Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Wednesday, 6 December – a date that still resonates today, after the world’s most famous and prolific inventor Thomas Edison wandered into the offices of Scientific American and blew everyone’s minds with his new invention, the Phonograph.

Edison himself didn’t “invent” the phonograph, of course – it was cobbled together by a team of researchers he employed at the time, where he laid the groundwork for future tech visionaries like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs, by taking the work of his employees and scribbling his name on the side.

That way of doing things has left Edison stuck in a sort of limbo, regarded by many as a genius because of all the stuff he apparently dreamed up, but equally regarded by many as a complete fraud, whose only real genius lay in his ability to steal intellectual property.

But the model under which Edison basically “invented the modern world” is one that still exists to varying degrees.

You can see it in just about every work modern work contract, which clearly states that the fruits of your labour belong to your employer, not you – which is one of the immutable laws of capitalism and the source of much chagrin for everyone who’s ever been busted mucking around on a personal project during a slow moment at the office.

Indeed, rival inventor Nikolai Tesla was quite famously very grumpy about the fact that Edison got quite wealthy off the back of things that Tesla invented while in Edison’s employ.

I can only imagine how he’d be feeling knowing that the current owner of the vehicle maker that bears Tesla’s name is known throughout the world by an army of dim-witted fruitcakes as the man who pretty much invented the electric car.

The lesson here for everyone is that everything tends to move in cycles, and that history has a weird tendency to repeat itself as a result – truisms that are also relevant to the markets we all love.

That’s why you should definitely read new-guy Michael Washbourne’s excellent summary of what’s happening to lithium on the American side of the Pacific, and also wrap your head round all the usual dribs and drabs and numbers and stuff below… to make sure you’re all set for the day ahead.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,032.10 (+0.14%)

Silver: US$24.52 (-0.12%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,338.50/t (-1.89%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,416.15/t (-0.47%)

Oil (WTI): US$73.21 (-0.07%)

Oil (Brent): US$78.16 (-0.05%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$130.46/t (-0.70%)

AUD/USD: 0.6583 (-0.50%)

Bitcoin: US$41,882.50 (-0.41%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

US Tech stocks dragged everyone down with them yesterday morning, so here’s Christian Edwards’ take on the situation, alongside an utterly gratuitous photo of Santa looking at filth on the internet, while s…ting down a chimney. #IWorkingHere.

Tech Heavy: All three US majors closed lower on Monday. The Dow Jones lost 41 points. The S&P 500 gave away -0.5%, and the tech heavy Nasdaq shed -0.8%. https://t.co/MRPOKEONNy

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) December 5, 2023

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap ATH Alterity Therap Ltd 0.0075 88% 225,480,015 $11,209,442 ATP Atlas Pearls Ltd 0.135 53% 12,511,750 $37,652,715 ADD Adavale Resource Ltd 0.011 38% 10,038,334 $5,842,954 BP8 Bph Global Ltd 0.002 33% 3,296,032 $2,423,345 FGL Frugl Group Limited 0.009 29% 2,078,286 $6,727,434 EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.0025 25% 1,000,000 $7,334,027 KPO Kalina Power Limited 0.005 25% 500,000 $6,060,783 HAW Hawthorn Resources 0.098 23% 11,859 $26,801,249 GLV Global Oil & Gas 0.0195 22% 69,607,822 $7,472,005 HTA Hutchison 0.04 21% 38,371 $447,892,783 EEG Empire Energy Ltd 0.205 21% 2,462,709 $131,430,595 ESR Estrella Res Ltd 0.006 20% 375,000 $8,795,359 RWD Reward Minerals Ltd 0.095 19% 768,978 $18,228,251 CST Castile Resources 0.077 17% 105,600 $15,965,560 AQX Alice Queen Ltd 0.007 17% 360,228 $872,952 BFC Beston Global Ltd 0.007 17% 1,774,059 $11,982,281 KNM Kneomedia Limited 0.0035 17% 650,469 $4,599,814 MOM Moab Minerals Ltd 0.007 17% 70,000 $4,271,781 POL Polymetals Resources 0.32 16% 31,838 $41,846,261 NSB Neuroscientific 0.055 15% 88,952 $6,941,034 NET Netlinkz Limited 0.008 14% 700,799 $25,322,699 NTM Nt Minerals Limited 0.008 14% 614 $6,019,320 SER Strategic Energy 0.016 14% 175,075 $6,801,412 SWP Swoop Holdings Ltd 0.25 14% 132,736 $45,805,966 LSR Lodestar Minerals 0.0045 13% 24,891 $8,093,589

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Yesterday’s Small Caps highlights were:

You probably didn’t see this one coming.

