The past business year was extremely successful for Germany's leading "next generation broker" in terms of client assets under management, the Smartbroker. Although wallstreet:online AG, which will operate under the name Smartbroker Holding AG in the future, intends to grow by around 25% in 2022, the current year is considered a transitional year. Currently, the Berliners are working at full speed on Smartbroker 2.0. With the presentation of the "Case Study 2026" at the recent Annual General Meeting, the optimized model was presented - the potential became clear. Due to the significant correction of the share in recent months, this is a more than interesting entry opportunity at a reduced level.
In order for markets to function efficiently, theory presupposes a comprehensive level of information among all players involved. But in practice, things sometimes look different: When education is no longer sufficient to understand companies' products and methods, an information deficit arises. The market then also no longer functions efficiently, and market anomalies occur. Especially around biotech stocks, investors repeatedly have problems understanding products, solutions and interrelationships. In the case of Defence Therapeutics, the analysis firm Canaccord Genuity is now shedding comprehensive light on the situation. For investors with insight, this can be an opportunity.
On June 21, 2022, the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Bayer AG in the case brought by Californian Edwin Hardeman. Bayer AG sought to avoid billions of dollars in damages through the appeal in order to dismiss lawsuits brought by consumers like Hardeman. The Californian claims to have developed cancer from decades of using the weedkiller Roundup on his Bay Area property. Roundup is part of the product portfolio of Monsanto, which Bayer Group acquired in 2016. His lawsuit serves as an example for thousands of similar lawsuits. What does this mean for investors and private investors?
Stagnating supply chains and chip shortages: Because of a lack of semiconductors, between 7 and 10 million fewer cars will be produced than planned in 2021 and 2022, and the auto industry will miss out on billions in sales. When will the scare come to an end? The carmakers probably underestimated the situation from the start. A few months ago, they believed that there would soon be enough semiconductors for their vehicles again. But they were wrong - the chip shortage has become a permanent problem that has now hit the industry like a tornado. And this, of all things, at a time when manufacturers want to make a massive switch to e-mobility, for which even more specialized semiconductors are needed. The German technology group Infineon can hardly save itself from orders in the automotive sector. How is Germany performing as an industrial high-tech location?
Desert Gold Ventures is a Canadian gold exploration and development company focused on gold deposits in Africa, primarily West Africa. The Company's SMSZ project is one of the largest gold exploration projects in West Africa and has more than 20 open gold zones discovered to date. The project has the potential for further resource increases and the discovery of one or more large gold deposits comparable to Tier 1 gold mines in the region. Current news, project progress, and increasing M&A activity in the industry should boost the stock.
Oil prices are spiraling upward every day, and now the EU is threatening to impose an oil embargo on the aggressor Russia. This is increasingly complicating Germany's situation because the already difficult gas supply situation for the coming winter is now being compounded by the alternative procurement of oil on the world markets. This is happening at prices that have recently climbed to a 14-year high. Germany was dependent on Russian energy supplies for around 40% of its energy needs until 2021. On the other side of the Atlantic, however, oil production is going from strength to strength. Saturn Oil + Gas from the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is pulling off another mammoth takeover, this time with a volume of CAD 260 million. Production can increase by 50% as a result of the deal. The Western procurement market is already giving thanks. We do the math.
Sometimes it is a paradox on the capital markets: While the operating business is developing better than ever and all segments are rushing from record to record, the share price is falling drastically. This can be clearly seen at wallstreet:online AG, on the one hand Germany's leading neobroker operator by assets under custody and also by far the largest publisher-independent financial portal operator in the German-speaking world. After share price losses of up to 50% since June of last year and a positive outlook for the year as a whole, the management is now buying in addition to the supervisory board and founder.
The winners of the Ukraine conflict, as macabre as it may sound, are primarily arms companies such as Düsseldorf-based Rheinmetall AG. While these companies were still denounced as "socially harmful" shortly before the invasion of Russia, the share prices exploded at the latest after the announcement of a special fund of EUR 100 billion for the German Armed Forces. In addition, in order to create sustainability, at least 2% of economic output annually is to secure Germany's security, freedom and democracy in the long term. Now the agreement reached by the traffic light government and the CDU/CSU has cleared the way for the package. However, there was no further jump in the share price of the profiteer. In addition, further questions remain open for the future.
The dramatic changes in the energy markets are now being eyed with suspicion by European governments, because dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies may mean considerable expenditure on a replacement strategy in the future. Even at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the oil price fell below USD 35 - in the days since the Russian aggression, prices have been reported to exceed USD 130. By thinking about embargoes, theoretically 11% of the world's energy supplies fall under the table. Fortunately, it is not like that, because India and China are happy about the Russian exports at dumping prices and thus relieve the global markets somewhat. North America is seizing the opportunity and is on the rise again with fracking, as even oil fields with production costs beyond the CAD 60 mark are once again profitable. The Canadian Saturn Oil + Gas from Saskatchewan has undergone a complete transformation in the last two years, and today they are stronger than ever in the market. The company delivered approximately 7,500 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day in Q1 2022, this is an improvement of over 3,000% over the same period in 2021. The current share price development has not yet reflected the special development of Saturn Oil + Gas, because in addition to recent quarterly figures, there is now also an increase in guidance.
Varta puts a difficult quarter behind it. The battery expert continues to suffer from weak demand for the otherwise fast-growing lithium-ion button cells. Although growth in energy storage systems and interest in conventional household batteries remain high, this cannot currently compensate for the decline in small rechargeable button cells. The sales from the e-mobility sector that the stock market is eagerly awaiting are still a long way off. Consequently, confidence is fading and investors are becoming much more cautious. A poor chart performance and the current crisis in growth stocks are not helping either. More operational momentum is needed in the course of the year. Here is an update from Ellwangen.