Local markets are up this morning, in the wake of a banger on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 \u201cofficially\u201d stroll majestically into Bull Market territory, closing up 1.23% and hitting an all-time record high at 4,839.81 points.<\/p>\n
To celebrate, CNBC has engaged the services of world-leading veterinary surgeon Dr Leon Dogfeeler, who is \u2013 as I write this \u2013 14 hours into the surgical process of turning Jim Cramer into a minotaur.<\/p>\n
The flow on is a buoyant local market, which is up 0.5% or thereabouts in early trade.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll get into the details of that shortly, but first there\u2019s a story from the Wild of World of Sport, after Chinese officials have disqualified a runner from the 2024 Xiamen Marathon, for breaking the event\u2019s \u201cno smoking\u201d rule.<\/p>\n
The runner, known somewhat affectionately as Uncle Chen, is a regular on China\u2019s marathon circuit, and is well known for basically chain-smoking cigarettes for the entirety of each 42km event.<\/p>\n
The most remarkable part of this feat of carcinogenic sporting magic is that Uncle Chen manages to finish each marathon he runs in a pretty respectable time, without barfing up a lung or two along the way.<\/p>\n
Uncle Chen\u2019s kind of a big deal on Chinese social media, and footage of him sucking back gaspers while running has been pretty popular in a nation where having a ciggie is pretty much a national sport on its own.<\/p>\n
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What isn\u2019t clear is whether he\u2019s developed a running style all of his own as a result of unusually high levels of nicotine in his bloodstream, or if\u00a0\u2013\u00a0as the footage suggests \u2013 he recently sharted and is trying to outrun the smell.<\/p>\n
This year, Uncle Chen reportedly crossed the finish line in a blistering 3 hours and 33 minutes, which is pretty impressive for a 52-year-old runner.<\/p>\n
But his time, unfortunately, won\u2019t count \u2013\u00a0race officials have disqualified him for breaking a \u201cno smoking on the course\u201d rule, which is as dumb as banning someone from the Olympics for testing positive to marijuana.<\/p>\n
If you can win an Olympic event while you\u2019re stoned, you should get two medals, not just one \u2013\u00a0and if Uncle Chen can slog through a marathon and a packet of smokes at the same time, that\u2019s a medal-winning performance if ever I\u2019ve seen one.<\/p>\n
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Local markets have been doing \u201cokay\u201d this morning, with the majority of sectors making headway as the ASX 200 benchmark bobbles to a +0.62% rise before lunch.<\/p>\n
Across the sectors, we\u2019ve got 6 from 11 showing better than +1.0% gains, and it\u2019s Consumer Discretionary out in front at the moment on +1.29%.<\/p>\n
Financials is also well in the hunt for Best in Show today \u2013\u00a0and that\u2019s coming ahead of the next round of earnings, and there\u2019s more than a couple of sets of eyeballs waiting to see which way the chips have been falling for the Big Four banks.<\/p>\n
Chart via Marketindex.com.au<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Like a rectal thermometer up the bum of a champion filly, earnings from the big banks are a fairly good indicator of the health of the nation\u2019s economy \u2013 and the predictions about how it\u2019s all likely to pan out have begun.<\/p>\n For example, Earlybird Eddy reported this morning that Morningstar analyst Nathan Zaia believes that bank margins are falling, but earnings are still solid.<\/p>\n \u201cNet interest margins are likely peaked in first-half fiscal 2023, and are expected to fall in fiscal 2024,\u201d Zaia said.<\/p>\n \u201cNet interest income makes up 80% to 85% of revenue. While bad debts are likely to rise, we anticipate cost containment to allow cash profits to grow broadly with revenue.<\/p>\n \u201cOur expectation of low credit growth is consistent with RBA forecasts for gross domestic product growth to average around 1.9% in fiscal 2024 and 2025. Rising house prices and drawdowns of savings add to total credit growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Stay tuned for more riveting crystal ball gazing soon.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Friday was a big one for Wall Street, where a solid market surge pushed the S&P 500 to an all time high and helped the other two majors finish the day more than 1.0% ahead for the session.<\/p>\n The S&P 500 jumped +1.23%, the blue chips Dow Jones index was up by +1.05%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rocketed higher by +1.70%. Solid work all round, and a great way to lift everyone\u2019s mood on the way into the weekend.