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

Arcadium Lithium (ASX: LTM)

The Arcadium Lithium share price is up 6.5% to $10.77. Arcadium Lithium is new on the ASX boards and was formed following the merger of Allkem with Livent Corp. Investors appear to see value on offer here following recent weakness in the lithium industry.

Boart Longyear Group Ltd (ASX: BLY)

The Boart Longyear share price is up 55% to $2.72. This follows news that the drilling services company has entered into a binding arrangement agreement with an affiliate of American Industrial Partners Capital Fund. The agreement will see American Industrial Partners Capital Fund acquire Boart Longyear for US$1.9554 per share, which implies a total equity value of approximately US$371 million.

Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT)

The Opthea share price is up 24% to 56.5 cents. This morning, this biopharmaceutical company advised that it expects to receive the remaining US$35 million funding from the Development Funding Agreement (DFA) with Carlyle and its life science franchise Abingworth. In addition, it is expecting a further US$50 million financing under an Amended DFA to include a new co-investor. Pleasingly, this financing is non-dilutive to shareholders.

Orecorp Ltd (ASX: ORR)

The Orecorp share price is up almost 13% to 57.5 cents. This has been driven by news that the gold miner has received and accepted a takeover offer from Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSE: SVM). Silvercorp has offered the equivalent of 58.9 cents per share. This values OreCorp at approximately $276.5 million.

The post Why Arcadium Lithium, Boart Longyear, Opthea, and Orecorp shares are rising today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In afternoon trading, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.5%. That's what we like to see.

And these three ASX All Ords shares are doing more than their fair share of the heavy lifting today, all up more than 10%.

This ASX All Ords share is rocketing 13%

Up first we have Nufarm Ltd (ASX: NUF).

Shares in the crop protection and seeds company closed yesterday trading for $5.30. Shares are currently changing hands for $6.00 apiece. That puts the Nufarm share price up a whopping 13.1% today.

Investors are bidding up the All Ords share following the release of its half-year results.

While revenue dipped 1% year on year to $2 billion, underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) was up 7% to $142 million. And statutory NPAT leapt 51% to $149 million.

Also likely catching ASX investors' attention was the boosted Nufarm dividend.

On the back of increased profits, the board declared an interim dividend of 5 cents per share, unfranked. That's up 25% from last year's interim dividend.

What other ASX stocks are storming higher today?

Joining the Nufarm share price in rocketing skywards today is Boart Longyear Ltd (ASX: BLY).

Boart Longyear provides drilling services and equipment for mining companies across the world.

The Boart Longyear share price closed yesterday at $1.65. Shares are currently changing hands for $1.91, up 15.8%.

There's no price-sensitive news out from this ASX All Ords share today. We can only speculate that its drilling services and equipment sales may be picking up.

Which brings us to the third ASX All Ords share shooting the lights out today, Australian Agricultural Co Ltd (ASX: AAC).

Australian Agricultural is one of Australia's largest, integrated cattle and beef producers.

The Australian Agricultural share price closed yesterday at $1.41. Shares are currently trading for $1.57, up 11.4%.

The All Ords share is getting some investor love today following the release of the company's full 2023 financial year results (FY23).

The cattle producer reported a 35% increase in its operating profit, which reached $67 million for the year. Total revenue increased by 14% year on year to $313 million.

And the company's herd expanded by 13% over the year to 433,000 cattle.

According to management, "This investment in the herd will be realised over time, considering the Wagyu supply chain stretches across several years."

The post 3 ASX All Ords shares surging over 10% on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the Boart Longyear share price is racing 52.94% higher to $1.04. This is just below its intraday high of $1.05 that was achieved mid-morning.

What did the company announce?

The Boart Longyear share price is gaining significant interest today with investors scrambling to get in on the action.

Prior to the market's open this morning, Boart Longyear advised it has engaged multinational investment bank and financial services firm Rothschild & Co to assist with the company's strategic direction.

The decision to seek advisory support from Rothschild comes as Boart Longyear is looking to tackle its debt obligations. Net debt recorded at the end of the September period stood at $823 million, increasing $67 million from financing costs.

The company's current debt facilities are expected to mature during the second-half of 2022. Management said that possible options to service the growing debt profile could include refinance or recapitalisation.

