ASX Small Cap Lunch Wrap: Who’s holding Queensland marine engine suppliers today?

After all the trading excitement around video games retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME) it seems there is to be no grand finale.

At one stage last week the US retailer had a market value of $US24bn ($31.3bn), but at the close of the New York stock market last night this was down to $US6.2bn.

GameStop’s share price slipped 60 per cent Tuesday to a mere $US90 per share, down from a peak of $US347 last Wednesday.

The legendary squeeze of short sellers in GameStop’s stock appears to have faded, partly because of some trading platforms restricting trading in the video gaming retailer’s shares.

Some ‘diamond hands’ said on trading bulletin boards they are hanging on to their GameStop shares, and many have still made mega profits.

Other stocks targeted by the r/wallstreetbets crowd have also tumbled overnight, as has silver with the white metal dropping to $US26.90 per ounce from $US29.50/ounce on Monday.

Can it be that Wall Street has repelled the barbarian horde who attempted to storm its citadel and make off with bags of profits?

Quick off the mark as ever, Hollywood is planning to make a film about the GameStop trading bonanza that will be screened on Netflix.

Amazon chief Bezos moves up to company chairman post

Separately, overnight, Amazon announced that its chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos is moving to a new role of executive chairman with the internet giant later this year.

Bezos started the company an an online books retailer some 27 years ago, and it has grown into a worldwide business that employs more than 1 million people.

The Nasdaq-listed company had sales last year of $US386bn, up nearly 40 per cent on year, and a net income of $US23bn.

His replacement as CEO is Amazon web services chief Andy Jassy, and Bezos, 57, will spend more time on his Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin spaceship company and The Washington Post newspaper.

“If you get it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. And that yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive,” Bezos said.

To markets:

At lunch time in Sydney, the broad ASX All Ordinaries index had pushed through the 7,000 points level and was trading nearly 1 per cent higher on day at 7,097 points.

The ASX 200 was 1 per cent higher at 6,829 points.

US stocks finished higher overnight on gains by Amazon and Google parent company Alphabet, with the Nasdaq up 1.6 per cent at 13,613 points.

Winners

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday morning, February 3:

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

Stocks highlighted in yellow made market moving announcements

Ship propulsion systems company Zicom Group (ASX:ZGL) went up like a rocket, rising 260 per cent, after it won orders worth $S60m ($59.2m) for several oil tankers.

The Queensland engineering company’s LNG fuelled propulsion systems will be installed in the new-build tankers next year for their owner, a European shipping company.

The order book success is a remarkable achievement for Zicom Group which only started its green energy propulsion systems business three years ago.

A downturn in its deck machinery products business five years ago led the group to leverage its network and knowledge to build the new marine business.

International Maritime Organisation IMO 2020 rules state that ocean-going ships have to reduce their engines’ sulphur emissions to 0.5 per cent from 4.5 per cent.

This meant a switch from using sulphurous bunker fuel to cleaner energy sources such as LNG to power ship engines.

“With successful rollout of the vaccines, it is hoped that global travels and interactions can return to normalcy to enable us to further enhance and strengthen our growth prospects in the industry,” said the company.

Legacy Iron Ore up on drilling results

Another winner in morning trade was gold explorer and iron ore project holder Legacy Iron Ore (ASX:LCY) after announcing drilling results for its Yilgangi gold deposit in WA.

The results increase the company’s confidence in the known mineralisation for its Rainbow and Golden Rainbow gold prospects. They included a hit of 17.8 grams per tonne gold at 12m.

“The drilling has identified some outstanding intersections, and of particular importance is that much of the mineralisation is close to the surface,” chief executive, Rakesh Gupta, said.

The Rainbow and Golden Rainbow prospects are 150km northeast of Kalgoorlie in WA’s North Coolgardie mineral field, and Yilgangi deposit is 15km northwest of Porphyry gold mine.

Legacy Iron Ore has attracted some investor interest for its Mt Bevan iron ore project north of Kalgoorlie in WA which is a joint venture with Hawthorn Resources (ASX:HAW).

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday morning February 3:

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

Stocks highlighted in yellow made market moving announcements

Investors in tin explorer Australian Tin Mining (ASX:ANW) took fright Wednesday, despite tin metal prices hitting a multi-year high of $US25,000 per tonne this week.

Australian Tin Mining said the completion of its acquisition of a 40 per cent stake in the Ashford coking coal project in northern NSW had been delayed until late February.

A second project for coking coal that the company is seeking to acquire, Mackenzie in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, has also been delayed to the same date.

The acquisitions are at risk of falling through if certain conditions are not met by the parties by February 26, the company said.

The company’s world-class tin project, Taronga, with a JORC resource comprising tin, silver and copper, is located 50km east of the Ashford coal project.

Uranium explorer Energy Metals dips

Another falling stock Wednesday was uranium explorer Energy Metals (ASX:EME) which has eight exploration projects scattered across the Northern Territory and WA.

The company’s largest shareholder with 66.45 per cent is China Uranium Development Company, the subsidiary of a China-based nuclear power plants operator.

Energy Metals had $16.1m in cash at the bank at the end of December 2020, and has completed a study for a large open pit for its Bigrlyi project in the Northern Territory.