• The ASX continued its tragic decline, falling 1.05% over the course of a rubbish day
  • InfoTech took trend-bucking to a whole new level, outperforming the market by 3.5%
  • Something’s up at IncentiaPay, because it’s climbed 71.4% on absolutely no news whatsoever

 

Earlier today, I wrote that local markets were rubbish. My views on this matter have changed incrementally over the course of the afternoon, and I am downgrading my rating of the benchmark to “aggressively pitiful”.

The benchmark sagged 0.8% when the bell went this morning, and then – in a sleepy orgy of merciless somnambulance – it piddled and puddled even lower to close at -1.05%.

That’s all down to debt ceiling / inflation rates / other boring stuff that I’ve spent the past couple of months banging on about – nothing’s really changed, per se… it’s just that US and Euro investors are getting increasingly paranoid about the global economy moving from “Basket Case” to “Bucket Case” in the coming weeks.

Locally, Financials (-1.85%) and Materials (-1.76%) were the obvious weights on the ASX scrotum today, with Consumer Discretionary also cracking the -1.0% mark as well.

But while the rest of the market nodded like an elderly English gentleman in a seedy Saigon opium den, InfoTech took off on yet another attempt to escape Earth’s gravity.

The tech sector outperformed the rest of the market by close to 3.5% today – largely due to a ball tearing effort from chipmaker Nvidia in after hours trade in the US.

Seriously… Nvidia’s after hours jump poured almost US$200bn into its market cap in a single after hours session – an effort more ball-tearing than former All Blacks skipper Wayne Shelford’s efforts at the infamous Battle of Nantes match against the French.

For those not in the know, 20 minutes into the match, a stray footy boot found Shelford’s mighty groin, tearing open his coin purse leaving one dangly meatball swinging in the breeze.

 

 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Rugby is a great game, but only when other people are playing it.

 

TODAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

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

Code Company Price % Today Volume Market Cap
INP Incentiapay Ltd 0.012 71% 1,892,204 $8,855,445
CCE Carnegie Cln Energy 0.0015 50% 506,165 $15,642,574
NAE New Age Exploration 0.007 40% 16,303,257 $7,179,495
ADO Anteotech Ltd 0.054 35% 10,424,107 $81,997,541
PUA Peak Minerals Ltd 0.004 33% 149,762 $3,124,130
SKN Skin Elements Ltd 0.012 33% 349,477 $4,195,214
HAL Halo Technologies 0.17 31% 106,687 $16,834,378
XTC Xantippe Res Ltd 0.005 25% 26,338,826 $45,920,399
LVE Love Group Global 0.08 23% 226,950 $2,634,721
SVY Stavely Minerals Ltd 0.16 23% 1,055,499 $42,415,583
ABC Adbri Limited 1.95 22% 7,050,350 $1,044,204,088
VAR Variscan Mines Ltd 0.017 21% 2,087,489 $4,453,693
SRJ SRJ Technologies 0.06 20% 2,072,838 $4,740,803
TNY Tinybeans Group Ltd 0.18 20% 62,446 $9,207,818
BXN Bioxyne Ltd 0.024 20% 40,000 $38,032,908
CHK Cohiba Min Ltd 0.006 20% 5,146,366 $9,066,221
CYQ Cycliq Group Ltd 0.006 20% 1,045,048 $1,737,583
GCR Golden Cross 0.006 20% 513,129 $5,486,281
KNM Kneomedia Limited 0.006 20% 1,001,384 $7,523,927
PHL Propell Holdings Ltd 0.031 19% 1,398,900 $3,129,244
RPM RPM Automotive Group 0.105 18% 2,818,852 $16,412,223
GSM Golden State Mining 0.035 17% 1,455,186 $3,510,426
1ST 1St Group Ltd 0.007 17% 1,669,861 $8,501,947
DCL Domacom Limited 0.037 16% 130,000 $13,936,057
TAR Taruga Minerals 0.015 15% 2,207,673 $9,178,348
Wordpress Table Plugin

As was the case at lunchtime, the market’s mood for the afternoon continued deep into the Weird, and our Small Caps winners list reflects just how strange things got.

At the top of the ladder is IncentiaPay (ASX:INP), up a marvellous, but extremely puzzling, 74.1% on no news.

How INP could crank through that kind of gain in a day, while another company (say, for example, St George Mining (ASX:SGQ)) picks up a speeding ticket at +15% is completely beyond me.

But I’m not the one making the rules – I’m just here to make fun of them.

(The rules… not St George. Just so we’re clear).

Next best today was revenue stage particle surface chemistry pioneers AnteoTech (ASX:ADO), which is up 35% because the company has a fancy new website, and changed the font on its logo.

In (technically) third place was Skin Elements (ASX:SKN), up 33.3% on volume so thin it could walk the catwalks of Paris and Milan.

