Each state has a different school holiday period, with NSW, Queensland, and Victoria among the states commencing holidays today.

Tasmania has the latest school holiday schedule this Easter season. The school break in our smallest state runs from 18 April to 3 May.

So, here's a list of all the ASX shares due to go ex-dividend over the coming weeks through to 3 May.

In order to receive a dividend, you must own the ASX share prior to its ex-dividend date.

Ex-dividend dates give ASX investors two opportunities.

Either buy before the date to receive the dividend, or wait until ex-dividend day, when the share price will likely drop, to buy then.

ASX shares with ex-dividend dates this month

The post 21 ASX shares going ex-dividend over the school holidays appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Another class action?

The company announced to the ASX that it's aware of media reporting about a potential class action against the company that is apparently being investigated by Shine Justice Ltd (ASX: SHJ).

However, A2 Milk said it's not aware of any legal proceeding having been filed by Shine Lawyers.

The company noted again that it believes it has, at all times, complied with disclosure obligations, denies any liability and will vigorously defend against any proceedings. It said it will respond further if and when any legal action is launched.

What are the allegations by Shine Lawyers?

The class action by Shine alleges that between 19 August 2020 and 7 May 2021, A2 Milk engaged in "misleading and deceptive" conduct, breaching its continuous disclosure obligations, and failing to adequately disclose future trade plans.

Shine also alleges that by 19 August 2020, A2 Milk was, or ought to have been aware that the FY21 guidance, and subsequent announcements, did not adequately take into account a number of factors known to the company which ultimately impacted the company's financial performance. This led to a 62% drop in the A2 Milk share price.

There were two factors that A2 Milk referred to.

First, the decline in reseller/daigou sales, which reportedly fell due to the impact of A2 Milk's sales through its cross border e-commerce channel. Shine noted that this saw A2 Milk heavily market English-labelled infant products directly into the Chinese market with discounting that "effectively undercut" sales in the daigou/reseller channel.

Second, Shine also referred to the decline in the CBEC business due to the drop in the daigou/reseller sales. Shine said that daigou sales often help stimulate demand for direct orders.

Two class actions

This is the second class action that A2 Milk is facing.

The lawyer group Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) has also launched a class action. This occurred earlier in October.

Shine's class action alleges similar sorts of things that the Slater & Gordon one does.

Slater & Gordon said:

The proceeding alleges that by no later than 19 August 2020, A2 Milk was or ought to have been aware that the FY21 guidance and subsequent representations did not adequately take account of a number of factors which would impact the company's financial performance.

What is the latest guidance from A2 Milk?

FY21 has finished, but guidance for FY22 can have an impact on the A2 Milk share price.

In its FY21 result, A2 Milk said that its revenue fell 30.3% to $1.21 billion and net profit after tax (NPAT) had dropped 79.1% to $80.7 million.

Whilst the company said it wasn't going to provide specific guidance, it said that it's confident in the underlying fundamentals of the business and that the growth opportunity in core markets remains "significant". The company also said there are opportunities for product innovation, category expansion and new markets. It said the long-term outlook is positive.

However, it also said that there is continuing uncertainty and volatility in consumer markets due to COVID-19, and other rapidly changing market dynamics, particularly in China.

The post A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price drops amid reported second class action appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The financial services company's shares ended the day 5% lower at $5.67.

What is the class action?

This afternoon IOOF revealed that it has been served with a class action proceeding filed by Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) in the Federal Court on behalf of investors who acquired an interest in IOOF's shares between March 1 2014 and July 7 2015.

The class action is seeking to recover losses suffered as a result of alleged non-disclosures and potentially misleading and deceptive conduct.

Shine Lawyers explained: "The non-disclosures and misleading and deceptive conduct relate to alleged corporate misconduct within IOOF disclosed in Fairfax Media articles in June 2015, at Senate hearings in July and August 2015 and at the Financial Services Royal Commission in 2018. Details of the alleged misconduct included insider trading, front running, staff cheating on exams and breaches of trustee duties, occurring in the period 1995 to 2015."

It believes that by failing to disclose the alleged corporate misconduct within IOOF between March 1 2014 and July 7 2015, the company breached its continuous disclosure obligations and/or engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.

IOOF response.

This afternoon IOOF acknowledged receipt of the class action.

