Local markets are\u2026 iffy this morning. I think that\u2019s the right word for it\u2026 because \u201cflat\u201d is boring, and the benchmark certainly isn\u2019t going anywhere in a hurry today.<\/p>\n
InfoTech is out in front early, but the Energy sector is having a shocker, down a long way compared to the rest of the market, to a large enough extent that it\u2019s effectively negating any gains being made elsewhere.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s kinda tough to pinpoint precisely why the Energy sector\u2019s in the toilet this morning \u2013 but it\u2019s entirely possible that noted climate warrior Andrew \u201cTwiggy\u201d Forrest\u2019s eyebrow-raising\u00a0 outburst on the sidelines of the COP28 summit have had some kind of effect.<\/p>\n
Twiggy\u2019s used the global climate summit to call for oil and gas bosses\u2019 \u201cheads on spikes\u201d for murdering poor people with \u201clethal humidity\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can\u2019t cool yourself you\u2019re actually an oven burning around 100 watts all the time,\u201d Forrest said. \u201cIf you can\u2019t get rid of that heat energy, you cook.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when these deaths occur \u2014 and they\u2019re occurring now, but when they occur at much larger-scale \u2014 I want these so-called people who are very smart to be held to account.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s their heads which should be put up on spikes because they wilfully ignored and they didn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonus points if those heads are sporting Akubra hats, no doubt.<\/p>\n
The \u201clethal humidity\u201d Forrest is alarmed about is an actual thing \u2013 under the right (or wrong, depending on your outlook) conditions, it becomes impossible for the human body to sweat sufficiently to cool down.<\/p>\n
According to a PowerPoint presentation that Forrest\u2019s Fortescue released earlier this year, lethal humidity is \u201cgoing to be the next pandemic\u201d, is \u201calready here\u201d, and there\u2019s \u201cno vaccine\u201d and \u201cno cure\u201d.<\/p>\n
But far from being overtly alarmist, or eschewing nuanced debate in favour of pandering to base-instinct politics, the prezzo offers an entirely reasonable, measured look at the issue.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is what\u2019s in store for everyone on Earth who has air conditioning. Allegedly. Pic via Fortescue.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Perfectly rational.<\/p>\n The COP28 Summit itself was already in pretty clear danger of turning into a circus before Twiggy started calling for the public display of murdered energy executives.<\/p>\n The very fact that the chair of the conference is Sultan Al Jaber \u2013 who is the boss of the United Arab Emirates\u2019 national oil company ADNOC when there aren\u2019t any UN climate conferences to host \u2013\u00a0was curious.<\/p>\n He\u2019s unlikely to want to get into too much of a fight with Twiggy, as his comments at the SHE Changes Climate online conference on November 21 illustrate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not in any way signing up to a discussion that is alarmist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The fact that he backed that up by saying \u201cI am factual and I respect the science, and there is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuels is what\u2019s going to achieve 1.5 (degrees),\u201d suggests something different.<\/p>\n Also, I said \u201cthe Energy sector is having a shocker\u201d. In case you missed it.<\/p>\n Before you write in, don\u2019t forget this site is free. You get what you pay for, folks.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Local markets are muted today, as investors take a breather after yesterday\u2019s +1.6% jump and follow Wall Street\u2019s soft lead overnight.<\/p>\n News that Australia\u2019s trade balance grew less than expected in October certainly isn\u2019t helping matters this morning, after data revealed that Aussie exports haven\u2019t made any decent recovery from sharp declines in recent months.<\/p>\n On top of that, there\u2019s been a drop in imports as well, giving economists pause over concerns of shrinking domestic demand \u2013 which really shouldn\u2019t be a surprise, given the ongoing national gripe about the soaring cost of living.<\/p>\n Across the ASX, it\u2019s definitely a tale of mixed fortunes \u2013 while the tech sector is doing well, with the XTX All Ords Tech Index pointing 0.67% higher at lunchtime, the currently beleaguered Energy sector is taking a beating.<\/p>\n The fact that crude prices have tumbled to a five-month low probably has a fair bit to do with it \u2013\u00a0prices fell by over 4% overnight, with WTI trading below US$70 at US$69.24 a barrel.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Chart via Marketindex.com.au<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n There are some big names taking big hits among the ASX\u2019s energy players. Woodside is down 2.2%, Paladin\u2019s lost 5.5%\u2026 in fact, it looks like the sell-off on Energy stocks has hit just about every corner of that market, except for coal.