Good morning everyone, and welcome to Monday, 10 December \u2013 a date on the calendar that sends shivers down the spine of many monarchists, as it was on this day in 1936 that King Edward VIII of England abruptly quit being King, so he could marry an American divorcee.<\/p>\n
It was, as you could probably imagine, a massive scandal at the time, with the still very conservative British public up in arms over the fact that their King \u2013 the head of the Church of England \u2013 wanted to go directly against the teachings of that church and get hitched to Wallis Simpson.<\/p>\n
Simpson had already been through two husbands when she and the King fell in love \u2013 her first husband was US Naval pilot and legendary alcoholic Earl Winfield Spencer Jr, whose penchant for crashing planes made him the talk of the town.<\/p>\n
Her second marriage to shipping magnate Ernest Aldrich Simpson ended badly, with Ernest travelling frequently to keep his struggling business afloat, Wallis Simpson became something of a lady of leisure in London.<\/p>\n
She was introduced to the then Prince Edward, heir to the throne, through her friend Consuela, whose sister was doinking the Prince \u2013 and it wasn\u2019t long before Simpson and the Prince became romantically entangled.<\/p>\n
On January 20, 1936, Edward\u2019s father \u2013 King George VI \u2013 dropped dead, leaving Edward to take up the throne. However, it was pretty clear that he was in something of a pickle, thanks to his relationship with Simpson.<\/p>\n
When it came time for the proclamation of his accession to the throne, Edward distanced himself \u2013\u00a0literally \u2013\u00a0from proceedings, watching the ceremony take place from a window of St James Palace, his still-married girlfriend by his side.<\/p>\n
Things came to a head as the year wore on. Edward\u2019s plan to marry Simpson met with fierce resistance from the Royal Family, the British Government and the general public.<\/p>\n
Faced with a choice between being King of England, or marrying Simpson, the King chose the latter and stepped down. His brother, Albert, was renamed George for some reason, and he became King instead.<\/p>\n
As interesting as that story is, it wasn\u2019t the end of Edward\u2019s controversial public life \u2013 he became pretty chummy with a rising star of German politics \u2026 some fella called Hitler, maybe you\u2019ve heard of him.<\/p>\n
Anyway \u2013 his closeness with one of the greatest monsters of the 20th century didn\u2019t go unnoticed, and in an effort to avoid any further embarrassment, the former King Edward was graciously awarded the title of Governor of the Bahamas, to where he was effectively exiled as World War II continued to rage on.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s tons more to this story, but I\u2019m going to have to leave it there\u2026 because we\u2019ve all got stuff we need to do this morning, and the more I waffle on, the less time you\u2019ll have to read the fruits of the Stockhead team\u2019s labours this morning.<\/p>\n
That includes Eddy Sunartos\u2019s chat with the CEO of Plenti, who has \u201cplenti\u201d to be happy about after NAB snapped up 15% of his company because Aussies are going mad for new cars<\/a>.<\/p>\n Plus, below you\u2019ll find all the usual digits and data to get your motor rumbling before the market opens today.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Gold: US$2,025.75 (-0.01%)<\/p>\n Silver: US$23.80 (-0.54%)<\/p>\n Nickel (3mth): US$16,247.50\/t (+1.18%)<\/p>\n Copper (3mth): US$8,296.50\/t (+0.53%)<\/p>\n Oil (WTI): US$69.76 (+0.74%)<\/p>\n Oil (Brent): US$74.69 (+0.55%)<\/p>\n Iron 62pc Fe: US$130.77\/t (+0.24%)<\/p>\n AUD\/USD: 0.6533 (-0.26%)<\/p>\n Bitcoin: US$44,038.90 (+0.69%)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n All the muttering and murmuring about a merger between Woodside and Santos raises a very important question:\u00a0 What would that merger look like, if it went ahead? Luckily for us, Bevis Yeo has the answer\u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So just what would a merger between Woodside and Santos look like? https:\/\/t.co\/EdO5L23qS2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Stockhead (@StockheadAU) December 8, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:<\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/p>\n WordPress Tables Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s Small Caps highlights were:<\/p>\n There was a lot of microcap movement on Friday, with a number of the ASX\u2019s smaller companies posting some healthy percentage gains \u2013 most of them without any news or definitive announcements to pin it on.<\/p>\n 92 Energy (ASX:92E)<\/a> moved well, and it definitely had news for investors, as it\u2019s now part of a three-way takeover deal with Canadian-listed resources company ATHA.<\/p>\n ATHA has inked a deal with 92 Energy to snap up 100% of the company, at a whopping 78% premium to the local explorer\u2019s closing price of recent times \u2013 shareholders are set to pocket 0.5834 ATHA shares for every 92E share held, giving an implied value of around $0.65 a pop.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the only shopping that the Canadian firm has been doing, though \u2013 it\u2019s also buying up all of the issued and outstanding shares of Latitude Uranium, by way of a Canadian court-approved plan of arrangement.<\/p>\n Holista CollTech (ASX:HCT)<\/a> had a grand day out too, following news that the judge overseeing the Federal Court stoush between the company and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission pulled the pin on proceedings a day earlier than expected. No decision has been announced.<\/p>\n Other big movers included Latin Resources (ASX:LRS)<\/a>, which made a mighty 21%-plus leap after revealing a 56% boost to the company\u2019s global resource, bringing the combined total of its JORC-compliant MRE to more than 70Mt.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:<\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/p>\n WordPress Tables Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Iris Metals (ASX:IR1)<\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement to the market regarding a capital raising.<\/p>\n Alterra (ASX:1AG)<\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement to the market in relation to an accelerated rights issue capital raising.<\/p>\n Adveritas (ASX:AV1)<\/a> \u2013 pending release of an announcement regarding a placement.<\/p>\n S2 Resources (ASX:S2R)<\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement by the Company to the market in relation to a proposed capital raising.<\/p>\n Noble Helium (ASX:NHE)<\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement regarding a capital raising.<\/p>\n Opyl (ASX:OPL)<\/a> \u2013 halt called in connection with a proposed capital raising.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COMMODITY\/FOREX\/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES<\/h2>\n
WHAT GOT YOU TALKING<\/h2>\n
FRIDAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS<\/h2>\n
FRIDAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS<\/h2>\n
TRADING HALTS<\/h2>\n