• The ASX slid to close flat today, after realising we were in danger of making some money
  • Materials and Energy enjoyed a boost from Chinese manufacturing data
  • Retail theft rates have soared as the cost of living crisis hits hard around the nation

The ASX is gliding to a close today, flatter than the waters of the proverbial mill pond despite a solid days’ work from Materials and Energy.

While the market futures index was pointing south this morning, the benchmark rose quickly to peak at +0.4%, but then somebody must have noticed it was up to something and the whole thing went bunk shortly before lunch.

As mentioned, only Materials and Energy were able to keep their heads in the game throughout the session, closing out the day up 2.7% and 1.2% respectively, but the bourse’s bloated moneybags in Finance have outdone themselves with the effort to hold everything back, slumping 1.8%.

Emerald Resources (ASX:EMR) was the best of the big kids today, adding 5.9% on the coattails of its sector riding high, while Mount Gibson Iron (ASX:MGX) added 6.5%, and Omni Bridgeway climbed a similar percentage as it preps for a buyback.

 

FROM THE HEADLINES

It’s been a tough day for retailers on the market, and a news report from Reuters today is definitely not going to help them feel any better.

According to the report, retailers are battling an enormous spike in shoplifting around the country.

 

 

It’s the residents of New South Wales that are proving to be the shadiest of the nation’s light-fingered Louies, stuffing a massive 23.7% increase in thefts down the front of their trackies before hoofing it out to the carpark for a quick getaway in their mate Dave’s cousin Darren’s souped-up Subaru.

That’s the fastest year-on-year increase in stealing from retailers since records began in 1995, and it’s being attributed to the soaring cost of living, which has seen many families having to significantly tighten their belts – mostly so that the lobsters and steaks they’ve tucked under their shirts don’t fall out while they’re being chased by store security.

There were a lot more facts and figures to discuss in the report, but some bastard’s nicked my copy of it off my desk – which is a huge concern because I’m working from home.

While the rise in shoplifting is remarkable, Australian retailers are probably extremely happy that the problem here isn’t even a patch on the one facing retailers in California, after citizens in America’s Most Progressive State™ voted in 2014 to adopt Resolution 47 – a change in state law that effectively decriminalised theft of items worth less than US$950.

Sounds nuts, but it’s true – and here’s a weird guy looking off camera and pretending he’s being interviewed to explain it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-64d6M4VKvQ

 

Meanwhile, Twitter boss Elon Musk took a break from driving his social media empire into the dust to map out a $10 trillion dollar strategy for a global switch to electric vehicles at Tesla’s ‘Investor Day’ in Austin, Texas this morning.

Anyone hoping for details on what is actually happening at Tesla were left hanging, though, as the Big Baby Billionaire spent most of his time expounding on the topic of his Grand Plan to Fix Everything, which did include plans to reduce the footprint of future manufacturing plants by 40%.

Plus, Tesla has confirmed that it’s setting up a new plant in Mexico, which Musk says will “complement, not replace” US manufacturing. How long that lasts is open for interpretation, as the famously fickle CEO is known for making snap – some might even say rash – decisions.

And in local political news, Derryn Hinch has announced the dissolution of his political party, surprising a huge portion of the voting public who were unaware that his Justice Party was still a thing.

Hinch served as a federal senator for Victoria from 2016 to 2019, after running on a platform based on serving up rough justice for sex offenders, but after failing to snare a single seat at the recent Victorian state election he’s decided to hang up his spurs.

In announcing the decision, Hinch called on supporters to “maintain the rage” – a cheerfully pointless request considering that rage is probably the only thing Hinch’s AM Radio-listening geriatric base would be able to maintain at their age, without the aid of medication.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

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The clear winner for today was most definitely Rox Resources (ASX:ROX), which went soaring to $0.24 today on news of a bonanza grade find at the Youanmi South project in Western Australia.

Rox has reported continuous bonanza grades from its RC drilling program, with the highlight from hole RXRC45 looking like this:

  • 28m @ 34.81g/t Au from 204m, including;
    • 18m @ 51.96g/t from 207m, including;
    • 10m@ 79.55g/t from 211m, including;
    • 3m @ 138.07g/t from 218m.

Thiccer than oatmeal, that is… but probably a lot shinier and harder to digest.

Some of the steam came out of ROX as the afternoon wore on, and it finished the day at +55%, while its joint venture partner in the Youanmi project, Venus Metals (ASX:VMC) managed to climb 22.2%.

Elsewhere, Oliver’s Real Food (ASX:OLI) has come out of forced market hibernation, adding 20.8% across the session as investors remembered that it exists.

Oliver’s was unceremoniously bounced from the trading floor in February 2021 after the ASX raised serious concerns about the company’s working capital, which sparked a long and difficult fight for the company to be allowed back in the door.

Well, the fight was finally over yesterday, with the stock reinstated and investors jumping on board this morning to greet the prodigal Oliver’s with a boost in price, which is really nice of them.

Andromeda Metals (ASX:ADN) is up 17.7% after announcing that it has received approval from the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) for the Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation (PEPR) for its Great White Project.

And WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) had a growth spurt this afternoon, up 18.5% on news that the company has managed to gather more intelligence on its Luni carbonatite discovery in WA.

AW1 says that its employed a passive seismic “horizontal to vertical spectral ratio” survey to further define the next phase of exploration drill targeting, informing a comprehensive RC and diamond drilling program which is in the final stages of planning.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

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LAST ORDERS

Incannex Healthcare (ASX:IHL) has announced to the market that it’s in a strong position to continue its current raft of activities, including work looking into the bioavailability and bioequivalence study for its lead clinical asset, IHL42X.

Interim 1H 2023 results report noted that the company has raised $13,000,000 in new capital (before costs) during the period through an institutional placement, to also fund the completion of patient dosing in the Phase I trial of IHL-675A, and other costs associated with preparation for a positive pre-IND meeting  that was held with the US FDA on IHL216A, a new drug that Incannex is developing for use in cases of concussion and traumatic brain injury.

In other pharma news, IDT Australia (ASX:IDT) has announced that the hunt for a new CEO has ended, after the company came to the conclusion that interim CEO Paul McDonald had been doing a good enough job at the helm to stay on.

McDonald had been interim CEO for roughly five months, stepping up from his role as Head of Quality and Development when former CEO David Sparling resigned in mid-September, shortly after former CFO Ancila Desa announced her decision to exit the company.

All that unfolded shortly before Alan Fisher informed the company of his intention to retire as Chair of the Board and resign as a Director at the end of 2022 – so there’s been a fair few people doing the old C-Suite Shuffle – however, the company seems confident that the freshly-minted CEO McDonald will be happy with the 310,000 (plus up to 50% performance bonus) reasons IDT has given him to stick around.

 

TRADING HALTS

Danakali (ASX:DNK) – Proposal to sell off its main undertaking.

Talon Energy (ASX:TPD) – Capital raising.

Findi (ASX:FND) – Capital raising.

Pushpay (ASX:PPH) – Trading halt extended until tomorrow-ish maybe.

 

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