I can tell you point blank, I\u2019m not a regular attendee of the sonorous Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment index.<\/p>\n
I say good on \u2019em for doing it so often. Kudos to the idea. The more data, the better.<\/p>\n
But you don\u2019t have to be an economist (and I\u2019m not) to know that anything which claims to be a reliable measure of an Australian\u2019s sentiment is in trouble from the get go.<\/p>\n
I mean, have you met an Australian man and\/or woman?<\/p>\n
David Beckham we are not.<\/p>\n
The last definite emotion I felt was when Kim Hughes cried. And I certainly never told anyone.<\/p>\n
And I still couldn\u2019t say exactly what it was I felt either. Other than it seemed to sting.<\/p>\n
Even with the benefit of beer and hindsight it\u2019s safe to conclude as highly doubtful that any Australian anywhere ever knew what they were feeling at any given moment, let alone be possessed of the capacity to express it.<\/p>\n
With that said, both Westpac and the Melbourne Institute have reported this morning that the co-mingled Aussie feelings of Aussie shoppers have hit \u201981\u2019 in January, down from \u201882.1\u2019 in December. This, they continue, is a fall of 1.3%.<\/p>\n
Such readings of sentiment have been wallowing at what are apparently \u201cpessimistic levels\u201d for nearly two years now.<\/p>\n
Naturally, that\u2019s down to the crap cost of living and the high interest rates.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Via WBC<\/p>\n
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We\u2019ve been feeling various shades of pessimism since February 2022, which Westpac says is almost the longest streak of pessimism on record.<\/p>\n
Well, almost:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe latest January read is in the bottom 7% of all observations since the survey was first run in the mid-1970s. <\/em><\/p>\n More pessimistic starts to the year have only been seen during the deep recession of the early 1990s.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And we had to have<\/em> that recession, I seem to recall.<\/p>\n I mention all this because the Australian stock market has feelings too.<\/p>\n For example, this is how the ASX200 felt around the time the Consumer Sentiment data dropped:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Via Google<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At 12pm on Tuesday, January 16 (me lovely mum\u2019s birthday: Happy Birthday Mum!!<\/em>), the ASX200 was down by 73 points or 1.0% at 7422.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Via Google<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So, the Australian market\u2019s opened lower on Tuesday and looked instantly forlorn without signals from a Wall Street session to lead them.<\/p>\n With New York off the clock for the Martin Luther Day holiday, it was left to the Europeans to offer some guidance and it came willingly enough in the shape of grim central bank prognostications, awfully weak equity markets and \u2013 get this \u2013 a calamitous -0.3% quarterly GDP read out of Germany!<\/p>\n The good news on that front is that everyone was totally<\/em> expecting it and the former industrial powerhouse\u2019s economy will probably<\/em> (narrowly) avoid a recession.<\/p>\n So the market action in Sydney\u2019s been dull, bordering on the Anthropomorphic: the ASX on Tuesday morning, I\u2019d say, is feeling about an 81 on the pessimistic scale.<\/p>\n All 11 Sectors are roundly depressed.<\/p>\n Utilities are so hangdog, I could scream:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Via MarketIndex<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Trying to find something happy\u2026 ahh.<\/p>\n DroneShield (ASX:DRO)<\/strong><\/a> has turned a maiden profit.<\/p>\n The Aussie drone killer and defence contractor says that over the three-month period ended 31 December 2023, the company hauled in a record $48m in customer cash receipts and grants.<\/p>\n That\u2019s x5 more than the next largest quarter on record, (September 2023, at $10mn) DRO just answered the age old question: War, what is it good for?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The next 48 hours are important if you\u2019re German, or wondering what might happen if China falls over.<\/p>\n There\u2019s inflation and more feelings rolling out for the rest of the day across Japan and Deutschland. While Wednesday is the biggie in China.