<\/p>\n The rising sentiment in the US is most likely down to an increasing number of market-watchers that have their sights set on a soft landing for the US economy, despite everyone jumping the gun pre-Xmas and forcing the US Fed mouthpieces to spend a month slowly and carefully trying to hose down the confidence.<\/p>\n Which, you won\u2019t be surprised, they\u2019re still trying their best to do \u2013\u00a0to whit, San Francisco Fed Reserve Bank President Mary Daly\u2019s bearish notes to Fox News on Friday, when she told the network that it was \u201cpremature\u201d to think interest-rate cuts are around the corner.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the same songbook the Fed goons have been singing from for months \u2013 but the message just isn\u2019t getting through some of the thicker skulls in New York, apparently.<\/p>\n To stock news, Boeing got a +1.6% shot in the arm after India\u2019s newest airline, Akasa Air, decided to roll the dice and order 150 Max jets \u2013 and, provided they ticked the box on the order form that says \u201call parts of the aircraft should be securely attached to other parts\u201d, what could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n Apple rose 1.55% after vowing to open up its tap-to-pay technology on iPhones to rivals, in a bid to avoid EU antitrust fines.<\/p>\n That decision, alongside Apple\u2019s call to remove the patent-tripping blood oxygen reading tech from the latest iteration of its watch seem to be two of the larger roadblocks out of the way for the company.<\/p>\n Apple is also waiting on a response from Epic Games \u2013 the makers of Fortnite and other things that are slowly consuming the lives of children around the globe \u2013 after the gaming company was presented with Apple\u2019s legal bill from their recent courtroom stoush.<\/p>\n Apple filed a request to have the gaming company pay its legal fees from the recently-ended fight over Epic\u2019s desire to extract money from its customers, without paying Apple for the privilege of doing so.<\/p>\n The bill for that court battle is mental \u2013 Apple has asked the court to make Epic pay costs for the 9 out of 10 claims the gaming company filed, and which failed, which would equal 90% of AUD$123,511,749.50.<\/p>\n And Ford Motor rose 2% as it cut production of its F-150 Lightning electric truck as demand for electric vehicles declined.<\/p>\n In Asia, Japan\u2019s Nikkei is up 1.19% so far today, while Shanghai and Hong Kong markets are losing ground, down 0.62% and 0.93% respectively.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for 22 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 Resource Mining Corporation (ASX:RMI)<\/strong><\/a> is making a move this morning, climbing about 30% with gains most likely being driven by a sluggish market response to its news from last week about assay results from the Liparamba diamond drill program in Tanzania.<\/p>\n Resource told the market on 17 January that drilling had uncovered anomalous Ni-Cu values within a number of the drill holes, with 0.35-0.40% Ni and 0.20-0.23% Cu sulphide mineralisation occurring at 133-135m in hole LPDD009 among the highlights.<\/p>\n Also appearing to move belatedly is New Zealand King Salmon (ASX:NZK)<\/strong><\/a>, which is recovering sharp end-of-the-week losses today, on the heels of news that the company has received notice of a positive \u2018aquaculture decision\u2019 for Blue Endeavour from Fisheries New Zealand \u2013 which, in short, means that the project can go ahead.<\/p>\n RAS Technology Holdings (ASX:)<\/strong><\/a> has some big news today, though \u2013 the company says that it\u2019s entered into a partnership with global online casino and sportsbook Stake.com, which will see RTH provide an all-in-one \u201cracing solution\u201d to enable them to launch a racing offering to their extensive global customer base.<\/p>\n Local \u2018rapid animal and small human\u2019 enthusiasts, however, won\u2019t be able to take advantage of RTH\u2019s tech, as Stake.com doesn\u2019t offer its services to Australians, which sounds racist, but isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n PharmAust (ASX:PAA)<\/strong><\/a> is climbing this morning as well, as the market continues to digest its big news from last week that the company has partnered with leading MND\/ALS clinical study design and statistical analysis specialists Berry Consultants, to get its Phase 2\/3 study for monepantel in patients with Motor Neurone Disease (MND)\/ Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) off the ground.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for 22 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: Who chain-smoked their way through a Chinese marathon last week?<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NOT THE ASX<\/h2>\n
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n