Local markets have opened lower this morning, after Wall Street’s loss-snapping rally on Monday was itself snapped by a beating that was as lengthy as it was profound.

However, the plucky new “you can’t tell us what to do” attitude the ASX seems to be showing at present has helped the ASX200 to fall far more modestly than it normally would under the circumstances.

Where the NYSE has landed splayed, legs akimbo and fine silk undies on full display, the ASX has merely fainted briefly, in a gentile, ‘ABC period drama’ kind of way to be down 0.4% at lunchtime.

But before I get into what’s happening to the market (and, speaking of undies on display), it’s time for the latest round of Public Art Insanity, this time featuring the good people of Palm Springs, Florida, because that’s where all the top-shelf crazies go to retire.

The city of Palm Springs is justifiably famous for many things. It’s been the favoured haunt of Hollywood stars since the 1930s, and generations of young people with loose morals and even looser undergarments have descended on the town for Spring Break – the bacchanalian celebration of American College Life that is basically Schoolies Week on the Gold Coast on steroids.

It’s also a highly mixed city in terms of its political views, and the more progressive side of the community will frequently find itself at loggerheads with an army of dithering conservative retiree types, whose only hobby is being upset by absolutely everything they see.

For instance, public art is actually a major cause of public panic for Palm Springs, often times for good reason because, as everyone knows, public art is 99% terrible.

So it’s no surprise, then, that the recent proposal for a large piece of public sculpture that’s been proposed to serve as an AIDS memorial has local busybodies up in arms.

The sculptor, Palm Springs’ very own Phillip K. Smith III, is known for his “light-based work that draws upon ideas of space, form, color, light + shadow, environment, and change”.

He submitted plans for a 9-foot circular limestone structure, featuring an opening at the center at eye level that “allows a view through, offering a connection, a sense of hope, a view beyond what is directly in front of you.”

The artist has also described it as “a timeless, enduring landmark hovering above the ground. Heavy, but light. Lifting Hope. Lifting Struggle. Lifting up what is important.”

Critics have described it as “definitely an anus”.

 

 

They’re not wrong – it most definitely resembles a harsh lesson in anatomy, but only from the back.

So many critics have described it as a butthole, that Phillip K. Smith III has been forced to abandon the original plans for the sculpture – a small win for the sector of the community that immediately thinks “anus” whenever they see anything vaguely donut-shaped.

It’s not the first time the site has come under scrutiny for its public art projects – the AIDS memorial was set to be erected not far from a 26-foot-tall Marilyn Monroe statue, featuring the actress in her iconic pose from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch.

That sculpture had some locals completely up in arms because, if you stood behind the statue, you could see her knickers.

No word yet on precisely how Phillip K. Smith III is going to de-anus-ify his memorial, but I’m quietly hoping that he ends up building a smaller version of the original design and glues it on the backside of the giant Marilyn Monroe… just to give the rest of the a-holes in Palm Springs something to sob about.

 

TO MARKETS

Local markets have slipped 0.4% this morning, in the wake of an awful showing on Wall Street overnight, but managing to pare losses to some degree.

The main culprit today was yesterday’s leading light – the Heath Care sector is down 1.21% this morning, giving up yesterday’s gains (and then some), attributable to a sizeable degree to a 2.2% slump for market giant CSL (ASX:CSL).

The $120 billion market capper dropped pretty sharply this morning despite news that the company has signed a deal with the UK government for 100 million flu shots.

It remains unclear whether investors were hoping for a larger number of flu shots, or if it’s a far more insidiously racist stab at British people in general, but either way it’s had a pretty solid effect on the market’s mood this morning.

 

Materials is stubbornly doing its best to stay positive today, helped in no small measure by the Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) behemoth adding a handy 1.8% this morning, while the morning’s top performer Haranga Resources (ASX:HAR) went from half-nelson to Full Nelson, Har-Har-ing its way to a 60% gain.

 

NOT THE ASX

Oh, America… what happened to you?

Overnight In New York, the S&P 500 fell by -1.47%, the blue chips Dow Jones index was down by -1.14%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled by -1.57%.

Earlybird Eddy Sunarto reports that sentiment was crushed after US consumer confidence fell heavily to 103 in September from 108.7 in August, as Americans become more anxious about the future.

“The market is in the hands of the bears right now,” said chief global strategist of LPL Financial, Quincy Krosby.

Tech giants Apple and Microsoft fell by more than 2% each, while Amazon slipped 4% after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued the company for antitrust violations.

Retail company Target was down -2.5% after announcing that it will close nine stores around the US as it grapples with a retail theft problem.

EV maker Rivian popped 5% after Baird analyst Ben Kallo sees upside in the stock to US$30 (currently at US$22.26).

In Japan, the Nikkei has fallen 0.45% this morning in the wake of an arrest on the remote Yaeyama Islands, after a naked man walked into a convenience store, purchased a pair of undies, popped them on and then stole an electric scooter (and a helmet… because ‘safety first’) and took off.

Police were able to nab the nudist when he came back to the same shop about 30 minutes later, still on the stolen scooter. The unnamed fella was arrested for public nudity, before further investigation by police discovered he was four times the legal limit to be riding around in his jocks on a scooter.

In China, Shanghai markets are up 0.25% as the nation prepares for a lengthy break for the Autumn Moon Festival that kicks off on Friday (I think… I should probably check that), while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng is up 0.71% because it just is.

