Good morning everyone, and welcome to Wednesday, 20 December \u2013\u00a0a date on the musical calendar worth noting because on this day in 1957, Uncle Sam came calling for Elvis Presley, and he was drafted into the US Army.<\/p>\n
The King of Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll was paraded in front of the cameras as a Genuine American Patriot, had his signature pompadour shorn from his head, and he was shipped \u2013 along with his custom-made rubberised pelvis \u2013 off to Germany to serve two years in the armed forces.<\/p>\n
It put a bit of a dent in his musical career, but even while he was technically doing whatever the hell America was doing in Germany in the 1950s \u2013 I assume guarding the world against another ill-fated attempt by Russia to visit Poland (and possibly France) for summer that year\u00a0\u2013 he managed to put out a slew of singles that charted pretty well.<\/p>\n
The King made it back from Germany in time to ring in the Swingin\u2019 60s, pump out some of his most memorable hits, before reinventing himself as a morbidly obese and dangerously unhinged drug addict, and dying a heroic \u2013 if undignified \u2013 death of a heart attack on the toilet.<\/p>\n
RIP, you magnificent bastard\u2026 may you forever be Taking Care of Business.<\/p>\n
Also taking care of business today are the stellar team of writers we\u2019ve assembled here at Stockhead, who have brought their iron will to bear upon their keyboards to deliver the finest in fresh stories to get you all riled up for some hot stock-on-stock action today.<\/p>\n
That includes Reuben and Josh\u2019s dive into what\u2019s been happening on the Toronto Stock Exchange<\/a>, Rob Badman\u2019s energetic look at the\u2026 erm\u2026 battery metals market<\/a> (it\u2019s late and I\u2019m tired) and President Eddy Sunarto\u2019s report on heart saver Artrya\u2019s very, very positive FDA news<\/a>.<\/p>\n Plus, you\u2019ll find all the usual digits and data to jingle all your bells before the market opens today, down below.<\/p>\n As an aside, today is the start of my Christmas holidays, which will draw to a rapid end right around the time I\u2019m burping the last of the leftover turkey into my beard while I hold everyone\u2019s hand through the three days that the ASX is inexplicably open for business while the rest of the country is in a post-Christmas coma.<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s been a wild, wild year for me \u2013 and writing dumb things about the stock market for your entertainment has brought me an incalculably large quantity of joy. <\/em>I hope you all have an extremely happy, healthy and safe holiday period, and I look forward to tormenting those of you that think I don\u2019t take my job seriously enough when I return in 2024. As always, <\/em>I look forward to your angry emails.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Gold: US$2,025.20 (-0.10%)<\/p>\n Silver: US$23.85 (+0.21%)<\/p>\n Nickel (3mth): US$16,645.20\/t (-0.56%)<\/p>\n Copper (3mth): US$8,422.80\/t (-0.57%)<\/p>\n Oil (WTI): US$72.74 (+0.53%)<\/p>\n Oil (Brent): US$78.03 (-0.01%)<\/p>\n Iron 62pc Fe: US$135.08\/t (-0.10%)<\/p>\n AUD\/USD: 0.6719 (+0.24%)<\/p>\n Bitcoin: US$42,877.70 (+0.53%)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Josh Chiat came back from a well-earned holiday, and promptly started knocking it out of the park again\u2026 here\u2019s his take on what\u2019s happening with the collab to consumer Azure between Our Gina and SQM.<\/p>\n More on this bid from SQM and Hancock for Azure Minerals (#ASX<\/a>:$AZS), in @jchiat<\/a>\u2018s Ground Breakers column. https:\/\/t.co\/mlY53zXbyw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Stockhead (@StockheadAU) December 19, 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 Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A late charge on Tuesday saw MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM)<\/strong><\/a> launch into low orbit, up better than 160% mid-afternoon on news that the company has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Flash Metals.<\/p>\n Flash, for those not in the know, currently holds three granted exploration licences in Western Australia\u2019s West Arunta region, immediately adjacent to ground held by WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1)<\/strong><\/a> and Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR)<\/strong><\/a> \u2026 it is, as MTM\u2019s new neighbours suggest, a pretty ritzy neighbourhood.