A massive black bear called ‘Hank the Tank’ is creating a bit of ruckus in California.

Hank has broken into dozens of homes in the South Lake Tahoe area looking for food, and authorities are finding it hard to trap and capture him – probably because he weighs in at more than 220kg.

“He hasn’t missed any meals,” director of the local BEAR League Ann Bryant said.

“We are very concerned with Hank’s size and his comfort level of going into people’s houses.”

Police said they had used loud sirens, paintballs, beanbags and even dry firing their Tasers to make a clicking noise that bears hate but with no luck.

 

To Markets …

The ASX 200 is down 63.40 points or 0.88% at midday today to 7,170.20.

European share markets fell yesterday, with all eyes are on Russia-Ukraine tensions.

CNN reported today that Putin has ordered ‘peacekeeping’ troops into separatist-held areas of Ukraine – after announcing he had recognised their independence.

And yesterday Reuters reported that the Kremlin said there were no concrete plans for a summit over Ukraine between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden, after French President Macron said the two leaders had agreed on a meeting in principle.

Global oil prices were firmer on Monday in response to the ongoing stand-off, and reports suggest the US and Iran are close to reviving a 2015 nuclear deal that could see Iran lift oil exports.

The Brent crude price rose by 2.0% to US$95.39 a barrel and the US Nymex crude price rose by 3.2% to US$93.95 a barrel.

 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for February 22 [intraday]:

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

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

The biggest winner today was A-Cap Energy (ASX:ACB), followed by Amani Gold (ASX:ANL), Engage:Bdr (ASX:EN1) and Resource Mining (ASX:RMI) all on no news.

Carawine Resources (ASX:CWX) was up off the back of an all-cash takeover bid by major shareholder Christopher Wallin which values the explorer at 21c per share — a 27.27% premium to the last trading price.The share price soared +33% to 22c per share following the announcement.

Wallin was the #41 richest person is Australia in 2020 (according to Forbes) with an estimated net wealth of about ~$910 million, and makes his money through private company QCoal Group, which has developed several coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

And Quickstep Holdings (ASX:QHL) – the largest independent aerospace composite business in Australia — flagged strong growth in H1 FY22, with sales up 14% to $47.3m. Underlying pre-tax profit was up 82% to $2m.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

The biggest loser today was Redbank Copper (ASX:RCP) which confirmed copper mineralisation from its Northern Territory project – despite the RC rig being limited in its ability to penetrate below ~100m. A deeper drilling program is planned mid-year.