In fourth place, but worth mentioning on the basis its volume was a bit more robust, was Halo Technologies (ASX:HAL), which is up 30.7% despite recently avoiding a potential issue at its AGM, after nearly 30% of the proxy votes were against the company’s remuneration report.

It ended up being carried, though, so… all is well – but that’s the only real news Halo’s had in the past week or so, making its gains this morning as mystifying as the other top two.

 

TODAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the least best performing ASX small cap stocks:

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

Code Company Price % Today Volume Market Cap
BAT Battery Minerals Ltd 0.003 -25% 815,504 $13,427,769
GMN Gold Mountain Ltd 0.003 -25% 6,976,666 $7,879,730
MRQ Mrg Metals Limited 0.003 -25% 3,176,923 $7,943,675
MTL Mantle Minerals Ltd 0.0015 -25% 9,000,090 $12,294,892
29M 29Metalslimited 0.64 -22% 35,502,252 $397,692,976
DXN DXN Limited 0.002 -20% 117,647 $4,303,287
ENT Enterprise Metals 0.004 -20% 1,254,538 $3,525,403
CPH Creso Pharma Ltd 0.009 -18% 90,127,131 $27,250,840
CMX Chemxmaterials 0.115 -18% 424,999 $7,092,558
TGH Terragen 0.024 -17% 348,986 $5,626,558
MFB My Food Bag Grp Ltd 0.15 -17% 31,295 $43,638,754
SIS Simble Solutions 0.005 -17% 3,733,171 $3,617,704
DAF Discovery Alaska Ltd 0.032 -16% 458,598 $8,900,919
TER Terracom Ltd 0.535 -16% 15,255,340 $508,613,559
ONE Oneview Healthcare 0.195 -15% 1,040,938 $122,697,449
CMD Cassius Mining Ltd 0.017 -15% 306,541 $8,169,858
VMS Venture Minerals 0.017 -15% 8,076,239 $35,389,152
BME Blackmountainenergy 0.018 -14% 64,516 $3,847,708
CBR Carbon Revolution 0.15 -14% 1,674,587 $37,085,129
ADV Ardiden Ltd 0.006 -14% 230,000 $18,818,347
AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.003 -14% 1,474,876 $3,392,513
ATH Alterity Therap Ltd 0.006 -14% 1,958,507 $17,079,283
LME Limeade Inc. 0.12 -14% 50,980 $35,985,810
RR1 Reach Resources Ltd 0.006 -14% 3,215,815 $19,285,354
HIO Hawsons Iron Ltd 0.039 -13% 10,910,192 $41,358,198
Wordpress Table Plugin

 

LAST ORDERS

Some great news for Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) today, following the successful completion of its share purchase plan, bagging $3 million with the added bonus of firm commitments received to raise an additional $250,00 through a top-up placement to sophisticated and professional investors.

As an aside, I still reckon the phrase “sophisticated and professional investors” is incredibly funny, as it really does sound like the kind of thing the stereotypical Hollywood Stock Market Elite would describe themselves as, while rich men in fancy suits sip brandy and smoke cigars in front of an open fire in an upstate New York country club.

It’s got a wonderful “no yobbos allowed” vibe to it.

Anyhow – Venture says the cash injection will be used to fund ongoing exploration, and to advance metallurgical testwork at the Mount Lindsay Tin-Tungsten Project.

On top of that, Venture plans to spend the dough on drilling and exploration programs at the Company’s Rare Earth Projects in Western Australia including the Kulin North and Kulin South REE targets, and the recently announced Iron Duke, Bandy and Brothers REE Projects.

Plus, there’s money earmarked for the usual “project generation and general working capital purposes” as well.

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) got a speeding ticket from the ASX late in the day, after the company’s trading price spiked for apparently no reason, up as high as 22.5% around 11:30 this morning, but that had eased to around +15% before the watchdogs stepped in to call a halt to proceedings.

SGQ is prepping a response to the price query, but given the time frame we’re unlikely to see that until tomorrow morning at the earliest.

 

TRADING HALTS

Southern Gold (ASX:SAU) – Acquisition and capital raising.

Dalaroo Metals (ASX:DAL) – Capital raising.

Spectur (ASX:SP3) – Restructure of the Company’s $1.1 million debt facility with EGP Capital.

Arcadia Minerals (ASX:AM7) – Announcement about the construction funding of the Swanson Project.

Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) – Capital raising.

Hills Holdings (ASX:HIL) – “Finalisation of the quantum of the judgement” arising from recent legal proceedings.

Delorean Corporation (ASX:DEL) – Announcement regarding a notice received from the Clean Energy Regulator by Delorean’s wholly owned subsidiary CleanTech Energy.

Forrestania Resources (ASX:FRS) – Capital raising.

Beamtree Holdings (ASX:BMT) – Capital raising.

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) – Preparing a response to an ASX Speeding Ticket.

 

Read MoreGoldGold StocksLithiumLithium StocksTech

Featured Companies

You might be interested in