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n TUESDAY<\/strong> WEDNESDAY<\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for 16 January [intraday]:<\/strong><\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n WordPress Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The morning\u2019s good going belongs to Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB)<\/strong><\/a>, which dropped an announcement this morning that final approvals have been received for the maiden drilling program at its Atlantis Au-Cu Prospect, and \u201cas soon as weather conditions permit\u201d they\u2019ll get the drills spinning to conduct first pass Air Core drilling at the site.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Atlantis outcropping copper-gold mineralisation, copper-gold soil anomaly, geophysical targets, structural and geological setting make Atlantis a compelling target,\u201d KNB MD Dan Power said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhilst this prospect has been known about for some years, Koonenberry Gold has advanced it to drill ready status and will be the first ever exploration company to conduct drill testing.\u201d Presumably he means at that particular site, but you get the idea.<\/p>\n KNB also has assay results incoming from its Bellagio project, which the company says are \u201canticipated soon\u201d.<\/p>\n BMG Resources (ASX:BMG)<\/strong><\/a> has dropped a bit of a bombshell this morning, fuelling a major surge in volume and pushing its price up more than 23% with news that long-time MD Bruce McCracken has resigned from BMG and all of its subsidiaries.<\/p>\n With McCracken gone, non-executive director John Prineas assumes the role of non-executive chairman, while non-executive chairman Greg Hancock transfers to the role of independent non-executive director.<\/p>\n Prineas steps into the role with a host of other responsibilities on his plate as well \u2013 he\u2019s currently BMG\u2019s largest shareholder (holding 9.8%), and is also the founder and executive chairman of St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) and founder and a non-executive director of American West Metals (ASX:AW1).<\/p>\n As it stands with BMG, Prineas is set to assume day-to-day responsibilities for BMG matters, until a new CEO or MD is appointed to the role.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a bunch of Small Caps moving around for reasons probably known only to them \u2013 that includes Firebird Metals (ASX:FRB)<\/strong><\/a>, which is clawing back some of the ground that it lost late last week, and Fatfish Group (ASX:FFG)<\/strong><\/a> which is lurching around like it often does, so no huge surprise there, really.<\/p>\n Chilwa Minerals (ASX:CHW)<\/strong><\/a>, PVW Resources (ASX:PVW)<\/strong><\/a> and Metal Hawk (ASX:MHK)<\/strong><\/a> are also heading north this morning, without any announcements providing information about why.<\/p>\n And\u00a0Aerometrex (ASX:AMX)<\/strong><\/a> delivered a quarterly this morning, bearing upbeat news for investors \u2013 the company expects to deliver a record first half (1H) revenue outcome, driven by \u201cstrong ongoing performance of the LiDAR and MetroMap product lines\u201d.<\/p>\n AMX reckons it\u2019s likely to post a group revenue in the $11.8-$12.2 million range, which is a tidy climb from the previous years\u2019 $10 million high water mark.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for 16 January [intraday]:<\/strong><\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n WordPress Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post ASX Small Caps Lunch Wrap: Aussie markets and people are depressed going into lunch on Tuesday<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trashy Euro leads<\/h2>\n
ASX SECTORS AT LUNCH ON TUESDAY<\/h2>\n
\nThere\u2019s been record cash receipts (and grants) of $73.5m, also up x5 vs entire 2022
\nRecord revenues of $55.1m, up x3 vs entire 2022 with some 80% coming from repeat customers
\nPre-tax profit of $4m, DRO\u2019s first, vs $2.9m loss before tax in 2022.<\/p>\nLook out, brussell sprout!<\/h2>\n
\nJapan PPI (Dec)
\nGermany Inflation (Dec, final)
\nUnited Kingdom Labour Market Report (Dec)
\nGermany ZEW Economic Sentiment Index (Jan)
\nCanada Inflation (Dec)<\/p>\n
\nSingapore Non-oil Domestic Exports (Dec)
\nChina\u00a0 GDP (Q4)
\nChina Industrial Production (Dec)
\nChina Retail Sales (Dec)
\nChina Fixed Asset Investment (Dec)
\nChina Unemployment Rate (Dec)
\nUnited Kingdom Inflation (Dec)
\nUnited States Retail Sales (Dec)
\nUnited States Industrial Production (Dec)
\nUnited States Business Inventories (Nov)<\/p>\nASX SMALL CAP WINNERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n