<\/p>\n Yancoal is bucking the downward trend, up 0.41% and Whitehaven has added 0.92% this morning.<\/p>\n And the morning\u2019s early Small Caps leader, way out in front of the rest of the market, was an energy player as well. Invictus is close to 33% better off this morning \u2013 I\u2019ll explain why shortly.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Wall Street phoned it in last night, which saw the S&P 500 fall by -0.39%, the blue chips Dow Jones index down by -0.19%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slip by -0.58%.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not hard to see that Wall Street\u2019s got one eye firmly on the fact that Holiday Season is just around the corner. That, plus falling crude prices, saw travel-related stocks rising sharply.<\/p>\n Carnival Cruise Lines rose 6%, and Norwegian Cruise Line gained 3%, while US airlines were also flying high, with Delta Air Lines up by nearly 5%.<\/p>\n Advanced Micro Devices fell 1% despite unveiling new accelerator chips that it said will be able to run AI software faster.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Earlybird Eddy Sunarto reports<\/a> fresh signs of a softening in the US labour market, as the ADP gauge on private payrolls missed expectations. Private payrolls increased by just 103,000 last month, versus estimates of 130,000.<\/p>\n In Asia, Japan\u2019s Nikkei is down 1.33%, Shanghai markets are 0.28% lower and Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng is slipping, down 0.70% in early trade.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for 7 December [intraday]:<\/strong><\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n WordPress Tables Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Out in front of the pack this morning is microcap gold explorer EMU, which announced the results of its maiden reconnaissance field survey conducted during July and August 2023 at the Georgetown Project in Queensland.<\/p>\n It\u2019s early doors, of course, but the results look promising, with the company laying claim to 15.4g\/t gold assay results recorded from its first reconnaissance rock samples in the NE Dagworth area, ~19km east from Camp Oven Creek.<\/p>\n The company also reports rock samples returned 36.1g\/t gold and 25.6g\/t gold respectively from the Sandy Creek prospect, just south of Georgetown.<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, Invictus Energy is flying high this morning as well, on news that the gas explorer has had a solid find, reporting that four hydrocarbon samples have been returned to surface in the Mukuyu-2 well at its 80% owned and operated Cabora Bassa Project in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Mukuyu-2 discovery, 7km away and 450 meters updip of the Mukuyu-1 well, which can subsequently be classified as a discovery, provides confirmation of the large potential of the Mukuyu field which has a structural closure of over 200km2,\u201d Invictus MD Scott Macmillan said.<\/p>\n \u201cWith additional hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs ahead, the focus now is to complete the drilling and evaluation program and obtain further wireline data including fluid samples to declare an additional discovery from the Lower Angwa formation.\u201d<\/p>\n Gold Hydrogen (ASX:GHY) is on the move, after announcing the receipt of firm commitments for a $14.8 million institutional placement at $0.75 per share to existing and new institutional and sophisticated shareholders.<\/p>\n \u201cThis successful placement sets Gold Hydrogen up for an exciting 2024. We are thankful for the ongoing support from our existing shareholders and welcome our new shareholders on this very exciting journey,\u201d Gold Hydrogen MD Neil McDonald said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are looking forward to continuing our exploration campaign and undertaking further analysis of our recent drilling results which has to date validated and confirmed the historical results by finding hydrogen up to 73.3% purity, as well as incredibly high helium concentrations of 6.8% (raw gas).\u201d<\/p>\n And also worth noting this morning, Redcastle has dropped news of further gold discovery at its 100% owned Queen Alexandra prospect near Leonora, Western Australia.<\/p>\n The fresh drilling has returned some tidy, if slightly thin, mineralisation results, including 1m @ 27.6g\/t from 44m, and 3m @ 12.51g\/t from 17m including 1m @ 25.7g\/t from 17m.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that the top 5m of the drilling hasn\u2019t been included in the assay results, due to surface rights for the area belonging to prospectors.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for 7 December [intraday]:<\/strong><\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n WordPress Tables Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post ASX Small Caps Lunch Wrap: Which major climate conference is turning into a circus this week?<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TO MARKETS<\/h2>\n
NOT THE ASX<\/h2>\n
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n