Sharesight20 December top 20 trades on ASX & NZX

Earlier this year we debuted the Sharesight20 weekly trading snapshots, a weekly update of the top 20 shares traded by the Sharesight userbase on the ASX (#Sharesight20ASX) and the NZX (#Sharesight20NZX) over the previous 7 days.

Today is the third installment of the Sharesight20 monthly trading snapshot (click here for last month’s Sharesight20), where we look at the top 20 trades on both the ASX and NZX markets among the Sharesight userbase during the current month and dig a little deeper into the news behind these movements.

Sharesight20ASX December Snapshot

Retail Food Group topped the Sharesight20ASX trading snapshot for December following what could be described as a horror month after negative news caused the value of RFG shares to plummet and see the company languishing at the bottom of the ASX200 index before regaining some value over the last week. Let’s dive into the key events in this month’s Sharesight20ASX snapshot:

Retail Food Group (ASX: RFG)

• On December 9 a Fairfax investigation revealed “Hundreds of RFG stores are for sale, on websites including Gumtree and Seek, as well as in local Chinese-language newspapers”
• Retail Food Group then sent out a memo to franchisees after this story broke, warning them they’d be breaching their franchise agreement if they spoke to the media (risking action)
• Subsequently a further story exposing the dealings of former head of RFG Tony Alford went public. This continued the barrage of negative news surrounding the company
• Retail food group then issued updated guidance for their 2018 H1 profit expectations - slashing earnings expectations for the first half by 34 per cent

National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB)

• AGM was held Friday 15th December 2017
• NAB bosses at AGM: “Bring on the Royal Commission”
• National Australia Bank has refunded 1.7m to mortgage customers after charging too much interest
• NAB announced they would no longer lend to thermal coal projects
• Announced $1.5 billion on-market share buyback that is expected to commence in January

Telstra (ASX: TLS)

• Telstra lowered FY18 guidance by $700m from NBN hit
• Analysts from Deutsche Bank upgraded the telco's rating to a buy
• Telstra spent $72.5m on spectrum for 5G

Qantas (ASX:QAN)

• Qantas received a NZ$32.6 million (A$29.86 million) dividend from its New Zealand offshoot, Jetconnect
• Foreign ownership in Qantas was 46.7% in early December, a slight decrease on the 47.7% held in October

Flight Centre (ASX: FLT)

• Yet to appoint any women to the Flight Centre board
• Speaking in the latest AANA Marketing Dividends episode on Sky Business TV, Flight Centre GM of Product Advertising, Customer Experiences and Sales, Darren Wright asked “What is a retail shopfront worth?” - essential viewing for investors

ASX resource companies were a prominent theme in this month’s Sharesight20ASX, with the following resource companies making it into the the top 20 trades on the ASX among the Sharesight userbase, as well as Pilbara Min Ltd, South32 Limited, Queensland Bauxite and Alumina Limited.

Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)

• Speculation Santos will make a takeover bid for Senex Energy Ltd (ASX: SXY) in 2018
• Shares lifted on the back of expectations that oil prices will increase in 2018

Origin Energy (ASX: ORG)

• A broker note out of Goldman Sachs upgraded Origin to a buy with a $10.70 price target triggering interest in the market
• Added to Goldman’s “Conviction List” in the same note

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP)

• BHP Billiton Limited share price hit 52-week high
• BHP continues to make progress towards divesting its underperforming shale oil assets
• An explosion in a Libyan oil pipeline sent Brent crude oil prices higher - with BHP shares receiving a boost a result

Sharesight20NZX December Trading Snapshot

NZX stocks that were highly traded included a number of ETFs (the NZ Top 50 Fund and US Top 50 Fund amongst others) and a number that appeared in last month’s Sharesight20NZX (Pushpay Holdings and Xero Limited).

Heartland Bank Limited (NZX: HBL)

• Closed rights offer: 34,838,414 new shares were taken up, at a price of $1.70 per share

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited (NZX: FPH)

• Fisher & Paykel Healthcare extended its patent fight with ResMed to Australia
• Signed a building construction contract with Leighs Construction for the fourth building on its Auckland campus - the new building will have a total gross floor area of 35,700m2 and consist of a mix of R&D, pilot manufacturing and warehousing areas

Xero Limited (NZE: XRO)

• Edged closer to the date they plan to delist from the NZX and list solely on the ASX early in 2018

a2Milk Ltd (NZX: A2M)

• The a2 Milk Company resolved a legal dispute with rival Lion over the term ‘A2’ on milk products in Australia

Don’t miss the Sharesight20 weekly market snapshots

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With over $1.9B USD worth of investments actively tracked by the userbase, it’s time you sign up to Sharesight and start tracking the true performance of your investments today!

Important Disclaimer. We do not provide tax or investment advice. The buying of shares can be complex and varies by country. You should seek tax and investment advice specific to your situation before acting on any of the information in this article.

FURTHER READING

• Blog – Get weekly Sharesight20 ASX & NZX trading snapshots
• Blog – Sharesight20 November top 20 trades on ASX & NZX
• Blog – Sharesight20 October trading snapshot