Sharesight20 top 20 trades on ASX & NZX - July 2018

Welcome to the July 2018 edition 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.

Let’s dive into July’s top trades.

Sharesight20ASX July 2018 Snapshot

National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) put in a strong month to claim top spot July, followed by a similarly impressive Afterpay Touch (ASX: APT) in second. We also saw 4 ETFs in the Sharesight20ASX monthly snapshot, with strong interest seen after quarterly distributions were paid. Some of the other highlights include:

National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB)

• Announced the bank would refund customers $67 million for advice fees
• Announced they would stop charging drought-affected farmers penalty interest rates for missed repayments
• Appointed former Perpetual CEO Geoff Lloyd the Chief Executive of MLC
• Admitted that financial incentive systems inside banks encourage ‘bad behaviour’
• Claimed there is ‘no problem’ with using internal valuers to assess residential property values (other ‘Big 4’ banks use independent valuers)

Afterpay Touchcorp (ASX: APT)

• Announced a 289% increase in sales processed through the platform YoY
• Goldman Sachs retained its buy rating and doubled its price target from $10.41 all the way up to $21.00 for the stock
• Emanuel Datt from Datt Capital made some very bullish calls on Afterpay’s price in a year’s time
• Motley Fool’s Scott Phillips however believes Afterpay is a great innovation but is overpriced

ANZ Bank (ASX: ANZ)

• The bank apologised for lawyers’ plan to grill a former trader about her rape after earlier denying the bank knew of the plan
• In Banking Royal Commission hearings it was heard the bank drew up plans to accelerate the rate of branch closures beyond the planned 50 closures in 2017
• It took two Aboriginal customers from a community 90 minutes' drive from Katherine several visits and four months to open a basic, fee-free ANZ transaction account, the royal commission also heard
• Further allegations were made that ANZ engaged in ‘misconduct’ towards former Landmark clients
• ANZ backed a moratorium on drought-stricken farmers
• The bank was named alongside IOOF as two ‘outliers’ still allowing “grandfathered” commissions for recommending in-house and external financial products

Westpac (ASX: WBC)

• Former Westpac banker permanently banned for mortgage fraud
• Announced they are pulling out of the SMSF property lending market
• CEO Brian Hartzer warned an economic downturn would hit funding costs
• Pledged to fast-track remuneration reform ahead of Banking Royal Commission report
• Westpac owned BT Financial Group announced changes to superannuation and investment fee structure

Telstra (ASX: TLS)

• Announced the axing of Chief Financial Officer, Warwick Bray, and its tech innovation and strategy executive, Stephen Elop as part of ‘Telstra 2022’ strategy
• Speculation emerged over succession planning for Telstra CEO Andy Penn
• Former SBS boss Michael Ebeid announced as head of Telstra’s Enterprise team
• Andrew Lewandowski of Newgate Capital Partners sees the potential for a further 25% decline in Telstra’s share price
• Leaked the details of thousands of Telstra customers through Telstra Tools portal
• Announced a $199 ‘unlimited’ data mobile plan

Sharesight20NZX July 2018 Snapshot

a2 Milk Company (NZX: A2M)

• Extended its manufacturing and supply agreements with Synlait Milk
• Announced full year revenue up 68% to NZ$922m
• Announced an EBITDA to sales ratio for the 2018 year of 30%
• Incoming CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has two big tasks when taking the helm
• Fined $20,000 for breaching Chinese child image advertising rules

Gentrack Group (NZX: GTK)

• Raised $52.4 million in discounted share offer to institutional investors
• Raised about $25.8 million in a stock offer to retail investors

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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 – How much money can Sharesight save you?
• Blog – 7 reasons why Sharesight is better than a spreadsheet