However, it dismissed the claim as appearing to be without merit and advised that it intends to defend the class action in the Federal Court.

The isn't the first time the company has been taken to court in recent months. At the end of September the Federal Court held that IOOF's APRA regulated entities and five employees did not contravene the Superannuation Industry Act 1993.

The Court also declined to make the disqualification orders sought against the five individuals, and awarded costs in IOOF's favour. It will no doubt be hoping for a similar result with this latest court action.

The post IOOF share price sinks lower on class action news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

They don't come any bigger than Goldman Sachs, which recently downgraded its recommendation on shares in patent law firm IPH Ltd (ASX: IPH) to neutral from buy.

Luckily for shareholders the new rating was largely on valuation grounds. 

The analysts ran the ruler over the business on August 21 after it reported its FY 2019 full year result. 

"We remain positive on the outlook for the company, with the underlying business in good shape and scope for organic growth in Asia; further the balance sheet remains conservatively geared which should allow the company to pursue further accretive acquisitions; however as a result of recent share price performance we see IPH as fully valued and downgrade to Neutral (from Buy)," Goldman's commented.

On August 21 shares sold for $9.12 versus $9.18 today so Goldman's neutral rating is probably still in place.

IPH shares are up 69% over the past year and I must admit to being wrong in suggesting investors give this business a miss due to it being a legal services business not naturally suited to public life.

This is because nearly every genuinely successful law firm in the world operates in private partnership to incentivise staff to make partner status and win a profit share by working 'in partnership'. This is a similar model to the 'big 4' accounting firms for example where going public would not be popular with their partners. 

Obviously fee-earning staff are critical to any legal services firm and being forced to share profits with public shareholders does not look an ideal operating model.

Still IPH has done well for now, although this is partly thanks to an acquisition model (that makes more sense if you're listed) and due to a tumbling Australian dollar.

I'd probably remain neutral on IPH at best a little like Goldman's fence sitting neutral rating. 

Other less successful listed legal eagles that have tried to harness public markets to deliver acquisitive growth include Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) and Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ).

The post Goldman Sachs tips IPH share price as 'neutral' appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

If the report is on the money, the acquisition would be Qube's second merger and acquisition (M&A) foray this calendar year with the port and logistics group taking over mining and industrial services company LCR Group in a $135 million deal.

The speculation is that Qube is running the ruler over Lindsay Fox-backed Chalmers and plans to put an offer on the table, according to the Australian Financial Review which didn't reveal the source of the information.

Details of the potential M&A

The acquisition should be fairly easy for Qube to swallow as Chalmers has a market cap of around $35 million and Qube reported a cash balance of $107 million at the end of 2018.

It's acquisition of LCR was funding through existing debt facilities and that means it should still have enough cash in the kitty to pay an appropriate premium for Chalmers (assuming it's an all cash bid). The speculation is that Qube is willing to cough up a 40% plus premium to control Chalmers.

The deals show that Qube is looking to spread its eggs out and diversify from its key Moorebank intermodal hub in Sydney – which is a key strategic asset for the group given its location at the supply chain crossroads between port, rail and road.

Chalmers is located in a purpose-built facility in the Brisbane port precinct and had moved there after a long history of operating in Melbourne.

Getting the backing of high-profile trucking magnate Lindsay Fox would be key to the success of the deal given that he has a 17% stake in the target.

Others hit with the M&A fever

Qube isn't the only S&P/ASX 200 (Index:^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) stock that's been bitten by the M&A bug. There's also talk that Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) will make a play for Knauf's Asian operations, Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) and Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) are contemplating a marriage of equals, while Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) is actively looking for acquisitions post the Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) demerger.

There's plenty of things to watch for in the new financial year and the experts at the Motley Fool believe there's another group of ASX stocks that can get investors' pulse racing (in a good way, of course).

Follow the free link below to find out more.

The post Is this the next ASX 200 company to unveil a M&A deal? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Shares in both companies are woeful underperformers with the SGH share price losing a third of its value over the past year and the SHJ share price tumbling by around 40% when the All Ordinaries (Index:^AORD) (ASX:XAO) index gained 6%.

It's believed that senior executives of the firms, including the Slater & Gordon's chairman James MacKenzie and Shine's chairman Tony Bellas, met at a discreet café in Brisbane two weeks ago on a "date", according to the Australian Financial Review.

Marriage of convenience

Any merger will need to be done on friendly terms as the companies are similarly sized (based on their market caps of a little over $100 million each) and each would lack the resources to go hostile.

The market cap of Slater & Gordon is a far cry from its heyday in 2015 when it was pushing over $2 billion before it's poorly executive UK acquisition nearly brought the group to its knees. Slater & Gordon managed to survive but it's a shadow of what it once was and it desperately needs a catalyst.

This is why I believe shareholders in Slater & Gordon would welcome the news, although I suspect Shine's investors would be keen to attend the wedding as well given the underperforming share price.

Bulking up to fight Goliath

Slater & Gordon is the country's second largest plaintiff law firm while Shine takes third position. Both are under pressure from their largest competitor, privately-owned Maurice Blackburn.

The companies dominate the personal injuries, wrongful dismissal and class action legal cases – and there has been plenty of work in the class action front judging from the number of ASX companies being sued by their shareholders, including the big four banks like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA).

However, the courts are opting to appoint one law firm to manage class actions so as to avoid the messiness of having more than one court case running at once. It's worth noting that Maurice Blackburn got that prize for the lucrative class action against AMP Limited (ASX: AMP).

Foolish takeaway

A marriage between the second and third largest legal groups would give the merged entity greater chance of winning market share, while lowering their cost base.

The outcomes of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are notoriously difficult to predict – just look at Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC) with AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) – re-entering the frame.

However, if I was a betting man, I would rate the potential for a Slater-Shine tie up as higher than the average, not that you should be investing based on M&A.

There are better ways to generate strong returns and the experts at the Motley Fool may have such an opportunity as they have identified stocks that are primed to outperform in 2019.

Follow the free link below to find out more.

The post The latest ASX stocks bitten by the M&A bug (it's not Vocus) appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

• Net profit after tax of $2.2m, compared to $7.8m
• Net profit excluding impairments $7.2m, down 7.9%
• Total revenue of $86.4m, compared to $88.2m
• EBITDAI of $19.6m, up 19%
• Earnings per share (EPS) of 1.28 cents, compared to 4.52 cents
• Underlying (pre impairment) EPS of 4.16 cents
• Dividends per share of 1.25 cents, up 25%
• Total debt of $50.8m
• Cash on hand of $13.6m

The Shine share price is down 6% to 63 cents in response to the news and is roughly flat over the past year. Shine like its listed tort law firm rival Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) has pursued an acquisitive and organic growth strategy, although it has avoided the major mistakes Slater & Gordon fell into.

The Shine Group is forecasting a stronger second half based on seasonality among other factors, with expectations for a "modest increase" in EBITDA over fiscal 2018.

The firm has a market value of just $103 million after today's share price falls and on some conventional valuation metrics looks cheap.

However, investors should do their own homework before reaching a conclusion on this business and for full disclosure I'm not a buyer of shares.

The post Why the Shine share price sunk today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

IPH Ltd is the holding company behind several leading patent attorneys in Australia and Asia including Spruson & Ferguson, AJ Park and Ella Cheong. 

In July 2018 the group completed the merger of two its leading firms in Spruson and Ferguson and Fisher Adams Kelly Callinans to form a combined firm under the Spruson and Ferguson brand.

The group has long had an acquisitive strategy as the IP patent law firm market is still relatively fragmented and offers opportunity for IPH to continue its "roll-up" strategy.

One advantage of the acquisition and merger strategy is that the group can pull out shared costs from combined law firms such as support staff in human resources, administration, or marketing functions, in order to have a cost-to-income ratio weighted more towards fee-earning patent attorneys.

This business model can be successful for investors assuming management knows what they're doing, but if they don't it can be disastrous as we saw with Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH).

Another listed law firm in Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) has also struggled to deliver for shareholders as a public business.

However, business performance seems moderately strong for IPH with management today reporting Australia and New Zealand patent filings are up 3.6% against the prior corresponding period, with Asia showing "double digit revenue and EBITDA growth" against the prior corresponding period.

In addition the falling Australian dollar over the period has proven a significant tailwind as the group invoices for work in US dollars, but has a lot of its costs (staff wages, rent, etc) in Australian dollars. IPH noted how the weighted average for AUD / USD for the first four months of FY 2019 was 72.6 cents, compared to 78.7 cents for the first four months of FY 2018. Every 1 cent the USD rises equals another $1.1 million in service charges for IPH.

