Music fans dreaming of making lots of money from autographed items of their idols — such as record sleeves or books — may want to take a closer look at any signatures.

One celebrity fan of the Fab Four has found out that all of the signatures on a Beatles record he owns are in fact those of George Harrison.

Apparently, it was routine for Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Harrison to sign each other’s names on items given to fans.

British TV presenter (and 80s pop legend) Jools Holland explains:

“He [Harrison] said that when they started, they had to sign thousands of autographs for the Beatlemania fans so they would practice and know how to do each other’s,” Holland told The Daily Mail.

Now, the market for Beatles’ memorabilia could be due for a big revaluation to the tune of millions of dollars in value.

A 1967 copy of The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album covered with the band’s signatures was sold for £129,000 ($232,000) last year.

 

To markets:

At lunchtime in Sydney, the ASX All Ordinaries index sustained a 1 per cent fall to 6,690 points after heavy losses on US equity markets.

US stock indexes tumbled overnight as the S&P 500 fell 1.3 per cent. The NASDAQ was 2.1 per cent lower, while the broader Dow Jones lost 1.1 per cent.

“Wall Street ended sharply lower Thursday, leaving the NASDAQ down near 10 per cent from its February record high, after remarks from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell disappointed investors worried about rising longer-term US bond yields,” said stockbroker Argonaut in a note Friday.

The price of gold in US dollars slipped below $US1,700 per ounce to $US1,692 ($2,197/ounce) Friday.

Ten-year bond rates crept higher with the US yield at 1.56 per cent and Australia’s at 1.84 per cent.

 

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Friday March 5:

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

Stocks highlighted in yellow made market moving announcements
Wordpress Table Plugin

 

Hunter Valley-based coal exploration company Australian Pacific Coal (ASX:AQC) galloped ahead without issuing any update. The company’s last ASX announcement was in January.

AQC’s Dartbrook mine has been maintained since it was put into mothballs in 2007 and it is appealing a planning decision against changes to a development consent.

Australian Pacific Coal has been jousting with the Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association, whose members operate horse stud farms in the area near to Dartbrook.

The horse breeders are against the reactivation of the Dartbrook coal mine, and the company’s legal appeal to the planning decision is set for a hearing before June this year.

With no coal to sell and prices for thermal coal currently depressed on falling demand in Asia (and import restrictions in China), investors may be mystified by AQC’s share price move.

Uranium exploration company Zeus Resources (ASX:ZEU) lifted higher Friday before trading in its shares was halted pending an announcement to the market.

Zeus Resources is seeking to diversify and is looking for suitable projects in gold and copper in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos, according to its December quarter report.

The company has three projects in WA, Lake Way, Mortimer Hills and Narnoo South, but did not carry out any exploration activity on these in the recent quarter.

Zeus Resources has a strategic investment partner in Zhengyuan International Mining Company, a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned company China Metallurgical Geological Bureau.

 

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Friday March 5:

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

Stocks highlighted in yellow made market moving announcements
Wordpress Table Plugin

 

Tesla battery materials supplier Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) lost nearly 20 per cent of its value or around $200m in early Friday trade, taking its market value down to $1bn.

Piedmont Lithium has just started the legal process to list on the US Nasdaq index and to transfer its residence to the US state of Delaware, while retaining a secondary ASX listing.

Under a scheme of arrangement, a new US-based company Piedmont US will become the new holding company for Piedmont Lithium by acquiring all of its shares.

Piedmont Lithium’s shares will trade under the Nasdaq share code of PLL, the same as its ASX share ticker.

Piedmont Lithium’s share price took off after it struck a supply deal for spodumene concentrate with EV maker Tesla which has sought out North America-based raw material suppliers.

Africa-focused gold explorer Amani Gold (ASX:ANL) was another victim of share market turbulence Friday with its share price one of the morning’s largest fallers.

Little has been said publicly by the company since an early February announcement about a planned $3m capital raising to fund drilling for its Giro project.

The gold project is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has a mineral resource of 4.1 million ounces gold which the company wants to expand.