CEO commentary

Boart Longyear CEO Mr Jeff Olsen commented on the company's position, saying:

It is important for the company to start exploring all available options to address its future debt maturities and set us up to take advantage of future growth opportunities. There are clear signs that the mining and metals market is seeing increased activity as demonstrated through recent investments in our sector with major mining houses signalling increased exploration spend.

We are also seeing intermediate and junior miners accessing capital through significant equity raisings allowing them to get out and explore for tomorrow's resources.

Boart Longyear share price snapshot

Despite today's meteoric rise, over the past 12 months, the Boart Longyear share price has dropped nearly 40%.

Reaching a 52-week high of $1.75 last January, Boart Longyear shares took a dive following the onset of the pandemic. Furthermore, throughout the second half of 2020, and prior to today's rise, the company's shares had barely managed any significant recovery. It's also worth noting that the Boart Longyear share price hit an all-time low of 29.5 cents just last month.

The post Why the Boart Longyear (ASX:BLY) share price is rocketing 50% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But 2018 could prove more fruitful, particularly for these companies which are already off to flying starts.

Highfield Resources Ltd (ASX: HFR)

The Highfield Resources Ltd share price was up by more than 10 per cent on Wednesday as the company continues to recover from a rocky 2017.

The Highfield Resources share price slumped to 88 cents in late November but has since been moving up, gaining more than 25 per cent to trade at its current price of $1.11.

Highfield Resources, a Spanish potash developer with a market cap $365 million, endured a turbulent 2017 as its share price started the year at around $1.33 before dropping to a low 76 cents.

But 2018 has seen the company's stock off to a strong start.

Highfield Resources reported a net loss for financial year (FY) 2017 exceeding $7 million, an improvement on FY 2016's loss of about $10.4 million.

Boart Longyear Ltd. (ASX: BLY)

2017 certainly was a long year for Boart's shareholders who watched the company's share price drop by almost 90 per cent.

But 2018 is looking better for the Boart share price, having gained about 9 per cent on Wednesday.

Boart, a leading supplier of drilling services, equipment and tooling for mining and drilling companies, with a market value of $315 million, may turn things around this year.

In the quarter ended 30 September 2017, Boart reported revenue of $70 million, 14 per cent up on the prior corresponding period.

Altura Mining Ltd (ASX: AJM)

The Altura Mining Ltd share price notched up another 6.7 per cent on Wednesday, adding to gains over the past year of more than 250 per cent.

Altura Mining is hopeful that its flagship project at Pilgangoora, in Western Australia's north, will establish the company as a significant player in the lithium sector.

Altura wasn't the only lithium company to enjoy gains on Wednesday.

Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY), Kidman Resources Ltd (ASX: KDR), Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) all saw their share prices edge higher.

The post These 3 shares are charging higher into 2018 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four shares that haven't been able to climb higher today are listed below. Here's why they are finishing the week in the red:

The Boart Longyear Ltd (ASX: BLY) share price has sunk 29% to 2.7 cents despite there being no news out of the drilling company. It appears that some investors are not optimistic that the embattled company's post-recapitalisation capital structure will improve its current situation.

The Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) share price has tumbled 3% to $2.53. The lithium miner once again appears to be the victim of profit-taking following an incredible run in the last few weeks. I think this sell-off has created a buying opportunity for investors looking for exposure to the resources sector.

The St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price has fallen 3% to $2.69. St Barbara is just one of a number of gold miners sinking lower today after the outlook for gold softened. With the Federal Reserve likely to raise interest rates four times between now and the end of next year, unless a significant risk event occurs, I think the gold price could fall sharply from here.

The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is down 3% to $3.53. Today's decline is likely to be attributable to a sharp drop in Chinese coal futures after the Chinese government signalled that it was ready to take more steps to boost supplies.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares are ending the week in the red appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four shares which haven't let that hold them back are listed below. Here's why they are climbing higher:

The Boart Longyear Ltd (ASX: BLY) share price has climbed 5.5% to 3.8 cents after the drilling services company announced that S&P Global has raised its corporate credit rating to CCC+. The ratings agency has, however, retained a negative outlook on Boart Longyear.

The DE Mem Ltd (ASX: DEM) share price is up 3% to 33 cents after the Singapore-based water and waste water treatment company announced its expansion into the Australian market with the acquisition of Akwa-Worx. DE Mem will acquire the leading provider of water and waste water treatment systems and supplies products for $1.5 million in cash plus $460,000 of DE Mem shares. I think DE Mem could be one to watch closely this year.

The Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) share price has continued its strong run and is up 3% to $2.65. This morning the lithium miner provided a positive update on the assays at its James Bay Project in Canada. The results reaffirm the potential of James Bay as a long-life high grade spodumene project.

The Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) share price is up 2.5% to 73.7 cents following the release of its full-year results. This morning Myer reported full-year net profit after tax of $67.9 million, down 2.2% on last year's result and ahead of one broker's expectations. One slight disappointment, though, was that the trading during the first six weeks of FY 2018 have been below management's expectations.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares climbed higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's a quick recap of global markets:

• FTSE 100 (UK): up 0.6%
• DAX (Germany): up 0.4%
• CAC 40 (France): up 0.3%
• Dow Jones (USA): down 0.2%
• NASDAQ (USA): down 0.1%

In London, shares ended higher following a rally in mining shares. FTSE-listed shares of BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) ended 2.1% and 1.1% higher, respectively.

Across the pond, US markets ended lower despite reaching a new high during the period. Falling oil prices weighed on the energy sector.

Closer to home, the ASX 200 is expected to open slightly lower today, following a release of the Government's 2017 Budget overnight.

Shares in focus will include CBA, Westpac, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) and Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG). As part of the Government's Budget, a tax of 0.06% will be imposed on the Big Banks.

In other news, CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) announced that its full-year revenue rose 7% to $2.46 billion with profit up 25%.

Also in focus, Boart Longyear Ltd. (ASX: BLY) shares have entered a trading halt pending a Supreme Court announcement into a scheme by its creditors for the company's recapitalisation.

News Corp (ASX: NWS) reported a 5% rise in third-quarter sales and a break-even operating profit result, up from a $128 million loss last year.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) shares will also be in focus following a promising third quarter profit result. The owner of realestate.com.au reported revenue up 16% with operating profit up 20%.

Finally, Goldman Sachs analysts downgraded Fairfax Media Limited (ASX: FXJ) shares to 'neutral' from 'buy'.

The post S&P/ASX 200 open Wednesday: 10 shares to watch appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Overall activity within the mining industry continues to decline and contracting companies are being squeezed for every last penny and most are currently operating at a loss.

Boart Longyear reported a 9% decline in revenue to US$387 million during the half-year whilst the company posted a total loss of US$152 million, compared to a loss of US$143 million in the prior corresponding period.

A US$31 million impairment charge was booked against its property, plant and equipment during the period along with restructuring costs of US$10 million.

Boart Longyear currently has US$677 million of debt which resulted in a US$36 million interest bill for the half-year. With only US$120 million of cash in the bank and the business losing more than US$100 million every six months, the outlook for the company is pretty grim.

The media release stated that: "The Company is not providing an outlook for 2015 revenue or EBITDA… the Company's financial results, especially margins, will continue to be challenged by extremely competitive industry pricing for drilling services".

With an uncertain outlook and a high chance of additional losses ahead of it, investors would be wise to avoid Boart Longyear and the mining services sector altogether.

The post Boart Longyear Ltd. reports results as the CEO steps down appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Still, these stocks had a horror day, falling by more than 4%.

First, it was the iron ore miners, Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO) and Arrium Limited (ASX: ARI) falling 6.1%, 5.7% and 4.9%. The cause was the spot iron ore price falling to a new six-year low of US$59.73 a tonne overnight. Media also reports one Australian cargo being sold at US$58 per tonne, suggesting we haven't hit bottom yet.

Next it was the gold miners. Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL), Kingsrose Mining Limited (ASX: KRM), Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) and Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) all closing down by more than 8%. Regis crashed down 26.7% to $1.40 after reporting lower than expected production for the March quarter.

Spot gold prices have been falling lately, and currently trade at US$1,200 an ounce or A$1,542 an ounce. That suggests many Australian miners should be making a decent margin, but clearly unexpected events can disrupt their results.

GID Dynamics Inc (ASX: GID) had a shocker, losing half its value to close at 15 cents. Illustrating how volatile the biotechnology sector can be, GID fell after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put a hold on enrolment in the company's EndoBarrier drug trials. Where to from here is anybody's guess.