Tuesday’s all you can buy stock was Atlas Pearls (ASX:ATP), which noted that at its recently completed auction in Kobe, Japan, the company sold 130,000 loose pearls for total revenue of $14.81 million.

ATP’s total revenue from loose pearl sales for the five months ended 30 November 2023 is now just below the comparable revenue for all of FY2023.

“The sales outcome underlined the continuing strength in the global market for south sea pearls with strong demand for the company’s offering from both Chinese and Japanese buyers,” said an understandably happy Atlas Pearls’ CEO, Michael Ricci.

Reward Minerals (ASX:RWD) has entered into a binding share sale agreement with the receivers at Kalium Lakes, to acquire the $400m Beyondie sulphate of potash (SOP) project for $20 million.

That’s a WA project, about 160km SE of Newman and SOP is a compound commonly used in agriculture – in fertilisers.

We recently reported this acquisition was on the table as a potential outcome, after the company entered into an exclusivity deed with Kalium and its receivers.

This share sale agreement now represents the next step in an acquisition that’s looking pretty likely.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap T3D 333D Limited 0.007 -77% 33,336 $3,189,317 ICU Investor Centre Ltd 0.034 -37% 166,705 $16,372,694 ICN Icon Energy Limited 0.005 -29% 842,757 $5,376,096 IND Industrialminerals 0.81 -26% 1,863,169 $74,403,400 MTL Mantle Minerals Ltd 0.003 -25% 914,350 $24,589,783 SHO Sportshero Ltd 0.015 -25% 136,112 $11,500,022 SP3 Specturltd 0.015 -25% 789,200 $4,590,698 TSL Titanium Sands Ltd 0.01 -23% 4,666,967 $23,033,461 AYT Austin Metals Ltd 0.007 -22% 1,327,845 $9,142,872 H2G Greenhy2 Limited 0.007 -22% 1,363,636 $3,768,802 SLB Stelarmetalslimited 0.28 -20% 850,645 $18,167,774 88E 88 Energy Ltd 0.004 -20% 61,371,800 $110,593,275 ALM Alma Metals Ltd 0.008 -20% 1,992,353 $11,140,008 ASP Aspermont Limited 0.008 -20% 1,180,999 $24,387,637 AUK Aumake Limited 0.004 -20% 4,204,391 $9,295,367 CT1 Constellation Tech 0.002 -20% 16,356 $3,678,001 CTO Citigold Corp Ltd 0.004 -20% 2,252,513 $14,368,295 WEL Winchester Energy 0.002 -20% 183,000 $2,551,055 WIN Widgienickellimited 0.079 -19% 2,319,638 $29,198,615 PEC Perpetual Res Ltd 0.013 -19% 1,948,628 $10,080,471 MSB Mesoblast Limited 0.3175 -17% 13,779,940 $329,752,954 MM1 Midasmineralsltd 0.12 -17% 313,964 $12,578,351 AGR Aguia Res Ltd 0.01 -17% 2,239,122 $5,620,044 DOU Douugh Limited 0.005 -17% 240,858 $6,406,254 GTG Genetic Technologies 0.0025 -17% 2,834,204 $34,624,974

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TRADING HALTS

Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) – Capital raising comprising an institutional placement and a share purchase plan.

Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA) – Pending an announcement to the market in relation to the Australian Centre for Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) proceedings between Indiana’s subsidiary Nachingwea U.K. Limited and Loricatus Resource Investments.

Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ) – Invictus is prepping an update on the intermediate wireline logging and fluid sampling results from Mukuyu-2 Side Track well.

MRG Metals (ASX:MRQ) – Pending the release of an announcement to the market in relation to a Western Australia Lithium project acquisition and a capital raising.

Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR) – Pending the release of an announcement by the Company concerning initial drilling results from its Daydream-2 appraisal well.

Cohiba Minerals (ASX:CHK) – Pending an announcement by the Company to the market in relation to a material capital raising.

Future Metals (ASX:FME) – Pending the release of an announcement regarding the Scoping Study on the Panton PGM-Ni-Cr Project.

Emu (ASX:EMU) – Pending the release of an announcement advising results from its maiden reconnaissance field survey at its Georgetown Project in Queensland.

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