It also pays a trailing 4.3% yield based on 22.5 cents in dividends paid out over FY 2019.

The post Why the IPH Limited share price is heading higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But what is contrarian investing?

In his book 'Contrarian Investment Strategies' David Dreman explains that contrarian investing is about buying those companies that are so unloved by the market that the likelihood of a positive surprise (and subsequent increase in the share price) is far higher than with other companies. In the long run, Dreman argues that this means that the returns on contrarian strategies are likely to be higher than the market return.

Dreman explains that the limitations of investors in forecasting the future earnings of companies means that surprises are inevitable. The basic premise of contrarian investment strategies is that when one buys companies that are priced as if they are going out of business, forecasting mistakes are most likely to be those that underestimate future earnings.

How do you find a contrarian investment?

According to Dreman, the best way to measure the extent to which a company is out of favour with the market is to use the price-to-earnings, price-to-cashflow, or price-to-book ratios. Investors should buy solid companies with low ratios. These could be companies with low absolute ratio values (i.e., the lowest price-to-earnings ratio of all companies) or low relative ratio values (e.g., the lowest price-to-earnings ratio of all companies in a particular industry).

Tobias Carlisle (in his book The Acquirers Multiple), Joel Greenblatt (in his book The Little Book that Beats the Market) and Dreman himself (in his book Contrarian Investment Strategies) have all reported tests of versions of this contrarian investment strategy with strong returns.

At any given time, investors will find companies that are out of favour with the market.

For example, companies with low price-to-earnings ratios on the ASX currently include:

• Retail Food Group Limited (ASX: RFG),
• The Reject Shop Ltd (ASX: TRS)
• Cash Converters International Ltd (ASX: CCV)

Companies with low price-to-book values include:

• Thorn Group Ltd (ASX: TGA)
• Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ)
• United Overseas Australia Limited (ASX: UOS)

Lastly, those with low price-to-cashflow include:

• Collection House Limited (ASX: CLH)
• Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)
• Shaver Shop Group Ltd (ASX: SSG)
• Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ)

Foolish Takeaway

Contrarian investment strategies can be profitable because investors systematically underestimate the potential for upside surprises. A basket of low price-to-earnings, low price-to-book value, or low price-to-cashflow companies have been shown to produce strong returns over the long run.

The post Contrarian Investing and the ASX appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The results revealed Cadence outperformed the All Ordinaries Accumulation Index by 4.5% while holding around 20% cash with fund gross performance of 18.2%.

Cadence chair Karl Siegling named the top contributors to the fund's stellar performance as: Noni B Limited (ASX: NBL), ARQ Group Ltd (ASX: ARQ), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Emeco Holdings Limited (ASX: EHL), Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ), Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) and Facebook.

Cadence will launch the Cadence Opportunities Fund in coming months, with the IPO looking to raise $250 million with priority allocation for existing Cadence Capital shareholders.

Cadence shareholders will be paid a 4c per share fully-franked dividend in September.

The post Investors unmoved by Cadence Capital Limited's (ASX:CDM) stellar results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

While its share price is off 1.8% to $12.11 on Monday on news that a class action has been filed against the company, the stock is still managing to hold on to a circa 4.6% gain this calendar year, which is about a percentage point behind the S&P/ASX 200 (Index:^AXJO) (ASX:XJO).

That is not a bad performance given Crown has been afflicted by the arrest of employees in China, divestment of poorly performing assets in Macau and allegations that it has been tampering with poker machines at its Melbourne facility.

No matter how you look at it, there are too many governance monkeys on Crown's back and that makes this stock too hard to bet on for 2018, in my opinion.

What's more, I don't think the class action launched by Maurice Blackburn that was announced today will be the last. This class action was filed on behalf of shareholders that had suffered losses from the arrest of Crown's employees earlier this year.

I believe another class action is likely to come from the poker machine tampering issue, especially since a fourth Crown employee has come forward on the ABC to support those allegations tabled by Member of Parliament Andrew Wilkie.

Investors should be alert to these issues clouding Crown because research done by various experts has found a correlation between corporate governance and share price performance.

