It’s been a crazy week. Gold futures hit the magical $US2000 an ounce mark, stock valuations keep going up and Victoria still doesn’t have a handle on COVID.

The good news is you don’t have to worry about Joe Biden going on a Twitter rant if he wins the US presidency. He promised.

Thank goodness from WhitePeopleTwitter

 

Now, here’s what you might have missed on Stockhead this week, but everyone else didn’t, and liked the most.

 

1. RockTalk: Australia’s incoming silica sandstorm

Silica sands is a growing market and a wave of demand is on the horizon, according to experts, thanks to the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure cash splash to reignite economies.

The biggest use of silica sand outside of concrete is flat glass and container glass. And with the massive focus on renewable energy, demand for ultra-clear flat glass for solar panels is set to take off.

Hear what the experts had to say in the latest RockTalk.

 

2. Explorers Podcast: Tolga Kumova’s tips and warnings for new investors punting on mining juniors

This week in the hot seat is well-known (many say notorious) mining investor Tolga Kumova.

Kumova’s past investments include graphite play Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR), which he got into in 2010.
Serving as the company’s managing director between 2014 and 2016, Kumova took the company from a penny stock to an ASX200 high flyer.

Kumova also “made a motza” from taking an early position in Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) before the company had its high-grade gold success at its namesake project in WA.

Hear Kumova’s advice for new investors entering the stock market.

 

3. Gold Digger: Which of these sub-$10m market cap battlers will be the next Predictive Discovery?

There aren’t any cheap gold stocks left on the ASX, some say.

But maybe they aren’t digging deep enough into the sub-$10m market cap ‘bargain box’ bracket.

It always pays to do proper research before you invest. Some microcap explorers couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat.

But lately, punters have been jumping onboard some absolute gems.

Reuben Adams runs through the winners and the losers.

 

4. Guy on Rocks: West African gold is looking hot again

“Cheap gold stocks are getting harder to find” – a phrase being repeated quite a bit lately as the price of the precious metal continues to hit new heights.

West African gold exploration also appears to be firing up again.

And those with good stories are feeling the investor love.

Read on to see who resident Stockhead expert Guy Le Page is backing if you missed it.

 

5. Explainer: Why fixed income brokers want to get you into bondage

Bonds, not the type featured in that episode of Billions but the kind that sit in an investment portfolio, have rapidly entered the retail investor consciousness — but for all the wrong reasons.

Headlines like Italian mafia bonds sold to global investors, Bondholders try to torpedo Virgin Australia sale and Bond investors see trouble ahead would suggest bonds aren’t the financial safe havens their proponents suggest — particularly after the nervousness among bondholders before and during the March market rout.

At the same time, bond advocates point to the lack of returns from blue chip equities over the last decade.

Rachel Williamson runs through the pros and cons of bond versus equity investments.

 

6. ASX reporting season is around the corner — here’s what investors should watch for

Quarterly reports can be baffling business for investors.

And in the wake of COVID-19, it’s almost a guarantee FY20 reporting season on the ASX will throw up some surprises this August.

This week UBS had some wise words for what to lookout for. Sam Jacobs has the rundown.

 

7. Australia’s post-COVID recovery quicker than most: economists

That’s what we all want to hear – that Australia will be back on track faster than other countries. How true that is of course remains to be seen.

Experts say the economic downturn in Australia has been shallower, and recovery sooner than economists anticipated with positive economic growth of 1.9 per cent forecast for 2021.

Find out just what’s keeping us afloat and which countries are not doing so great.

8. Gold fraud is on the rise but new tech is helping stomp it out

Gold buyers will definitely want to be sure their extremely precious buy is the real deal. It’s worth almost $US2000 ($2776) an ounce after all.

And that’s why more tech companies are vying to deliver tech that can eliminate gold fraud.

One software play recently struck a deal with ABC Refinery to track gold through the entire supply chain, while another is working with the Perth Mint.

Bevis Yeo has the story.

 

9. Cybersecurity stock WhiteHawk surges after US government contract win

For an ASX small cap in the cybersecurity you can’t do much better than winning a contract with the government of the largest economy – the US.

The US government is tapping Whitehawk (ASX:WHK) for its cyber risk monitoring software Cyber Risk Radar.

That news gave the stock a nice boost earlier this week.

Read all about it if you missed it.

 

10. The Secret Broker: Tarting up the figure by a factor of four, can only end in trouble

This week’s gripping tale from TSB involves ‘his n hers’ matching ecofriendly reusable coffee cups, some fashion faux pas and a rather questionable listed New Zealand company.

Read on for the interesting story of how one company’s share price rocketed 1300 per cent thanks to quite a big typo which went uncorrected for eight months.

Have a good weekend!

Read MoreCOVID-19Cyber SecurityGoldGold StocksMarketsTech

Featured Companies

You might be interested in