Local markets opened higher this morning \u2013 not by a lot, mind you, but enough to put a spring in the step of investors, particularly those that have their money in with the goldies, which were charging hard in early trade.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not all fabulous news \u2013 and I\u2019ll get to the cruddy bits in a minute \u2013 but first, to a story about crypto that is just too priceless to ignore.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s often been said that \u201cThe Lord moves in mysterious ways\u201d, so it should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that God has, apparently, decided it\u2019s time to branch out into crypto.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message we\u2019re hearing from Eligo Regalado, the pastor of a Colorado-based online church, who is currently in nine different kinds of hot water with that state\u2019s Securities Commission over what looks suspiciously like a multi-million dollar sh.tcoin scam.<\/p>\n
Brace yourself, because here comes the stoopid.<\/p>\n
Regalado and his wife Kaitlyn told their church followers that God himself told him to mint himself a sh.tcoin and, despite having precisely zero prior experience in the area, set up an exchange to provide a place for church faithful to \u2013 at their trustworthy pastor\u2019s insistence \u2013 buy an alarmingly large quantity of it.<\/p>\n
The divine order from on high resulted in Regalado building the Kingdom Wealth Exchange, which was the only exchange selling the in-house, God-approved INDX token \u2013 which Colorado authorities have, quite blasphemously, called \u201cilliquid and practically worthless\u201d.<\/p>\n
All up, Regalado and his missus managed to fleece his flock out of US$1.3 million \u2013\u00a0which the good pastor has freely admitted to \u2013 and, now that investigators have filed civil charges against him for breaking all manner of rules, he\u2019s taken a rather extraordinary step of throwing God Himself under the bus to take the blame.<\/p>\n
In a video statement to the faithful, Regaldo patiently explained that the couple \u201ctook God at His word and sold a cryptocurrency with no clear exit\u201d.<\/p>\n
And, if you\u2019re not already pounding your head against the desk in frustration at how achingly stupid this sounds, it gets better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018well, where\u2019s this liquidity going to come from,\u2019 and the Lord says, \u2018Trust Me\u2019\u201d Regalado said in the video.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just always under the impression that God was going to provide that the source was never-ending.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadly for Regaldo, it looks like God understands crypto about as well as I do \u2013 and He\u2019s being used as the patsy, now that the scheme has unravelled and His messenger is deep in the crypto doo-doo with regulators.<\/p>\n
The cherry on the top of this outburst of gross stupidity is that Regaldo appears to be, like all good crypto shonks before him, doubling down on the value of God\u2019s sh.tcoin.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s promised to appear in court and fight the allegations against him, and tried to reassure those good Christian people who bought into the scheme that they just have to keep the faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod is not done with this project; God is not done with INDX coin,\u201d he said, showing an unnerving level of calm because that\u2019s precisely the kinda talk that gets people smited.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aussie markets got off to a positive start this morning, with the benchmark climbing to 7,540 (+0.3%) in a matter of minutes, before it ran out of puff and chugged slowly back down towards flatline. By the time we were unwrapping our sandwiches, the benchmark had dipped to -0.1% and was trending ever-lower.<\/p>\n
For once, it\u2019s not the Materials sector dragging its feet \u2013 today\u2019s dose of the doldrums is proudly brought to you by the local InfoTech sector, which is down close to 1.4% mid-morning, with Health Care in distant pursuit on -0.66% so far.<\/p>\n
The Materials sector is, in fact, having a banger this morning \u2013 up 1.4% before retreating a little, with the good news coming especially from among the goldies which are surging like a king tide through the streets of Venice.<\/p>\n
Chart via Marketindex.com.au<\/p>\n
The XGD All Ords Gold Index is up 2.78% mid-morning, despite gold prices softening a little over the past 24 hours to be down around the US$2,027\/oz mark.<\/p>\n
Chart via Marketindex.com.au<\/p>\n
The main reason why local investors have got a case of the wait-and-sees this morning is that we\u2019re all on tenterhooks before Albo fronts the cameras in Canberra to tell us what kind of mischief his government\u2019s been up to, during a revisit of the Stage 3 tax cuts, which are due to come into force from July 1.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s quite a lot of shouting from the sidelines on the issue \u2013 most notably from those who want the tax cuts to go ahead as promised, given that it\u2019s a policy that\u2019s been tested at the ballot box twice, and one that Labor pinky-promised to stick to if it won government.<\/p>\n
But, here we are \u2013 surrounded by markets around the world that are leaping from record high to record high, while ours wavers in the face of a government that can\u2019t help but tinker with stuff when it clearly said it wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few items from the ASX announcements list that might have slipped beneath your radar this morning include one from Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX:VMM)<\/strong><\/a>, which has signed two binding agreements to secure an additional 101km2 of additional mining rights alongside its currently held licences at the Po\u00e7os De Caldas Alkaline Complex, Minas Gerais, Brazil.<\/p>\n Ionic Rare Earths (ASX:IXR)<\/strong><\/a> has had some movement in the boardroom, with former Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA)<\/strong><\/a> managing director Simon Lynch stepping into the role of executive chairman, effective today, bringing with him more than 30 years\u2019 worth of experience in international business development and management.