We have seen how questions of corporate governance can drag on a stock for months and I fear this is what Crown shareholders will be faced with in 2018.

You only need to think about the scandals plaguing Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and the humbling experience of Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) to appreciate the downside risks.

Both these companies are also facing possible class action.

Other notable ASX companies facing possible class actions include law firms (how ironic!) Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) and Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ), supermarket giant Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) and milk formula manufacturer Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL).

If you are looking for undervalued stocks with clearer air to run ahead in 2018, you are in luck! The experts at the Motley Fool have uncovered three stocks that are worth putting on your radar. Click on the link below to claim your free report.

The post Can the share price of Crown Resorts Ltd bounce back in 2018? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Unfortunately not all shares have been able to follow the market higher today. Four shares which have started the week in the red are listed below:

The Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB) share price is down 2% to 47.5 cents. The fledgling infant formula company's shares continue to bounce around at the will of day traders. While I think Bubs could have a bright future ahead of it, I would suggest investors look at buying in at a cheaper price.

The Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX: LNG) share price has sunk lower again, this time by 2.5% to 38.5 cents. This extends the company's year-to-date decline to in excess of 42%. The oversupply of natural gas continues to negatively impact the company and weigh heavily on its shares.

The Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) share price has continued its decline with a 5% drop to 57 cents. The embattled law firm's shares have fallen 21% in the last five trading sessions after it was served with a class action.

The Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) share price has tumbled 4.5% to 10.5 cents. Investors continue to respond negatively to the coal miner's decision to exercise its option to purchase Mitsubishi Development's 28.9% interest in the Warkworth joint venture for US$230 million.

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

Are they bargain buys or best avoided?

The RCG Corporation Ltd (ASX: RCG) share price has tumbled to a new 52-week low of $1.09 today. The shares of the company behind retail brands such as Athlete's Foot and Hype DC have now fallen almost 27% since the turn of the year. The reason for the decline was a disappointing start to the second-half which meant the company had to cut its full-year guidance. At 15x trailing earnings and providing a fully franked 5.5% dividend, I think RCG could be worth a closer look at the current price.

The Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) share price has fallen to a new 52-week low of 55.5 cents today. This means the legal services provider's shares have now dropped as much as 57% in the last six months. News that state governments plan to crack-down on fraudulent third-party insurance claims has been the catalyst for the plunge. Although at a little over 4x trailing earnings its shares look dirt cheap, I expect there could be a serious drop in profitability that justifies the low multiple. I would avoid this one for the time being.

The Vicinity Centres Re Ltd (ASX: VCX) share price has dropped to a 52-week low of $2.69. This real estate investment trust is focused on the retail industry and owns stakes in shopping centres such as Chatswood Chase Sydney, Chadstone Shopping Centre, and the DFO in Essendon. Despite the drop, its shares are still changing hands at 18x trailing earnings. Considering its weak half-year result and outlook I think this is a touch expensive and would suggest investors stay clear of this one.

The post These 3 ASX shares have fallen to 52-week lows: Are they bargain buys? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The mining and utilities sectors have been the worst performers today, although most sectors are struggling to post any decent gains.

A number of shares are getting punished heavily today, including:

Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX)

The Mayne Pharma share price started the day in negative territory and news that a director has offloaded 600,000 shares certainly hasn't helped the situation. Despite reporting a strong first-half result, the market remains extremely nervous about the pending lawsuit filed against the company for allegedly being involved in anti-competitive behaviour. In mid-afternoon trading, Mayne Pharma shares have fallen 3.3% to $1.31.

Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ)

The Shine Corporate share price has fallen another 4% today following the news that the NSW government will crack-down on fraudulent third-party insurance claims. This area has been a big money-spinner for legal firms over the past few years and the reforms are likely to have a negative impact on future claims. Shine Corporate shares have now fallen more than 61% from their 52-week highs.

RXP Services Ltd (ASX: RXP)

The RXP Services share price has fallen 7.5% today, despite the absence of any news from the company. In fact, the IT services company has not released any news since announcing a 35% increase in first-half earnings per share (EPS) and confirming it remains on track to deliver at the top end of its FY17 revenue guidance. Perplexingly, the shares have now lost more than 22% of their value since the result and certainly warrant a closer look at current levels.

iSentia Group Ltd (ASX: ISD)

The iSentia share price has dropped 3.3% today after its shares went ex-dividend. As highlighted here, the shares have been on a wild ride over the past couple of weeks after the media monitoring company announced a hefty profit downgrade. A number of other popular shares are trading ex-dividend today, including Healthscope Ltd (ASX: HSO), Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB), Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) and IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: ILF).

