It’s not easy being a Broadway icon.
When theatre legend Andrew Lloyd Webber saw what the movie-adaptors had done with his beloved musical Cats, he acquired a therapy pet to help him cope.
“‘Cats’ was off-the-scale all wrong,”, Lloyd Webber said in a recent interview with Variety.
To deal with the stress, Lloyd Webber acquired a Havanese puppy, which has turned out to be a good move, he says.
He even told an airline that he needed the puppy for travel because an evil movie studio had butchered his musical — medical grounds that were happily accepted.
But for investors, it pays to be wary of dog acquisitions. The Secret Broker has more here.
On markets, US investors engaged in a familiar pattern this week, stressing about an impasse on Capitol Hill over the pending debt ceiling, before it (once again) got raised with a short-term extension.
That gave rise to some good vibes on Wall Street, as the Nasdaq paced gains amid optimism the debt ceiling deal will give the Biden administration breathing space to implement its big fiscal stimulus agenda.
The ASX has followed suit with steady gains across the board in morning trade.
The ASX 200 Materials index — home of the big miners — has slumped more than 20% from its August highs, but for the first time in a while resources stocks found the most demand today.
It’s all happening ahead of what looks like an important jobs update in the US market tonight, where consensus is building for a monthly gain of around 500,000 jobs.
If the figure beats expectations and unemployment falls, there could be a market reaction to a possible change in pace of the US Fed’s policy tightening plan, analysts said.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar is back above US73c while Bitcoin is holding steady near US$55k following its latest +35% surge in October.
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for October 8 [intraday]:
(Stocks highlighted in yellow made market-moving announcements).
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RXH | Rewardle Holding Ltd | 0.026 | 100.0% | 34,868,913 |
| VIC | Victory Mines Ltd | 0.0025 | 66.7% | 115,513,234 |
| PHL | Propell Holdings Ltd | 0.14 | 42.9% | 14,736,275 |
| HNR | Hannans Ltd | 0.0295 | 28.3% | 27,632,792 |
| AUH | Austchina Holdings | 0.01 | 25.0% | 27,271,994 |
| BTR | Brightstar Resources | 0.04 | 25.0% | 1,091,875 |
| CCE | Carnegie Cln Energy | 0.0025 | 25.0% | 1,224,069 |
| ARE | Argonaut Resources | 0.007 | 16.7% | 850,000 |
| NXM | Nexus Minerals Ltd | 0.44 | 15.8% | 2,238,821 |
| IMC | Immuron Limited | 0.15 | 15.4% | 1,872,241 |
| RVS | Revasum | 0.62 | 14.8% | 107,806 |
| SHP | South Harz Potash | 0.1025 | 13.9% | 816,903 |
| DLC | Delecta Limited | 0.0125 | 13.6% | 12,349,719 |
| KOV | Korvest Ltd | 6.31 | 12.7% | 21,752 |
| TIG | Tigers Realm Coal | 0.027 | 12.5% | 2,241,758 |
| GNM | Great Northern | 0.009 | 12.5% | 119,768 |
| HHR | Hartshead Resources | 0.029 | 11.5% | 1,227,704 |
| RIM | Rimfire Pacific | 0.01 | 11.1% | 100,000 |
| SCL | Schrole Group Ltd | 0.01 | 11.1% | 261,504 |
| AQX | Alice Queen Ltd | 0.0105 | 10.5% | 299,871 |
| ELT | Elementos Limited | 0.0265 | 10.4% | 5,420,948 |
| AJX | Alexium Int Group | 0.085 | 10.4% | 1,996,347 |
| CKA | Cokal Ltd | 0.16 | 10.3% | 897,145 |
Customer loyalty platform Rewardle Holdings (ASX:RXH) was the day’s big winner, surging higher on some BNPL-related news out of the UK market.
The company referred to a deal it inked back in April with SplitPay Group, an Australian-based firm operating BNPL services in the UK and Europe.
Instead of a $30,000–$60,000 cash fee for professional services provided, RXH said it has converted that payment into a shareholding of between 0.5% and 1% in SplitPay.
Among stocks with news, another sub-$10m tech nanocap — Propell Holdings (ASX:PHL) — led the pack after announcing a partnership with US-based Afterpay acquirer Square Inc (NYSE:SQ).
Propell, which provides fintech lending services for small businesses, said it will integrate Square onto its platform for the Australian market.
Shares in Propell ripped higher before it went into a trading halt pending a further announcement.
In resources, Hannans Ltd (ASX:HNR) jumped sharply after signing a non-binding MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to “commercialise lithium-ion battery recycling technology in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland”.
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for October 8 [intraday]:
(Stocks highlighted in yellow made market-moving announcements).
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SE1 | Sensera Ltd | 0.024 | -33.3% | 27,540,911 |
| ANL | Amani Gold Ltd | 0.0025 | -16.7% | 11,615,937 |
| IPB | IPB Petroleum Ltd | 0.027 | -15.6% | 889,000 |
| YPB | YPB Group Ltd | 0.0035 | -12.5% | 10,360,057 |
| EML | EML Payments Ltd | 3.24 | -12.4% | 11,293,783 |
| PDZ | Prairie Mining Ltd | 0.31 | -11.4% | 220,789 |
| WC8 | Wildcat Resources | 0.039 | -11.4% | 8,702,004 |
| AYM | Australia United Min | 0.008 | -11.1% | 11,111 |
| XST | Xstate Resources | 0.004 | -11.1% | 76,538 |
| MTC | Metalstech Ltd | 0.51 | -10.5% | 2,211,588 |
| CGB | Cann Global Limited | 0.0045 | -10.0% | 1,745,000 |
| CVS | Cervantes Corp Ltd | 0.009 | -10.0% | 3,658,500 |
| DCX | Discovex Res Ltd | 0.0045 | -10.0% | 222,451 |
| ACP | Audalia Res Ltd | 0.01 | -9.1% | 479,000 |
| ARO | Astro Resources NL | 0.005 | -9.1% | 113,184 |
| NC6 | Nanollose Limited | 0.082 | -8.9% | 137,905 |
| XTE | Xtek Limited | 0.265 | -8.6% | 81,622 |
| KME | Kip McGrath Edu.Cntr | 0.905 | -8.6% | 73,759 |
| AO1 | Assetowl Limited | 0.0055 | -8.0% | 200,000 |
| ERA | Energy Resources | 0.34 | -8.0% | 731,825 |
| WCN | White Cliff Min Ltd | 0.012 | -8.0% | 340,800 |
| MRD | Mount Ridley Mines | 0.0065 | -7.0% | 639,123 |