On Stockhead today, has the new age of coal dawned, the CSIRO found a fungus that can find gold, and the tech stocks that aren’t listening to talk of a bubble.

But first, here’s what you need to know about the week ahead.

 

The week ahead in data

It’s a really slow trickle for data this week in Australia. Crickets over Monday and Tuesday, before the Housing Industry Association releases monthly home sales figures.

On Thursday the Australian Bureau of Statistics has monthly and yearly data on building permits, followed by private sector credit and expenditure figures on Friday.

News from the US will have a quiet start to the week as well, with Memorial Day on Monday.

Both the ASX 200 and the ASX small ords closed down on Friday.

 

Company news

No shares out of escrow today, but there are plenty being released this week — view our summary here.

The following companies are due out of a trading halt or voluntary suspension early this week:

Today:

  • Carbine Resources (ASX CRB) – response to a price query
  • Bojun Agriculture (ASX:BAH) – management changes
  • Vector Resources (ASX:VEC) – capital raising
  • Micro-X (ASX:MX1) – administrative matters

Tuesday:

  • Immuron (ASX:IMC) – capital raising
  • Estrella Resources (ASX:ESR) – exploration update
  • Auroch Minerals (ASX:AOU) – acquisition

 

Commodities

Gold: $US1,284.65 ($1,853.03) +0.12%

Silver: $US14.56 -0.17%

Oil (Brent): $US68.69 +1.37%

Oil (WTI): $US58.63 +1.24%

Coal: $US82.10 -0.48%

Iron ore 62pc fe: $US98.14 +0.85%

AUD/USD: $US0.6933

 

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What got you talking last week

You were a chatty bunch last week. How about:

All these and more had people jumping in on the Stockhead Facebook chat forum.

These were the five most-discussed stocks on trading gossip forum HotCopper at close on Friday:

 

Friday’s winners

LBT Innovations (ASX:LBT) had a big week, up 129 per cent to 16c, thanks to its half-owned joint venture Clever Culture Systems receiving FDA clearance for an instrument that can process 200 culture plates an hour and see which are growing bacteria. It was the last hurdle in order to start selling in the US.

CCP Technologies (ASX:CT1) was next best, up 70 per cent to 2c. It followed a sale announcement (shares up 60 per cent) with news that one of their low-temperature devices has passed Monash University testing (shares up 54 per cent). That suggests its disastrous foray into cryptocurrency last year and shedding of executives has been forgiven.

Underwater tech company UUV Aquabotix (ASX: UUV) rose 57 per cent this week to 1.2c after signing another deal with the US military.

The defence force with the world’s largest military budget has taken a liking to UUV’s SwarmDivers — miniature vehicles which can be deployed in underwater diving operations.

The company said it’s been awarded a contract of around $150,000, which marks the US military’s fourth SwarmDiver order since April 2018.

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for May 20-24:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort

Ticker Name Price % Chg Market cap
LBT LBT INNOVATIONS LTD 0.16 1.29 32.15M
RXH REWARDLE HOLDINGS LTD 0.004 1 2.11M
CT1 CCP TECHNOLOGIES LTD 0.02 0.7 7.58M
PPK PPK GROUP LTD 2.26 0.68 183.94M
DTM DART MINING NL 0.008 0.6 8.09M
FRM FARM PRIDE FOODS LTD 0.32 0.6 17.66M
UUV UUV AQUABOTIX LTD 0.012 0.57 1.95M
ANL AMANI GOLD LTD 0.003 0.5 11.07M
MDI MIDDLE ISLAND RESOURCES LTD 0.006 0.5 6.28M
LCY LEGACY IRON ORE LTD 0.003 0.5 4.40M
LNU LINIUS TECHNOLOGIES LTD 0.04 0.48 43.51M
AER AEERIS LTD 0.19 0.48 10.48M
PBX PACIFIC BAUXITE LTD 0.02 0.45 6.35M
AND ANDROMEDA METALS LTD 0.014 0.44 17.62M
TDL TBG DIAGNOSTICS LTD 0.05 0.43 10.88M
MCT METALICITY LTD 0.01 0.43 6.02M
FGO FLAMINGO AI LTD 0.0085 0.42 9.52M
FTT FACTOR THERAPEUTICS LTD 0.006 0.38 5.74M
CGO CPT GLOBAL LIMITED 0.004 0.36 7.19M
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Friday’s losers

On the other end of the spectrum, fintech software platform Intiger Group (ASX: IAM) got smashed after a deal with Commonwealth Bank fell through.

The company said its financial planning software met all of the standards and metrics agreed to between the two parties, however it was “unable to negotiate an ongoing commercial agreement”. Shares in Intiger fell 71 per cent to 0.2 cents.

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for May 20-24:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort

Ticker Company Price % Chg Market cap
QGL Quantum Graphite Ltd 0.002 -33% $15.1m
GLA Gladiator Resources Ltd 0.001 -33% $1.5m
RD1 Registry Direct Ltd 0.03 -30% $3.6M
MGT Magnetite Mines Ltd 0.005 -29% $4.0M
AKN Auking Mining Ltd 0.0015 -25% $1.4M
RAG Ragnar Metals Ltd 0.007 -22% $2.2M
GTG Genetic Technologies Ltd 0.007 -22% $19.0M
JJF Jiajiafu Modern Agriculture Ltd 0.04 -20% $3.4M
TRL Tanga Resources Ltd 0.002 -20% $2.5M
MHC Manhattan Corp Ltd 0.004 -20% $3.0M
MBK Metal Bank Ltd 0.01 -20% $7.1M
CIO Connected IO Ltd 0.002 -20% $3.6M
AUT Auteco Minerals Ltd 0.004 -20% $4.0M
IMC Immuron Ltd 0.16 -18% $22.2M
HHM Hampton Hill Mining NL 0.01 -18% $4.1M
GTE Great Western Exploration Ltd 0.004 -17% $3.9M
TMX Terrain Minerals Ltd 0.0025 -17% $1.6M
NAE New Age Exploration Ltd 0.005 -17% $4.4M
HIP Hipo Resources Ltd 0.01 -17% $3.9M
ANL Amani Gold Ltd 0.0025 -17% $9.2M
ADX ADX Energy Ltd 0.005 -17% $6.1M
AAU Adcorp Australia Ltd 0.01 -17% $4.6M
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That’s all you need to know. As Frank Spencer’s mum used to say about Mondays… “It’s Monday!”