The post Why these 4 shares are getting CRUSHED today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Unfortunately, not every business got the memo: Here are four businesses that are trading lower today:

The Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price has tumbled another 3.1% today, taking the shares below $1.97 each. Evolution is a gold miner and thus movements in its share price often tend to follow movements in the price of gold. The gold price has retreated in recent sessions and is currently fetching US$1,226 an ounce, down from US$1,257 around one week ago. Investors who aren't so bullish on gold may want to give Evolution a wide berth.

The Navitas Limited (ASX: NVT) share price has come under further pressure today, slipping another 4.4% and adding to yesterday's misery. Indeed, the NVT share price was slammed almost 15% on Monday when the education services provider said that the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training had recommended it as a preferred tenderer for a reduced number of contract regions to deliver the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). It has been estimated that this reduction could impact earnings (EBITDA) from that segment by around $13 million in the 2018 financial year and beyond.

The Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) share price has retreated 5.1% today and is now fetching 61.7 cents, down from a 52-week high of $1.57. The market has largely been turned off from the litigation services sector as a result of the controversy surrounding Shine's rival Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) (notably, the Slater & Gordon share price is also trading near an all-time low), while Shine's Energy & Resources practice has also underperformed lately. The company recently reported a 15.5% increase in first-half revenue, compared to the prior corresponding period.

The Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) share price has been slammed 7% today. The ORE share price is now trading for $2.79, down almost 45% from its 52-week high of $5.05. Short interest in the lithium miner has increased to 13.8% as at 1 March 2017, according to data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The miner also cut its annual production guidance recently, from 15,000 tonnes to between 12,000 and 12,500 tonnes, which could be weighing on the share price.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares are getting hammered today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Unsurprisingly, a number of very popular shares have been hit pretty hard over the course of the year as they failed to live up to market expectations.

Since I highlighted some of the best performing shares yesterday, I thought it would only be fair to highlight some of 2016's biggest losers today.

Here they are:

While this is a pretty sorry looking list of shares, it does highlight the importance of diversification when it comes to investing in the share market.

Although it is nearly impossible to avoid owning one or two losers each year, a well diversified portfolio will ultimately help you to limit your downside risk should a particular share lose 30%, 40% or 50% — sometimes in a single day.

In any case, shareholders who own any of those shares today must ask themselves if the shares are likely to make a meaningful recovery or are there better options elsewhere?

Personally, I wouldn't be rushing out to buy any of those shares right now as there does not appear to be an easy path to recovery for any of them.

With that said, Sirtex Medical, Mobile Embrace and Touchcorp remain good candidates as 'turnaround plays' and I would happily keep them on my list of shares to watch in 2017.

The post 15 shares you should have avoided in 2016 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Five shares which have been going against the grain and climbing higher today are as follows:

Amaysim Australia Ltd (ASX: AYS) shares have climbed 4.5% to $1.95 despite there being no news out of the growing telco company. Despite today's jump, Amaysim's shares are still down 15% year to date. This means they are changing hands at 24x trailing earnings. Although that isn't necessarily cheap, it could prove to be a bargain if the company's proposed broadband service wins a decent share of the market.

Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX: LNG) shares are up 3.5% to 66.2 cents after the company announced its wholly owned subsidiary Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation had received its environmental assessment approval from Nova Scotia Environment for its natural gas pipeline. A further announcement reveals that one of its directors has been buying shares on market. A real vote of confidence for the company in my opinion.

Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) shares have jumped 3.5% to $1.45 after it announced that it has entered into an equity purchase agreement with Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. The agreement will see Mallinckrodt purchase 20 million Mesoblast shares at a price of $1.4761 per share in exchange for an exclusive commercial and development partnership for two of Mesoblast's Tier 1 product candidates.

Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) shares have rebounded strongly from recent declines with an almost 6% jump to 73.5 cents. Rival law firm Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) has also climbed 4% today despite there being no news out of either company. Although the prospect of a successful turnaround might be appealing for investors, I would urge them to stay clear of both law firms.

