LAST ORDERS: Time to glance back longingly for one last look at Tuesday.

It’s the end of the day, and that means it’s time to cast off the shackles of your workday, and join us in a quick look back at what made the news, on the markets and elsewhere, but you might have missed because you’ve got, like… a job and stuff, so you’re super-busy – which is why I do the things I do, just for you. #YouAreSpecial

FROM THE HEADLINES

From the FIFA World Cup comes an act of utter lunacy by a fella determined to tell Iran, Russia and Qatar to fix their s–t – like they haven’t heard it a trillion times already (and cheerfully ignored it along the way).

During a match between Paraguay and Uruguay, the gentleman in question ran onto the field wearing a Superman T-shirt bearing several messages: “Freedom for Ukraine” on the front, “Respect for Iranian Women” on the back, all while waving a rainbow Pride Flag.

As you’d expect, the man was set upon quite quickly by security, and – if Qatar lives up to its famously harsh reputation for rough justice – will most likely spend the next several millennia locked in a wooden box, and taken out for routine public beatings 3 times a week.

Qatari government: pic.twitter.com/SgFUMO7ip1

— Teddy Perkins (@brando_wilburn) November 28, 2022

Whether it was a brave act or a brazen act of stupidity, the man did show a reasonable turn of speed on the pitch, and Paraguay could do worse than sign him up in an attempt to salvage it’s World Cup campaign.

By all appearances, the pitch invader is a strong candidate to play Left Wing. #Ba-dumTish #JokeOfTheCentury

And to the US, where it looks like freight is going to grind to an awfully disruptive halt very soon, after four rail unions voted against a wage package that has been sitting on the table since September.

“Let me be clear: a rail shutdown would devastate our economy,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement, calling on Congress to wave a magic wand and make it all just go away. “Without freight rail, many US industries would shut down.”

Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of toys that won’t be delivered in time for Christmas. #Ba-Humbug.

The strike action is looming, with a December 9 deadline for action on the agreement – which railway workers are refusing to sign onto because they’re “angry and frustrated that the deal lacked paid sick days or other substantial changes to an attendance policy that penalises workers for taking time off while they are sick”, the Washington Post says.

The proposed industrial action could cost the US economy somewhere around $2 billion a day – and given the state of the economy Stateside, that’s enough to make railway operators feel very sick indeed.

LAST ORDERS

Strange Things are Afoot in the Wellfully (ASX:WFL) camp today – so much so, that the watchdogs have issued a Please Explain over a sudden rush for the exits by investors today.

WFL has crashed by 26.3% on a reasonable level of volume, with four big sell-offs during the morning before the ASX threw on the handbrake shortly after 11am – all of it happening on no news since the AGM announcement on Friday.

The only even remotely remarkable thing stemming from that was a strong vote against adopting the company’s Remuneration Report (voted down 79% to 21%) and another against the Issue of New Options to the Lead Manager (voted down 72% to 28%).

As it’s pretty late in the day, we may see an outcome or explanation from Wellfully, and we’ll update you when and if that happens.

Speaking of speeding tickets, Eastern Resources (ASX:EFE) has responded to a query from the ASX which – again – is in relation to a precipitous drop in value and sharp rise in volume today which saw EFE’s securities fall from a high of $0.041 to an intraday low of $0.032.

EFE says that while the company does have drilling samples in the lab at present, it’s not aware of any information leaks and has complete trust in the lab’s ability to respect the confidential nature of its work.

Eastern Resources Chairmans did provide 2022 AGM address this morning, which offered a cautious outlook, and highlight the strength of its relationship with Yahua International Investment and Development and YongXing Special Materials Technology.

If I were a betting man, I’d ponder whether the links to China and the overall dampening of that country’s appetite for lithium might have had something to do with it…