I guess when the world is in lockdown nothing seems out of the ordinary… not even a plane landing in the middle of a US highway.
We have to admit, his merging skills are impressive (and much better than Perth drivers).
Now, here’s what you might have missed on Stockhead this week, but everyone else didn’t, and liked the most.
1. RockTalk: Battery metal stocks and the ‘new energy world’
Our new podcasts are still proving popular with Stockhead fans and this week’s number one was about battery metals and the “new energy world”.
Many of the battery metals players may have pivoted out of the space and into something a bit more appealing, but Goldman Sachs still reckons there’s “long-term secular growth” for electric vehicles.
And it seems readers/listeners are still interested in the space.
Populating the expert panel this week is Mark Thompson, managing director of Talga Resources (ASX:TLG), Scott Williamson, managing director of Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX) and Nigel Ferguson, managing director of AVZ Minerals (ASX:AVZ).
Tune in to hear more if you missed it the first time around.
2. How far are we from a COVID-19 vaccine, really?
This is one question everyone wants answered.
And Rachel Williamson did her best to answer that very question.
There were 67 COVID-19 vaccines in development around the world as of last week, with two frontrunners close to moving into phase 2/3 clinical trials.
But, at its earliest a vaccine might be available for all Australians by…
Sorry, you’ll just have to read on to find out!
3. The easing of lockdown conditions: what should we expect?
Something else our readers really want to know about – life after lockdown.
We are all dying to escape the four walls we’re confined too — not to mention our kids and respective partners before there’s yet another divorce on the court listing.
But just how long will it be before lockdown restrictions are lifted and what exactly will life be like afterwards?
Nick Sundich has summarised everything we know so far.
4. Why copper looms as the biggest potential winner post COVID-19
Everyone wants to back a winner. But predicting just which metals are going to come up trumps on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic is not always an easy gig.
One analyst though is very bullish on copper’s prospects.
New York-based UBS executive director Andreas Bokkenheuser believes that one quarter of price weakness will be followed by “six quarters of price strength”.
He sees copper prices correcting to $US1.60 ($2.52) a pound before rebounding to $US2.35 a pound in H2 2020 and $US3 a pound in 2021.
Find out what else is forecast for the copper market and the juniors in the space.
5. The 2020 outlook for iron ore remains hot, unlike almost everything else
Meanwhile, consultancy Wood Mackenzie is pretty bullish on iron ore above everything else.
The reason: China (it’s always China).
You see, the Asian powerhouse is getting back to work (so we hear) and it is the world’s biggest consumer of iron ore.
China consumes 57 per cent of the world’s iron ore production, miles ahead of #2 placed India (9 per cent).
And economic recovery is now China’s top priority, according to Wood Mackenzie, and we all know what that means — dollar dollar bills y’all (or lots of stimulus in plain English).
Reuben Adams sums up just what impact this will have on the iron ore market.
6. Despite near-record gold prices, are mid-tier producers undervalued?
And, well, who could go past gold right now?
Investors may be thinking there’s no good buys left, they’re all too expensive.
But in actual fact RBC Capital Markets reckons there’s some really attractively priced mid-tiers that haven’t realised their full value yet.
Read on to find out which mid-tiers RBC thinks have some way to run still.
7. Bargain Barrel: This junior gold explorer is ready to rumble with a top tier miner on its register
Ok so you can’t exactly go out physically hunting for a bargain right now, but you can still check out which stocks might have potential from your couch.
Our regular Bargain Barrel column focuses on juniors that are sub-$10m and ooze potential.
This week’s edition looks at a small cap that is backed by one of the world’s largest miners – not a bad start.
Bevis Yeo runs through what else it has going for it.
8. The Lachlan Fold Belt is shaping up to be elephant country and its only just beginning
Junior explorers turning up discoveries on ground that had previously been considered “mature” does have the tendency to pique investors’ interest.
The Lachlan Fold has come to the fore lately thanks to Alkane Resources’ (ASX:ALK) Boda copper-gold discovery.
But hey, Newcrest has been operating a big successful copper-gold mine there for years.
The problem was, no other company-making discoveries eventuated after Newcrest found Cadia. That is until Alkane hit paydirt in September last year.
Check out how Boda has brought the Lachlan Fold back into the exploration spotlight.
9. Here’s where Predictive Discovery’s 733pc rise in 1 day sits in the record books
Africa-focused gold explorer Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) became an eight-bagger in one day. Impressive.
The company closed Wednesday up 733 per cent with a solid gold discovery at its project in Guinea.
It may be the biggest one-day gain on the ASX in the past three years, but it didn’t quite manage to take the all-time record.
10. ASX newcomer Atomo Diagnostics breaks IPO drought; surges 125pc on debut
New listings on the ASX have been non-existent for the past six weeks, but that changed on Thursday when rapid HIV and COVID-19 test kit maker Atomo Diagnostics (ASX:AT1) lit up the boards.
And it did more than just raise $30m and make it onto the bourse, it was so popular with investors it started trading and immediately gained 125 per cent before continuing its run up. It shot up as much as 215 per cent on Thursday.
Pretty impressive for the first IPO in six weeks.
Have a good weekend!