ASX Small Cap Lunch Wrap: Who’s interested in a pump & dump today?

ASX small caps led the price action in morning trade today, as the Small Ords Index rose by more than 1 per cent.

That easily outpaced the ASX200, which was treading water after a directionless lead from US markets.

Elsewhere, US media identity Dave Portnoy is back in the investing game with a new-found interest in cryptocurrency.

Earlier this year, Portnoy (founder of media platform Barstool Sports) turned some heads on finance Twitter with his trading positions and general commentary during the post-COVID bull market in US stocks.

But after meeting with Bitcoin enthusiasts (and crypto trading platform owners) the Winklevoss twins, he’s now taking his talents to the alt-coin market:

Everyone knows you don’t say what crypto you’re about to buy until you’ve cryptonized it. #DDTG https://t.co/LFAqzkkkmC

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 17, 2020

For your reference, that video includes the phrase, “the thing I like about pump & dumps in crypto is that it’s encouraged”. Tell us what you really think Dave.

Sentiment in the crypto markets remains high, with Bitcoin holding above $US12,000 (~$17k) and another wave of speculative money flowing into more obscure assets.

Bitcoin’s store-of-value competitor — gold — has bounced back from last week’s selloff and is holding near $US2k ($2,760). And the AUD is holding above US72c amid ongoing weakness in the US dollar.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Tuesday August 18:

Resources minnow Mt Burgess Mining (ASX:MTB) quadrupled in morning trade, after announcing that ‘”further work has been conducted on refining the consolidation of drill hole data” at its Nxuu project — a zinc-lead-silver-germanium and vanadium deposit in Botswana.

The company, which has a market cap of $1.2m, said the new data formats “show more clearly the continuity of the mineralised domain of the Nxuu Deposit as known from holes drilled to date”.

CAQ Holdings (ASX:CAQ) also doubled on no news, while Hydrix (ASX:HYD) continued its momentum from yesterday when it closed 260 per cent higher following a market update on its medtech implant device for heart health.

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Tuesday August 18: