After getting off to a bit of a rocky start this morning, the ASX has rallied well to be +0.2% ahead of the game at lunchtime today, thanks to a bounce-back from Financials and InfoTech throughout the morning.

That, and the goldies are outpacing the rest of the market by roughly 2.5% this morning, so – once again – it looks like we’ve got them to thank for boosting the mood on a rainy Sydney Friday.

In sad news from the United States, a rather grisly record has been set at a dairy farm in Texas, after an explosion and fire resulted in the deaths of at least 18,000 cows.

Officials say that a “malfunctioning piece of farm equipment” was likely to blame for the initial blast, which is a reasonable assumption to make, as – as far as I know – there aren’t any pieces of “farm equipment” that are specifically designed to blow up and murder all the livestock.

The fire at the South Fork Dairy farm near Dimmitt, Texas, was quickly subdued by firefighters, while the wafting scent of the incident attracted nearly 50,000 hatchback-sized Texans to the site.

Texas governor Greg Abbott declared the site of the incident “The Best Damn Barbecue in the United States”, before calling in the National Guard to disperse the slavering beef-hungry horde “before someone mistakenly eats the person beside them in the rush for free pre-cooked meat”.

That last bit’s not true. I just thought it was funny… but it’s time to get down to some Real Facts from the markets and prep for the angry emails from PETA.

 

TO MARKETS

As mentioned earlier, the ASX dipped 0.1% when the doors were opened this morning, but the benchmark has recovered well to be up 0.2% at lunch.

Financials and InfoTech are leading the charge, with those two sectors at +0.47% for the day so far, with Real Estate (-0.29%) the day’s Debbie Downer, alongside Energy (-0.17%) which has come off the boil overnight.

At the ritzy, caviar-soaked end of town, Silver Lake Resources (ASX:SLR) has added a substantial 7.2% this morning on no news, so I reckon it’s probably out of pure spite, after I decided to park my $200 monthly gambling investment allowance somewhere else last week.

 

NOT THE ASX

There was a rally on Wall Street last night – the good kind, not the malodorous purple-haired malcontent “let’s camp in a park and play the bongos at each other” kind that was popular in 2011.

(Occupy Wall Street was 12 years ago?!? That can’t be right…)

Anyway – the Wall Street rally that happened last night saw all three major indices on the rise – the S&P 500 index by 1.3%, the Dow Jones by 1.14% and tech heavy Nasdaq by 2%.

US stocks lifted after a report showed that US producer prices fell in March by the most since the start of the pandemic, signalling an easing in inflation, Earlybird Eddy reports.

The producer index or PPI rose by just 2.7% from a year ago, the smallest gain in more than two years, which set the US dollar heading south against other major currencies – and the Aussie dollar, which will now buy 68 US cents.

Netflix shares jumped 4.5% after Wedbush Securities says Netflix is likely to beat earnings guidance.

Delta Airlines slipped 1% after delivering soft first quarter results, but its outlook for the second quarter was rather surprising, forecasting robust EPS growth between US$2.00-2.25, vs US$1.61 analysts’ expectations.

Groupon lifted 4% on the appointment of new CFO, while Harley Davidson Inc dropped 3% after its CFO tendered her resignation.

In Japan, the Nikkei has jumped 0.98% on news that Japanese power tool maker Makita has created a portable microwave oven.

They’re perfect for people who enjoy camping but are afraid of fire, weirdos who live in Tokyo’s infamous coffin-shaped micro-apartments, and Uber drivers who – like sharks – have to keep moving or they will die.

No word on pricing or an actual launch date, but here’s a very excited fella who sounds like James Corden with a head full of cocaine to explain what it’s all about.

 

 

In China, the Hang Seng has ticked up just 0.11%, while Shanghai markets are flatter than a protesting student.

In crypto, Bitcoin’s cheer squad have emerged to shed their Crypto-Winter coats, and are back to the SRS BZNESS of making outlandish claims about the future value of BTC.

US hedge fund manager Jesse Myers, UK crypto nerd Adam Back and – most vocally –  Boston-based Equity Management Associates founder Larry Lepard are all calling a $10 million future for Bitcoin.

Given how inflation works, and the persistent efforts of governments everywhere to tank their economies and blame the proletariat for being the problem, they’re probably not wrong.

So… I’m going out on a limb and predicting that a cup of coffee will, one day, cost $10 million – which is why I’ve chosen to HODL the medium latte I bought this morning, so my great-great-great grandchildren will have the head-start in life they probably won’t deserve.

For actual news about crypto, head over to Rob “You’re an idiot, gregor” Badman’s fantastic Mooners and Shakers.

 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for April 14 [intraday]:

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

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

The big winner in Small Caps this morning is PolarX (ASX:PXX), up 30.7% with a 10-fold surge in volume on absolutely no news.

Next worth mentioning is Recce Pharmaceuticals (ASX:RCE), up 22.1% on a double-barrel block of news.

Yesterday, Recce announced that the Australian Patent Office has issued notification of intent to grant the first of Recce’s new Patent Family 4 for RECCE’s anti-infectives, followed today by news that the company has registered the “Recce” trademark in Israel, which isn’t exactly earth-shattering news, but investors seem to like it.

In third place, with probably the most impressive story to tell, is market newbie Evergreen Lithium (ASX:EG1), which listed on the ASX on Tuesday at $0.30 after a $7 million IPO, and has gone gangbusters ever since.

It’s up 18.8% so far today, taking its post-launch climb to +126% – probably (and I’ll need to double-check this…) the best IPO the market’s seen all year, and likely to be a hard first-week run to beat this year.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for April 14 [intraday]:

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

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

And finally, a small personal indulgence if I may… I’d like you all to join me in wishing my go-to expert on all things Natural Gas, King Liam the Flatulent, a happy birthday.

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