<\/p>\n Fatfish Group (ASX:FFG)<\/strong><\/a> has a new recruit to brag about as well, following the appointment of Rhys Campbell as the company\u2019s new senior director of Social Gaming. Campbell\u2019s got form in that market sector \u2013 he was VP of Engineering at global social gaming company Virtual Gaming Worlds, overseeing growth and development of the engineering department at a time when that company delivered financial year revenues of A$4.3 billion.<\/p>\n And briefly, Besra Gold (ASX:BEZ)<\/strong><\/a> would like everyone to know that it\u2019s been shopping, and snapped up 1,802 shares in North Borneo Gold (NBG), the owner of the Bau gold project, from Gladioli Enterprises for a cool half-million dollars. The purchase pushes Besra\u2019s ownership of NBG up by 0.72% to 98.5%, which \u2013 on an equity adjusted basis \u2013\u00a0represents an increase in Besra\u2019s interest in Bau of 0.78% to 93.55%.<\/p>\n Happy days.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Wall Street, much like the Menulog guy who recently binned his scooter out the front of my place in spectacular fashion, delivered a mixed bag last night.<\/p>\n The S&P 500 rose 0.29% and set a record for the third consecutive day, the Nasdaq got all AI-happy again and put on +0.43%, but the stuffy old Dow retreated -0.25% because it just doesn\u2019t understand all these new-fangled computers with all their silicon chips and such.<\/p>\n Earlybird Eddy reported that earnings season has gone into full swing in New York, with United Airlines, Verizon and Procter & Gamble all rising after providing upbeat results.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t all good news, though \u2013\u00a03M collapsed by -11% after its outlook for 2024 fell way below expectations, despite a noted increase in the number of packets of Post-its missing from the nation\u2019s stationary cupboards.<\/p>\n And Johnson & Johnson also fell almost 2% as the company narrowly topped quarterly estimates, amid a rash of consumer claims that the company\u2019s \u2018No More Tears\u2019 shampoo is not an effective treatment for depression, no matter how many bottles of it you drink.<\/p>\n All eyes will be on Wall Street over the coming days as the so-called Magnificent 7 deliver their earnings in the coming days.<\/p>\n In Asian market news, Japan\u2019s Nikkei is powering ahead full throttle this week, smashing through the 36,000-point mark to hit highs we haven\u2019t seen since The B52\u2019s Love Shack was at the top of the charts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Japan weathered an appallingly difficult start to 2024, with an earthquake and air disaster knocking the gloss right off the new year early on, while the usual parade of irradiated monsters took turns laying waste to the city of Tokyo, just to keep everyone on their toes.<\/p>\n Today, the Nikkei has retreated a little throughout the morning, down 0.45% so far.<\/p>\n In China, word on the street is that central authorities are getting ready to arm the populace with wheelbarrows and shovels, in preparation for a fresh round of stimmies \u2013\u00a0rumoured to be in the vicinity of 2 trillion yuan (roughly $431 billion Aussie dollarydoos) \u2013\u00a0designed to stabilise markets there.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a lot of money, sure\u2026 but the problem with Chinese stimulus packages is that they taste great while you\u2019re receiving them, but 45 minutes later you\u2019re broke again.<\/p>\n Today, Hong Kong markets are up 2.23%, while in Shanghai things are climbing more sedately, up 0.81% in early trade.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for 24 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 Newmark Property REIT is charging hard at the top of the Small Caps ladder this morning, up more than 38% on news that it has entered into a Bid Implementation Deed that will see BWP Management lock in an off-market, 100% takeover, as part of an a proposed all-scrip merger between the pair.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an almost-impossible to turn down transaction, with BWP happy to cough up 0.40 BWP units per NPR security, to meet an implied value of $1.39 per NPR security \u2013\u00a0which is a thunderous 43.1% premium to its closing price yesterday at $0.97 a pop.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Surefire Resources (ASX:SRN)<\/strong><\/a> has hit a home run in the lab, with the company claiming a breakthrough pre-treatment and leach process that has allowed it to extract 91% of vanadium and 88% of titanium directly from Victory Bore magnetite concentrate.<\/p>\n It\u2019s big news for Surefire, and stems from the company\u2019s strategy of teaming up with METS Engineering in May last year, specifically to look into developing a better method of extraction, specifically for vanadium \u2013 as it appears that the \u201dunexpected extraction\u201d of titanium during the process is a surprise bonus for the team.<\/p>\n The process is, as you\u2019d expect, commercial in confidence \u2013\u00a0so, the specifics aren\u2019t going to be made public just yet \u2013 and Surefire says it is subject to a Provisional Patent protection and remains solely the company\u2019s IP.<\/p>\n Market minnow Eden Innovations (ASX:EDE)<\/strong><\/a> has banked a 33.3% jump this morning on the heels of a positive quarterly, which talked up \u201cinterest from a large multi-national company\u201d in the company\u2019s patented, core pyrolysis tech to make hydrogen and carbon nanotubes from natural gas without all that pesky CO2 as a by-product.<\/p>\n Eden reports that revenue for December quarter for its EdenCrete product is up 8% on PCP, however sales of its OptiBlend have fallen dramatically, down -93% \u2013\u00a0with a caveat that there are some significant sales negotiations underway in India at the moment.<\/p>\n And online retailer Harris Technology (ASX:HT8)<\/strong><\/a> has dropped its quarterly this morning, with the news that it has generated sales revenue of $4.9m through the December quarter, with thanks to an \u201cincreased contribution from the Household and Seasonal categories in line with the busy retail season through Black Friday, Christmas and Boxing Day\u201d.<\/p>\n That was enough to drive a net operating cash inflow of $235,000 for the quarter, marking the second consecutive quarter and just pipping the previous three-month result of $226,000.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for 24 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\u2019s claiming God told them to mint a sh\u2013tcoin this 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