Good morning everyone, and welcome to 1 February, 2024 \u2013\u00a0a day of utmost importance to fans of the English language, as it was on this day in 1884 that the first portion of what would become the venerated Oxford English Dictionary was published.<\/p>\n
The initial fascicle was a weighty 352 pages, and covered every conceivable word that existed in English that fell between \u201cA\u201d and \u201cant\u201d \u2013 but as important as it was, it really didn\u2019t gain all that much traction in the marketplace.<\/p>\n
It might have been the cumbersome, overly flowery original title of the tome, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society that proved to be a barrier to entry.<\/p>\n
Or it might simply have been that readers, who were already familiar with purchasing their books piecemeal and putting them together later, cottoned on to the plot quite quickly and denounced the publication as \u2018lacking clear narrative arc\u2019 and \u2018completely and alphabetically predictable\u2019.<\/p>\n
Or, it could also have been because the vast majority of people in 1884 couldn\u2019t read to save their lives, and had about as much use for a dictionary as a dog has for a trombone.<\/p>\n
Whatever the cause of the woeful performance, it wasn\u2019t a trend that would continue. Rebadged as the now familiar Oxford English Dictionary, it went on to become an essential part of any burgeoning library, and then a must-have among schoolchildren when smaller, more portable versions that could fit in a schoolbag were slapped together.<\/p>\n
I fondly remember whiling away idle classroom hours, scouring my own copy for potentially rude words \u2013\u00a0and then, once discovered, I would shout them out at the top of my lungs, much to the disdain of a certain Mr Parsons, my first high school English teacher.<\/p>\n
For the most part, he was a lovely old gent \u2013 but pushed beyond breaking point by my overly-dramatic expletives, I learned the hard way that he had a particular love for the cruellest punishment imaginable for an ADHD-addled 12-year-old boy.<\/p>\n
Parsons would nominate two numbers between 50 and 200\u00a0\u2013 the more outrageous the crime, the further apart those two numbers would be.<\/p>\n
They represented the start and finish page of his favoured lunchtime detention activity, and I can still hear his words ringing in my ears, nearly 40 years later.<\/p>\n
\u201cPage 70 to page 105 \u2013 I want you to take a red pen, and colour in every instance of the letter \u2018O\u2019 that appears on every one of those pages\u2026 and so help me, Stronach, if I find any you\u2019ve missed, I will take great delight in thrashing you senseless in front of the whole class in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
That threat turned out to be an empty one, though \u2013 just minutes into the task, I happened upon the word \u201cFart\u201d, screamed it as loud as I possibly could\u2026 and I feared Parsons, now purple-faced with apopleptic rage, was going to burst several blood vessels in his head as his mouth formed silent words while he struggled to figure out what horrible names to call me.<\/p>\n
20 seconds later, and he was in desperate need of a lie down in the teacher\u2019s lounge, and I \u2013 screaming \u201cF#$K!\u201d at an ear-splitting volume, as it was the next dirty word I could find \u2013\u00a0saw an opportunity to make my escape, so I did.<\/p>\n
They really were some of the best days of my life.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, today is set to be one of the best days of yours, and to help you on your quest to accumulate obscene quantities of wealth while barely breaking a sweat, the Stockhead team has put together some genuinely awesome stories.<\/p>\n
They include Eddy Sunarto\u2019s wrap of which health stocks went big and which ones went home in January<\/a>, and whatever general madness Christian Edwards has turned his considerable talents and lamentably short attention span towards overnight<\/a>.<\/p>\n Plus, there\u2019s the usual line up of facts, figures and fantasy below to help you wrap your noggin around the state of the market before it opens today.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Gold: US$2,033.96 (-0.15%)<\/p>\n Silver: US$23.06 (-0.65%)<\/p>\n Nickel (3mth): US$16,126.00\/t (-0.96%)<\/p>\n Copper (3mth): US$8,461.50\/t (+0.49%)<\/p>\n Oil (WTI): US$77.61 (-0.24%)<\/p>\n Oil (Brent): US$82.64 (-0.13%)<\/p>\n Iron 62pc Fe: US$136.00\/t (-1.81%)<\/p>\n AUD\/USD: 0.6566 (-0.43%)<\/p>\n Bitcoin: US$42,986.30<\/span> (+0.10%)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The team got hot\u2019n\u2019steamy with Steam Resources MD Josh Puckridge, who says that the time is definitely right for geothermal energy to be front and centre in future-proofing Australia.<\/p>\n The heat is on: Why the time and place is right for an Australian geothermal comeback. Stockhead chats with Steam Resources MD Josh Puckridge.<\/p>\n Story > https:\/\/t.co\/gYVQSoUydl<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Stockhead (@StockheadAU) January 31, 2024<\/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 Yesterday\u2019s Small Caps winners list had Mako Gold (ASX:MKG)<\/a> at the top of the ladder, after posting an activities report and balance sheets to the market that investors decided was all really good news.<\/p>\n The short version is that things are progressing well for the company, particularly at its flagship Napi\u00e9 Gold Project in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, where low-cost exploration work is continuing.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the company has progressed its due diligence ahead of a proposed accretive transaction with Goldridge, that would see Mako consolidate its holdings and create a district scale gold play in the area.<\/p>\n There were, as always it seems, a couple of small caps making big moves for mysterious reasons \u2013 and that included both Iris Metals (ASX:IR1)<\/a> (+22.7%) and Cleo Diagnostics (ASX:COV)<\/a> (+21.4%), with neither of them having fresh news to pin it on.<\/p>\n Delorean (ASX:DEL)<\/a> made headway after the company handed in its report card for the quarter, with news that its focus on project delivery is enabling it to \u201creturn to growth and profitability\u201d \u2013 plus, it\u2019s got close to $5 million smackers in the bank, and investors like that kind of thing a lot.<\/p>\n And last but not least, game makers Playside Studios (ASX:PLY)<\/a> has reported record quarterly revenue of $20.7 million, a 106% jump on PCP, and well ahead of the prior quarterly total of $15.5 million.<\/p>\n The company also reported a record Original IP revenue of $11.1 million, +245% against the same period last year, and a 41% jump to another record, this time in Work for Hire revenue totalling $9.6 million.<\/p>\n Investors were mashing their controllers as fast as their crusty old thumbs could manage, and Playside was up 20% before lunch.<\/p>\n ActivePort Group (ASX:ATV)<\/a> rose on the back of a solid quarterly, which reported the company had managed to boost revenue from operations by 7% to $3.73 million from Q1, and is boasting positive operating cashflow up $1.30 million, after the company accepted its R&D refund for FY23, taking net cash and equivalents up in the quarter from $1.66 million at the end of Q1 to $2.58 million at the end of Q2.<\/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 Imricor Medical Systems (ASX:IMR)<\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement in relation to a proposed capital raising.<\/p>\n Conrad Asia Energy (ASX:CRD)<\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement to the market in relation to a capital raising.<\/p>\n Vertex Minerals (ASX:VTX)<\/a> \u2013 pending release of an announcement by the Company in relation to a proposed capital raising.<\/p>\n Singular Health Group (ASX:SHG)<\/a> \u2013 pending an announcement in respect of a material purchase order received.<\/p>\n Centrex Metals (ASX:CXM)<\/a> \u2013 ending the release of an announcement regarding a capital raising.<\/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 Small Cap Winners included:<\/h2>\n
YESTERDAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS<\/h2>\n
TRADING HALTS<\/h2>\n