The post Why these 5 ASX shares have rocketed higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Unfortunately not all shares have climbed higher today. Four shares in particular have sunk like stones, here's why:

Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) shares have fallen for a second day in a row despite no news out of the dairy company. This time Bega Cheese's share price has dropped 4.5% to $3.97 to bring its two-day decline to almost 10%. I suspect the events that have unfolded at Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL) this month could be weighing heavily on its shares.

BT Investment Management Ltd (ASX: BTT) shares have fallen over 6% to $10.42 after investment bank Credit Suisse downgraded the fund manager to an underperform rating. Its analysts have predicted that the key JO Hambro business will disappoint when BTIM releases its quarterly update in January. As the business provides 77% of BTIM's total cash earnings any underperformance will be felt across the company.

Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) shares are down 3.5% to 79.5 cents. This means its share price has now fallen almost 15% since the surprise market update released yesterday afternoon. That update revealed that the legal services company's Energy and Resources practice has significantly underperformed year to date. As a result it now forecasts statutory EBITDA of $36 million to $40 million for FY 2017 subject to the outcome of an impairment review on the segment.

Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) shares have dropped almost 5% to $3.00. The only news out of the company today is its plan to change its reporting currency to U.S. dollars. Management believes the change will provide shareholders with a more accurate reflection of the graphite producer's performance. Further, there has been speculation that Syrah could be a takeover target. But with no offer materialising as of yet, speculators may have sold their shares and moved on to something new.

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Here's a quick recap:

• FTSE 100 (UK): up 0.08%
• DAX (Germany): up 0.2%
• CAC 40 (France): down 0.22%
• Dow Jones (USA): up 0.2%
• NASDAQ (USA): up 0.37%

Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM) will remain in focus today. Its shares plunged 8% yesterday following reports that its CEO, Tim Worner, had an inappropriate relationship with one of the company's staff members.

Another company whose CEO is in hot water at the moment is Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX). Its share price declined further on Monday as well. The shares have nearly halved in value over the past month.

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Limited's (ASX: FMG) shares also came under pressure on Monday when it announced a transaction with its rival, Vale, was looking less likely to proceed.

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) will also be in the spotlight after their London-listed shares fell 1.9% and 1.4%, respectively, overnight after iron ore and oil prices both dropped.

Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) shares also plummeted following a profit downgrade late in the session, which could put some pressure on its shares. Shares of its rival Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) could also be impacted.

Finally, speculative recruitment business 1-Page Ltd (ASX: 1PG) could receive some attention today. The Australian Financial Review reported that Merchant Funds Management is trying to disband the company's board, with Andrew Chapman quoted as saying: "I don't know if the 1-Page business has merit or not."

The post ASX 200 to slip: 8 shares you need to watch today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's a quick recap:

• S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.5% to 5562 points
• ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 0.4% to 5612 points
• AUD/USD at US 72.93 cents
• Iron Ore at US$81.49 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
• Gold at US$1,139.30 an ounce
• Brent oil at US$55.56 a barrel

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) shares slipped 4.8% after it announced that negotiations between itself and Vale were continuing, but that it was looking less likely a transaction would actually be completed.

Its rivals BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) gained 0.4% each.

Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) shares slipped 4.1% after it announced its CEO, Mr Gilman Wong, would take temporary leave while his share trading activities from October are investigated.

Legal eagle Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) plunged 13.2% after it flagged challenging conditions in its Energy & Resources practice area.

Shine expects group EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) to be between $36 million and $40 million for the full-year.

Blue chips such as Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) provided some drive today. They lifted 1% and 1.3%, respectively.

Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) were among the market's best performers today. They rose 6.4% and 1.9%, while Sydney Airport Holdings Ltd (ASX: SYD) gained 1.9% as well.

Meanwhile, Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) and Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM) were two of the worst performers, slipping 4.8% and 8%.

Here are Monday's top stories:

1. Sirtex Medical Limited CEO takes leave as it investigates share selling
2. 3 small-cap shares to cheer up your portfolio in 2017
3. 5 large cap shares I'm tipping to have a good 2017
4. Will JB Hi-Fi Limited's share price survive Amazon.com's arrival in Australia?
5. Please Explain: Atlas Iron Limited shares surge 45% in a month
6. 3 reasons to buy Commbank, Westpac, NAB and ANZ shares in 2017

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