 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for 27 September [intraday]:

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

Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap
HAR Harangaresources 0.245 63% 5,602,110 $7,622,103
EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.003 50% 296,683 $6,727,274
PIL Peppermint Inv Ltd 0.0085 42% 6,054,018 $12,227,141
ADR Adherium Ltd 0.004 33% 100,000 $14,998,225
CHK Cohiba Min Ltd 0.004 33% 250,000 $6,639,733
GES Genesis Resources 0.005 25% 150,000 $3,131,365
OAR OAR Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 11,575,706 $10,452,543
CRS Caprice Resources 0.04 21% 67,300 $3,852,979
MKL Mighty Kingdom Ltd 0.013 18% 64,729 $3,588,416
CAV Carnavale Resources 0.007 17% 7,133,698 $20,541,310
RML Resolution Minerals 0.007 17% 500,289 $7,543,751
FG1 Flynngold 0.06 15% 214,735 $7,091,894
BBT Bluebet Holdings Ltd 0.235 15% 3,500 $41,111,142
1AG Alterra Limited 0.008 14% 217,390 $4,875,868
NET Netlinkz Limited 0.008 14% 4,892,074 $24,713,699
PAB Patrys Limited 0.008 14% 150,564 $14,402,131
JGH Jade Gas Holdings 0.04 14% 1,459,012 $35,217,147
CST Castile Resources 0.057 14% 60,000 $12,095,121
OZM Ozaurum Resources 0.1025 14% 6,363,151 $11,430,000
ZEU Zeus Resources Ltd 0.017 13% 720,343 $6,889,215
SGI Stealth Global 0.175 13% 41,428 $15,453,500
TNY Tinybeans Group Ltd 0.135 13% 41,957 $10,060,631
SPX Spenda Limited 0.009 13% 4,612,324 $29,371,377
BOD BOD Science Ltd 0.065 12% 110,000 $10,176,883
SIX Sprintex Ltd 0.019 12% 143,157 $5,521,709
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Way out in front this morning is Haranga Resources (ASX:HAR), which has been pushing ahead in an erratic manner this morning, currently up 50% after hitting $0.26 a pop in the opening minutes, retreating to $0.19 and climbing back to $0.235.

That’s all happening because the company’s received firm commitments from sophisticated, professional and institutional investors to raise $2.86m through a placement of 26m shares at 11c per share.

Haranga says the money will “primarily be used for drilling at Haranga’s Saraya uranium project in Senegal as the Company moves towards extending on its maiden JORC mineral resource (Inferred 12.5Mt @ 587ppm eU3O8 for 16.1 Mlbs1) at the Saraya project”.

Uranium. So hot right now.

Caprice Resources (ASX:CRS) has popped more than 21% this morning on no news to slot into second place on the winner’s list.

In third, Flynn Gold (ASX:FG1) is up 15.4% on news that the company has commenced drilling at Tasmania’s Warrentinna Project testing a high grade, near-surface gold target zone identified by historical drill results that include a thumping 5.0m @ 28.93g/t Au from 36.0m, including 1.0m @ 103.25g/t Au from 37.0m.

And also worth a mention is recent market leader OzAurum (ASX:OZM), up more than 11% this morning on an amended announcement that the company has completed its due diligence on the Linopolis Jaime hard rock lithium project acquisition in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The buy is a go, which means managing director/CEO Andrew Pumphrey will be travelling to Brazil mid-October to commence fieldwork, progress the purchase of OZM diamond drilling rig and “pursue any other potential lithium opportunities should they arise”.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for 27 September [intraday]:

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

Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap
MXC Mgc Pharmaceuticals 0.0015 -40% 72,757,761 $11,069,920
IGN Ignite Ltd 0.054 -28% 8,358 $6,718,663
SIH Sihayo Gold Limited 0.0015 -25% 2,799,999 $24,408,512
CMX Chemxmaterials 0.091 -24% 116,249 $6,369,226
KCC Kincora Copper 0.031 -21% 95,996 $6,254,783
AVE Avecho Biotech Ltd 0.004 -20% 500,001 $13,491,460
DXN DXN Limited 0.002 -20% 5,785,149 $4,308,350
MRQ Mrg Metals Limited 0.002 -20% 741,071 $5,464,797
M24 Mamba Exploration 0.047 -18% 40,052 $3,476,050
M2R Miramar 0.043 -17% 83,154 $7,741,216
OAU Ora Gold Limited 0.0075 -17% 9,286,923 $42,855,378
LSR Lodestar Minerals 0.005 -17% 2,010,000 $12,140,384
VMS Venture Minerals 0.01 -17% 29,415 $23,400,156
K2F K2Fly Ltd 0.07 -16% 40,000 $14,551,128
TZL TZ Limited 0.017 -15% 405 $5,135,162
88E 88 Energy Ltd 0.006 -14% 2,503,140 $154,830,585
AYT Austin Metals Ltd 0.006 -14% 1 $7,111,123
ECT Env Clean Tech Ltd. 0.006 -14% 7,964,326 $19,932,886
RGS Regeneus Ltd 0.006 -14% 10,131 $2,145,058
SKN Skin Elements Ltd 0.006 -14% 575,004 $3,986,403
CZR CZR Resources Ltd 0.1 -13% 129,388 $27,109,484
CCZ Castillo Copper Ltd 0.007 -13% 34,622 $10,396,043
ETR Entyr Limited 0.007 -13% 3,977,263 $15,814,831
BTE Botalaenergyltd 0.105 -13% 9,514 $6,398,000
AEV Avenira Limited 0.0105 -13% 15,559,805 $20,760,087
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