MaxiTRANS Industries Limited (ASX: MXI) fell 6.8% to 55 cents. The provider of trailers and truck parts has seen its shares plunge 54% in the past 12 months, as the company takes collateral damage from the slowing resources boom. To make matters worse, poor financial results saw the company dumped from the S&P/ASX 300 index today.

Boart Longyear Ltd (ASX: BLY), a supplier of products and services to the mining industry, including drilling services and drilling equipment, dropped 6.7% to 21 cents, despite two directors buying shares earlier this month.

The post Several stocks crushed as ASX ends the week flat appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Just 3 companies in the top 20 managed to post positive gains today.

These four stocks, by comparison, were heavily sold down by investors. Here's our take…

eServGlobal Ltd (ASX: ESV) sank 13.6% to 47.5 cents as investors digested the news that CEO Paolo Montessori was stepping down immediately. No explanation was given for the sudden departure, with Montessori only appointed in April 2013. eServGlobal says Stephen Blundell, the current chief operating office will assume the temporary CEO's role until a successor is found. eServGlobal provides mobile money and other mobile financial services.

Boart Longyear Limited (ASX: BLY) dropped 10.4% to 21.5 cents, despite yesterday's ASX notices of directors buying additional shares in the beleaguered mining services company. Peter Day bought 125,000 shares on market while Bret Clayton purchased an initial 300,000 shares on market. Boart has recently been recapitalised in order to continue as a going concern, but investors clearly still have doubts.

Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF) fell 7% to $2.53. The company owns and operates 26 Sizzler restaurants in Queensland and 172 KFC outlets in Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia and another 61 franchised Sizzler restaurants in Asia. Despite today's fall, shares are still up 37% over the past year. Perhaps investors have taken their cue from fund manager Allan Gray Australia, which has been lightening its holding in the company and now owns 17.7%, down from 18.7%.

Grays Ecommerce Group Ltd (ASX: GEG) fell 5.6% to $1.18 and has now fallen 10% since last week. Perhaps investors weren't inspired by the company's recent half results – where net profit rose 142% to $1.2 million on the back of a 29% increase in revenue to $100.4 million. Grays owns two online businesses B2B and B2C. B2B is focused on business facing online sites while B2C segment includes the graysonline, DealsDirect, OO.com.au and TopBuy brands.

The post 4 stocks smashed on the ASX today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

So What: Although revenues fell by more than 29% to US$867 million, reflecting the declining demand for mining services, Boart Longyear posted a net loss of US$332.7 million, which compares favourably to the US$619.9 million loss recorded in 2013. Meanwhile, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) came in at $31 million and earnings per share (EPS) were -70.8 cents, compared to -136.1 cents in 2013.

Given the commodities crisis, mining companies are heavily scaling back their exploration costs and moving their mining services in-house, thus creating strong headwinds for companies such as Boart Longyear, Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) and Worleyparsons Limited (ASX: WOR). Since the beginning of 2011, Boart Longyear has fallen by more than 95% to trade at just 21 cents. It peaked at around $27.50 in 2007.

Now What: The company said that "extremely competitive industry pricing" and other factors, including the strengthening U.S. dollar, would continue to impact the company's financial results in 2015. The company did not declare a final dividend, just as it didn't declare an interim dividend when it reported six months ago.

Luckily, while Boart Longyear has scrapped its dividend, there are plenty of other great dividend stocks you can buy right now!

The post Boart Longyear Ltd. jumps on earnings report: Is the stock a buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But that didn't help these four stocks, which were heavily sold off…

Education provider Vocation Ltd (ASX: VET) dropped 15.1% to 22.5 cents, and has now lost 89% in the past year. But the market may have oversold the company – as we discussed earlier today. At these prices, the company is trading on just over two times 2015 financial year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), expected to be between $25 million and $30 million. Total market cap is $61 million.

Travel agent Helloworld Ltd (ASX: HLO) sank 11.8% to 30 cents, but shares did jump as much as 50% last week to 39 cents, after the company announced that it had been appointed as the sole provider of travel management services to the Australian government. It may simply be a case of long time shareholders taking the opportunity to jump out of the stock, which once traded above $3.70.

Mining services company Boart Longyear Limited (ASX: BLY) fell 11.1% to 16 cents, after the company said demand for its drilling services was unlikely to rise in the next twelve months. Boart has managed to recapitalise itself, but heavy exposure to copper and gold exploration mean the company is not out of the woods yet. CEO Richard O'Brien says exploration for those two metals continues to dry up.

Junior biotech Novagen Limited (ASX: NRT) dropped 30% to 11.5 cents, after rising 96% yesterday, and adding 63% earlier today. It's certainly been a rollercoaster for shareholders, after the company announced it had made a breakthrough in the treatment of melanoma, and then capitalising on the rocketing share price, announced a capital raising.

The post 4 ASX stocks hammered down by the market today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The banks led the way down, although Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) went ex-dividend today, with 92 cents of the $1.37 fall attributed to that.

Here are 4 other companies who have seen their share prices savaged by investors today…

Azure Healthcare Ltd (ASX: AZV) saw its share price almost halve, losing 46.7% to close at just 24 cents. The company today announced that it expected its first half profit for the six months to end of December 2014 to come in between $0.8 million and $1.2 million, compared to $2.2 million in the previous year. It seems the company has increased spending on staff and R&D expenditure to "resource itself for future anticipated growth". The price fall seems rather harsh in those circumstances.

Anteo Diagnostics Ltd (ASX: ADO) lost 11.5% to 11.5 cents today, with investors obviously not pleased with the company's annual general meeting (AGM) update. Was it the millions of options issued to directors, more shares issued under the Executive/Employee Share Plan, or approval of an additional 10% placement capacity? It could be all of the above, which could see shareholders existing holdings diluted. It seems clear that some companies don't get that retail investors are waking up to the fact they get excluded from institutional placements and are voting with their feet.

Boart Longyear Ltd (ASX: BLY), the drilling services and equipment supplier, dropped 11.1% to 20 cents, despite no news from the company. Boart recently announced that it had partly refinanced its Senior Secured Notes which were due on October 2018. Ongoing doubts over the company's ability to continue to operate may well have weighed on investors minds, and the recent run up in price from around 14 cents may well have been a 'dead-cat bounce'.

Photo-mapping company Nearmap Limited (ASX: NEA) saw its shares pummelled down 9% to 70 cents, possibly as a result of the strong price appreciation in recent weeks. Despite today's drop, Nearmap shares have rallied 36% since October 13, after the company announced its expansion into the US. Given the potential in the US market, Nearmap says it wants to achieve sales of between $30 and $50 million there by December 2017, but given its success in Australia, that may be a conservative estimate.

The post 4 ASX stocks savaged by the market today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

As a result of an initial equity placement transacted today Centerbridge's ownership in Boart has increased from 12.7% to 19.9%, via the issue of US$5.6 million worth of equity in Boart to Centerbridge. In late December, Centerbridge's ownership will increase from 19.9% to 37% as a result of a Follow-On Conditional Placement.

Boart's drilling teams operate in more than 40 countries looking for a wide range of commodities including, gold, copper, nickel, zinc, uranium and other metals or minerals.

However the general downturn in commodity prices and capital expenditure on new mining projects has seen Boart's market value collapse in half since February 2014 and long-term shareholders will likely view today's news with relief rather than pleasure.

Boart is not alone in being hit hard recently with larger mining services and engineering businesses like Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND) and Worleyparsons Limited (ASX: WOR) seeing their own share prices hit 52-week lows recently.

The post Is Boart Longyear Ltd. on the road to recovery? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

1. The S&P/ ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has slumped 0.3% lower, following the lead from US markets overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.9%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and the NASDAQ was down 0.8%.That follows seven days of gains, and as Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities told Bloomberg,
   

   "The market is [being] driven by trader and investor emotion and sentiment."

   Yes Fools, volatility continues in the markets, making decent dividend paying stocks even more important to ride out the storm.

2. Speaking of dividends, the Motley Fool's newest service, Dividend Investor, has opened to the public. The services is focused solely on dividend-paying stocks, and with term deposit rates at rock bottom, fully franked, safe dividend yields are on offer at around double the interest rates on offer from some banks.You can read more here, including why our General Manager, Bruce Jackson, has committed to investing at least $100,000 of his own family's cash behind Motley Fool Dividend Investor stock picks.
3. Mining services company Boart Longyear Limited (ASX: BLY) has secured a funding deal that should keep the company alive. Shares have soared 40% today to 21 cents, but investors will be asked to stump up more cash in a US$76 to US$84 million rights issue.While the company is alive to fight another day, shareholders are likely to be heavily diluted, and Foolish investors would do well to steer clear.
4. Tweet of the Day
   

   Private Equity sold $BLY a few years ago at $2 in IPO. Now buying it back for around $0.015 based on old price. Lesson for history #ausbiz

   — Peter Esho (@PeterEsho) October 22, 2014

   Sums up how Private Equity (PE) firms make their money, and why investors need to be wary of IPOs backed by PE companies.

