online Ratings and Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG). Investors may also be speculating that Adslot could be a takeover target for a larger tech firm.

Ausdrill Limited (ASX: ASL) shares have soared 13.5%. Yesterday, the mining services company reported an underlying net profit of $29.1 million for 2014, down 68% compared to the previous year. The company appears to be focusing on the right issues, including paying off $71 million of debt, (but still has $400m of net debt) and says it expects an improved earnings result in 2015.

With net tangible assets of $2.37 per share, Ausdrill looks very cheap. The problem is that as Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) shareholders found out today with the airline's $2.6 billion writedown – book value doesn't always equal market value.

The post 4 ASX-listed stocks rocketing ahead more than 10% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

I hate to tell you, but you'll never achieve dream-like returns buying blue-chip stocks like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) and Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). Searching for dividend yield is the ultimate conservative investment strategy.

There is a time and place for diversification and risk-averse investing, but the risk-reward law of investing tells us you'll never truly 'win big' without buying a lottery ticket and accepting it's potentially all or nothing.

I'm a firm believer that if you are in the growth or "accumulation" phase of your working life you should be focused on finding small or mid-cap stocks with growth potential rather than income plays.

If your timeframe is 20 years or more, I don't believe it's unreasonable to have 60% of portfolio invested in "growth" stocks. The market has proven time and again it's smarter to invest in growth stocks over high yields if you've got a long-term mindset.

Growth doesn't mean speculative. There's a big difference.

Finding established businesses is crucial – whether small or large – it's important the business model and balance sheets are in your favour. Some investors will take free cash flow and generous bank balances for granted without assessing costs of exploration or research and development – it's a quick way to put a black hole in your profit and loss.

The next 20 years

Exportable commodities – I'm not just talking about the stuff we dig up – should be a central theme to long-term investors' portfolios. Healthcare, biotechnology, resources and education are – and will be – vitally important to global markets.

Companies like CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Resmed Inc (ASX: RMD) prove Australia still has a competitive advantage in something. Take note.

Motley Fool analyst, Mike King, highlighted that many of the big healthcare stocks are terrific businesses although many are already fully valued. However, he acknowledged: "There are still plenty of fish to shoot in the healthcare barrel."

I couldn't agree more.

My top stock for October was ADMEDUS FPO (ASX: AHZ), which in just over four months has risen 200%, but I don't believe it's done yet. At $0.17 per share I still believe there is considerable upside, particularly since the company is yet to recognise any significant sales of its Cardiocel technology which recently gained European and FDA approval.

Tiny software developer Global Health Limited (ASX: GLH) also derives its earnings from the healthcare sector. Its ambition is to provide innovative communications solutions to medical professionals including psychologists, GPs and more. It was my top stock for January and despite recognising gains of around 800% in 2013, has since risen 36% on a decent half-yearly report.

Here today, gone tomorrow

Technology continues to pervade our lives. The future will be more connected, yet simpler than we can imagine today. Warren Buffett – arguably the greatest investor ever – knows simple business models are an investor's best friend.

Adslot Ltd (ASX: ADJ) provides a seamless process for advertisers on digital content. Adding online marketing to your business' advertising strategy is as simple as picking a target audience and putting it in your shopping cart. Watch out for this one.

Money-rich, time-poor

When it comes to speculative investments. Waiting is what gets the better of most people. Whilst your friends lap up dividends or go out and buy expensive toys, you'll have to be content with your stock picking ability and wait patiently.

But not with this stock. Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (ASX: LNG) is a junior gas explorer which has its flagship Magnolia project in the heart of US gas country, the Gulf of Mexico. If it stays at $0.33 per share, it will be the next company to enter my portfolio but I know time is against me because this company continues to produce promising results and announcements.

Foolish takeaway

Finding that next big thing isn't as easy as it seems, so it's important to keep your eyes peeled for new ideas and divvy-up your speculative punts. Although these top growth ideas could be extremely rewarding, it's important to build a stable core group of companies you can rely upon, before taking on such high risk investments. With micro-cap stocks you shouldn't invest more than you can afford to lose.

The post 4 micro-caps with massive potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.