<\/p>\n Additionally, the deal also hands over Flash\u2019s Mukinbudin Niobium-REE Project, comprising 2 granted exploration licences located 250km northeast of Perth in the South West Mineral Field of Western Australia.<\/p>\n But wait, there\u2019s more\u2026 Flash also has an option to exclusively negotiate the licencing rights to an early-stage processing technology for REE and precious metals known as Flash Joule Heating, which has been developed by researchers at Rice University in the USA.<\/p>\n The big winner earlier in the day was Novo Resources (ASX:NVO)<\/a>, which slammed a 53.3% homer on news that SQM Australia has agreed to pay A$10 million for a 75% interest in five of Novo\u2019s prospective lithium-nickel tenements in the West Pilbara. It\u2019s since retreated to a still-respectable +36% gain.<\/p>\n SQM Australia, in case you missed all the other memos this year, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chilean giant Sociedad Qu\u00edmica y Minera de Chile, which is 49% owned by China\u2019s Tianqi Lithium Corporation, helmed by CEO Ricardo Ramos, and busily buying up everything it can get its lithium-stained hands on.<\/p>\n That deal will see the formation of the Harding Battery Metals Joint Venture, and also allows for an option over additional Novo Pilbara tenements down the track.<\/p>\n The Harding Battery Metals JV tenements are within neurological spitting distance of Azure Minerals (ASX:AZS)<\/a> Andover lithium\u2013nickel project, so everyone\u2019s pretty excited about what the new collab is going to produce.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Culpeo Minerals (ASX:CPO)<\/a> has revealed that it has hit \u201csignificant widths of visible copper mineralisation\u201d at shallow depth during drilling at its El Quillay Prospect, Fortuna Project in Chile.<\/p>\n Culpeo\u2019s not kidding when it says that the copper is visible, either\u2026 the company has posted several images along with the announcement that are quite striking, and \u2013\u00a0dare I say it \u2013 fittingly colourful for this festive time of year.<\/p>\n The company says the images are indicative of a 40m intercept from a depth of just 15m from drillhole CMEQD002, where the near surface mineralisation was dominated by malachite and chrysocolla while in the primary zone the main copper mineralisation was in the form of chalcopyrite and to a lesser extent bornite.<\/p>\n (That last bit\u2019s just a little sumthin\u2019 sumthin\u2019 for all you hardcore rock nerds out there\u2026 Happy Xmas, rockhounds\u2026)<\/p>\n Sarytogan Graphite (ASX:SGA)<\/strong><\/a> is busting out the Christmas bubbly this morning, with news that the first spheroidised graphite from the Sarytogan Graphite Deposit in Central Kazakhstan has been produced.<\/p>\n The company says that a high combined spheroidisation yield of 54% achieved ideal D50 sphere sizes of 32, 18, and 12\u03bcm after classification, with high tap densities ranging from 0.91 to 0.99g\/cm.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat a way to end the year!\u201d said an obviously very happy Sarytogan managing director, Sean Gregory.<\/p>\n \u201cThis result allays all doubts of the giant and exceptionally high-grade Sarytogan Graphite deposit\u2019s suitability to vie for a share of the rapidly growing lithium-ion battery market for electric vehicles and other uses, subject to customer qualification.\u201d<\/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 Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Latrobe Magnesium (ASX:LMG)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement to the market regarding a proposed capital raising.<\/p>\n Fatfish Group (ASX:FFG)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 pending the release of an announcement concerning a capital raise.<\/p>\n Genetic Signatures (ASX:GSS)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement to the market regarding a proposed capital raising.<\/p>\n Argonaut Resources (ASX:ARE)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 pending the release of an announcement regarding a capital raising.<\/p>\n Hiremii (ASX:HMI)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 pending release of an announcement regarding a capital raising.<\/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
YESTERDAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS<\/h2>\n
YESTERDAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS<\/h2>\n
TRADING HALTS<\/h2>\n