5. Stock of the Day – brought to you by Matt Joass – Medibank Private. The government-owned health insurer is expected to list on the ASX before the end of this year, and Matt highlights some of the points potential investors need to consider.

The post 5 things you need to know about the Australian sharemarket today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But a number of stocks fared even worse. Here we take a look at the plummeting shares prices of four stocks…

Boart Longyear Ltd (ASX: BLY), the beleaguered mining services company lost 10% to slide to 13.5 cents. There continue to be ongoing doubts over whether Boart can continue as a viable business. Thanks to its heavy debt load, the company still exists on the whims of its bankers. At the end of June 2014, the company had $556 million of net debt.

Smartpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: SMP), a provider of EFTPOS machines, saw its shares lose 7.8% to 23.5 cents. Shares are down 17.5% over the past six months, despite the company recently announcing that it expects to launch SmartPay in taxis in Australia, continued growth in the small to medium business sector and a number of other plans to grow revenues.

TFS Corporation Ltd (ASX: TFC), Australia's only listed sandalwood producer and refiner; saw its shares pummelled down 6.6% to $1.97. Still, year to date, shares in TFS are up 95%, as the company moves into a new phase of harvesting and selling rare sandalwood oil and heart wood.

Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN), a struggling uranium miner, reported today that it expects to see even lower production in the September quarter. In an earlier update, the company said production was expected to be down by around 15%, thanks to annual maintenance, but now says production is expected to be between 20% and 22.5% lower, thanks to additional maintenance issues.

Thankfully for investors, there's another alternative. The Motley Fool's top analyst, Scott Phillips, recently identified one cheap but growing ASX stock with a 6.3% grossed-up dividend yield which I think is a STANDOUT buy today. If you're interested in knowing its name, just click on the link below, enter your email address and we'll send you the FREE report on his top dividend stock idea for 2014 – 2015 right away!

The post 4 ASX companies crushed by the market today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

On Tuesday, drilling contractor Boart Longyear reported its half-year results to the market and its share price fell 12.8%. The stock has now lost 94% of its value in the past 12 months – it makes the 10% return from the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) look mighty appealing!

The results showed the painful effects of the ongoing contraction of the resources sector. For the half, revenue slumped to $421 million from $719 million in the prior corresponding period and the adjusted net loss after tax widened from $24 million to $68 million.

While these results are obviously bad and once again shareholders won't be receiving a dividend, much more worrying is the net debt level which remains stubbornly high at $556 million. This situation has led management to use terms such as, "expect to be covenant compliant through March 2015 testing date", and "material uncertainty but anticipated liquidity and financial resources available to meet business needs during pendency of Strategic Review."

While management obviously has first-hand knowledge of the liquidity situation and believes the company can trade through, in my experience once debt levels reach these heights and managers start talking in these terms, it's touch and go whether a company survives. What's more, without knowledge of the re-capitalisation process investors may struggle to get an adequate return even if the company does survive.

Those buying into Boart Longyear at current levels could make a huge return – after such a large fall a big profit is certainly possible – however there are significant risks that they won't get any return.

The post Is Boart Longyear Ltd worth the punt for contrarian investors? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

1. The S&P/ ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened flat, despite US markets setting new records on Wall Street overnight. The S&P 500 hit the 2,000 mark for the first time ever. The index has climbed on 9 out of the past 12 days, and more than US$900 billion added to the value of American equities, according to Bloomberg.
   This bull market could still be headed higher after Europe's central bank president Mario 'whatever it takes' Draghi signalled that policy makers were ready to add more stimulus to Europe's economies.
2. Iron ore miners will be in focus today, after the spot iron ore price suffered a 1% drop to US$89.20 a tonne. The commodity's price has now dropped 32% for the year, and junior miners with higher production costs like Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO), Arrium Limited (ASX: ARI) and Mount Gibson Iron Limited (ASX: MGX) could come under heavy selling pressure today. In early trade, Arrium is down 1.7%, while Atlas Iron and Mount Gibson had posted positive starts.
3. Troubled mining services company Boart Longyear Limited (ASX: BLY) says there is material uncertainty whether it can survive, without a substantial recapitalisation of the business. Boart Longyear's shares are down 7.7% to just 18 cents in early trading. We were warning about this major risk when we posted back in early July.
4. Tweet of the Day
   

   300,000 SMSFs avoid paying tax due to pension mode, franking credits and property investment https://t.co/uGiK2i3Jmt

   — Mike King (@TMFKinga) August 25, 2014

   
   No wonder they are so popular. The question is – will the government crackdown on super benefits to recoup lost revenues?

