The ASX Emerging Companies index (XEC) is up more than 1.5% on Thursday, while the benchmark ASX 200 is higher as well.

Local investors are totally unconcerned by weak US futures when commodity prices behave like incensed lemmings.

The already cray-cray price of Newcastle thermal coal has gone outright bananas on Thursday arvo, smashing its record high into little pieces thanks to some otherwise unrelated insanity in Ukraine

The Asia-Pacific benchmark for seaborne coking-coal is up more than 40% (to circa $US436) today, triple what it was going for on Australia day, just a few months back.

And the price of LNG – like reverse-lemmings – made its biggest intra-day jump ever.

On the macro front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says January building approvals crashed 28% month-on-month. It’s always a choppy read this one, but when consensus was pegged at a dip of just 3% either someone’s math, or someone’s sector is in big trouble.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow rose after making announcements during the trading day).

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First up we have an appropriate Charlie Sheen stock – up almost 15% – and the clear winner of Winners Without News on Thursday is the ASX’s largest sports-betting stock, PointsBet (ASX:PBH)

It’s been a choppy old run for PBH, with three straight double-digit percentage moves (two up, one down as the sector en-masse finds itself deep in regulatory adventures stateside.

And when commodities go nuts like this, resource names tend to dominate and Aussie-listed South America-based copper play Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) is hot to trot.

HCH came to market this morning with a mega eight-year offtake deal with global commodities giant Glencore — which is also its largest shareholder — for future copper concentrate production from the company’s Costa Fuego copper-gold project in Chile.

Frontier Energy (ASX:FHE) rose sharply. After rejoining the ASX boards with an $8m capital raise that will be used to fund a a large-scale solar energy project south of Perth.

The stock formerly known as Superior Lake Resources, has it’s Bristol Spring’s solar project getting the go ahead and development approval.

Also posting a cracker Thursday was Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR),  the lithium explorer convincing punters it really might be onto something at its ‘Coolgardie West’ project in WA.

“The next phase of exploration at Coolgardie West represents an exciting progression designed to provide robust, walk-up drill targets for both lithium and gold that can be rapidly tested on grant of the tenement,” managing director Bill Clayton said.

And I’m pretty pleased I get to say Zebit (ASX:ZBT) again.

Zebit, you see, finally got a wee updraft – not heaps of course. But anything is welcome for the totally smashed BNPL/Ecommerce/thingy play as it abandons the ASX ship, a la Titanic.

Zebit needs more money. But it seems no ASX investors will fund Zebit.

Zebit shares are going for 5.5c, after Zebit raised $35 million in October 2020 at $1.58 per Zebit share.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow rose after making announcements during the trading day).

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ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Bubs is making a move to sort it’s daigou seller dramas by issuing almost 5% of its stock to its biggest Chinese corporate daigou distributor under a plan to generate sales of up to $180m by next year, accelerating its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the infant formula maker is up about 2.8% today.

Clover Corporation (ASX:CLV) will be paid $500k plus ~$900k to cover legal costs over a drawn out dispute it’s had with a former employee and Pharmamark Nutrition.

Clover started  the legal blue in 2019 to protect its manufacturing IP of its micro-encapsulated oil products. Under the settlement terms everyone’s agreed not to disclose or use Clovers formulations and documents.

Peel Mining (ASX:PEX) has completed the first tranche of an $18.8 million equity raise with its cornerstone investor geologist and well-known mining identity Josh Pitt demonstrating he’s bullish on the company paying $3.6 million to maintain his ~19% stake.

Tranche 2 of the placement will be completed once shareholder approval is obtained.

And finally, American West Minerals (ASX:AW1) has appointed experienced mining executive Tom Peregoodoff as a non-executive director.

Peregoodoff has more than 30 years experience in the resources sector including as chief executive of listed corporations with operations in America.

TRADING HALTS

Suvo Strategic Minerals (ASX:SUV) – capital raising

Brookside Energy (ASX:BRK) – acceleration of Flames Well drilling, funding facility

Metals Australia (ASX:MLS) – capital raising

Strike Energy (ASX:STX) – South Erregulla 1 well drilling results

Stanmore Resources (ASX:SMR) – capital raising

DRA Global (ASX-:DRA) – leadership changes