5. Stock of the Day is brought to you by Tim McArthur – Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). In this article, Tim suggests reasons why he'd rather invest in Telstra than an investment property – one of which is those lovely fully franked dividends.

The post 5 things you need to know about the Australian sharemarket today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Today, Boart's shares are up over 5% to 23.7 cents, after the equipment supplier announced revenues of US$224 million and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$14 million in the June quarter.

Both revenues and earnings are down compared to the corresponding period last year, with drilling rig utilisation at 39% for the quarter. Boart says there is substantial excess global supply of drilling rigs, and it continues to experience significant price pressure.

But perhaps the major concern for existing investors is the company's debt and cashflow situation. At the end of June, Boart had US$624 million in gross debt, up from $585 million at the end of December 2013. Despite the large debt, Boart says it is compliant with all of its bank covenants, and that it will remain covenant compliant at least until the end of this year, allowing the company to identify and implement a recapitalisation solution.

Unfortunately for shareholders, that is looking more and more like an equity capital raising – especially after the recent price recovery. Of more concern is the fact that private equity firms are buying the debt and equity of the company, and could pull the rug out from under Boart with very little warning. On that basis alone, Boart would be an extremely high-risk buy.

And it's not just Boart…

Analysts are still concerned there's little in the way to be positive about in the engineering and contracting sector.  Although Ausdrill Limited (ASX: ASL) has contradicted that view, and says it is expecting a substantially improved result next year, and excess capacity should diminish towards the end of the 2015 financial year.

Emeco Holdings Limited (ASX: EHL) has also released a positive view of 2015, as has Cardno Limited (ASX: CDD), which expects double digit earnings growth, but mining services company Lycopodium Limited (ASX: LYL) say it expects subdued conditions for 12 to 18 months.

That suggests results in the mining services sector over the next year or so will be mixed.

The post Boart Longyear Ltd shares rise 176%: Is the company a buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But I'm going to take a different angle…

You might not thump the market every single year and retire rich by age 50… and you're probably not the next George Soros. But what you can do, is retire a lot earlier than you would otherwise, and have a lot more time to share with family and on leisure. But only if you learn the most important lesson about investing…

Rule Number 1 (as Warren Buffett puts it): Don't lose money.

Here are my top four tips to avoid losing money on the sharemarket…

1. Diversify – this is absolutely key. Virtually anything is possible in this life, and even blue-chip companies like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: BHP) and BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) could hypothetically run into trouble. For example, a serious housing market crash in Australia would do enormous damage to Commonwealth Bank, and a house price crash in China could seriously hurt BHP, because Chinese construction is such an important driver of demand.

2. Never become a forced seller. The number one reason to always keep a cash barrier is to avoid the temptation to sell shares to buy a gift, pay your way out of an emergency or sell your shares for any reason other than because you're offered a great price.

3. Avoid heavily indebted companies and favour companies with net cash. To quote Buffett again, "you only see who's been swimming naked when the tide goes out". For example, the drilling company Boart Longyear Ltd (ASX: BLY) may seem cheap because its share price has declined about 80% in the last year, it is a global business, it has revenues of (probably) well over $500 million and its market capitalisation is just $40 million.

However, this "microcap" stock carries debt of over $540 million, excluding contingent liabilities, which I estimate to be about $10 million. To put this in context the company saw fit to spend about $280 million of cash on capital expenditure in 2012, and now the interest repayments would appear to substantially exceed cashflow from operating activities. Sure, the share price might rebound from current levels, but the chance of total capital loss (or close to it) is unacceptable to me.

4. Finally, avoid management with questionable ethics or bad judgement. If management is not looking out for small investors, the odds are stacked against you (especially if you're a long term investor).

The post The most important lessons I can teach anyone about investing appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.