Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Thursday – the day of the week that most reminds me of an elderly Volvo sedan I once owned.

It was baby-poo yellow, except for the rust, none of the windows worked – they happily went down, never to be seen again – and it had a hole in the fuel tank that would piddle petrol everywhere I went, unless I left the petrol cap slightly unscrewed to relieve the pressure in the tank.

I tried for months to fix that leak – tried everything from gaffer tape to sheets of fibreglass – and eventually fixed it after reading in a magazine that a half-chewed Mintie, once thumbed across the leak, would set rock-hard and my troubles would be over.

It worked like a charm, lasting precisely two days before a wayward geriatric decided his equally geriatric Kingswood would look a lot nicer in the parcel of Parramatta Road that the back half of my Volvo was currently in.

So… yeah. Thursdays are like surviving a horror car crash in a poop-yellow Volvo, because we’ve all gotta take the good with the bad.

Please join me in imploring Ghosts of Portfolios Past for a better Thursday than that.

Anyway… to get your day started off right, we’ve got some top-notch information that you’re definitely going to want to get stuck into before anyone else does.

That includes the always-delightful Jess Cummins previewing the Resources Rising Stars Twilight Series, rolling out across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne at the end of the month – definitely worth a look-in if you’re in the mood to talk details with representatives from the likes of Gascoyne Resources (ASX:GCY) and Silver Lake Resources (ASX:SLR).

And the unstoppable Nadine McGrath has this timely look at some ASX-listed agriculture stocks that are working to ensure Australia’s future food security, as that naughty El Nino rascal gears up to turn the nation into a sweaty, blistering hell hole once more.

There’s more where that came from, too – but before you go diving into the mountain of words we’re bringing you this morning, here’s a few facts, figures and other stuff starting with F to make sure you’re prepped for whatever this Thursday might bring.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: $US1976.47 (-0.11%)

Silver: $US25.15 (+0.30%)

Nickel (3mth): $US20,900/t (-0.87%)

Copper (3mth): $US8432.50/t (-0.48%)

Oil (WTI): $US75.02 (-0.96%)

Oil (Brent): $US78.29 (-1.68%)

Iron 62pc Fe: $US112.08/t (-0.08%)

AUD/USD: 0.6774 (+0.3%)

Bitcoin: $US29,933.54 (+0.45%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING?

When too much information about obscure minerals is never enough.

Gallium, gallium, wherefore art thou, gallium? (and germanium)https://t.co/yczGqTIxr5 #metals #metal #semiconductors #explorers #China

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) July 18, 2023

Keep up to date with Stockhead coverage or you’ll miss gold like that EVERY DAY. Follow our Twitter page.

For all you crypto lovers Stockhead’s Coinhead Facebook group is the place to share your views, insights, tips and ideas.

Also, be sure to check in preopen each day for ‘Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch’, and 10.30am for our daily ‘10 at 10’ column — a live summary of winners & losers at the opening bell.

YESTERDAY’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	%	Volume	Market Cap
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.0015	50%	1,321,393	$15,642,574
PEC	Perpetual Res Ltd	0.015	36%	2,475,049	$6,000,324
1ST	1St Group Ltd	0.008	33%	4,067,277	$8,501,947
TAS	Tasman Resources Ltd	0.008	33%	656,973	$4,276,016
AYT	Austin Metals Ltd	0.009	29%	590,000	$7,111,123
CVR	Cavalierresources	0.15	25%	35,730	$3,819,470
DCX	Discovex Res Ltd	0.0025	25%	35,800	$6,605,136
IEC	Intra Energy Corp	0.005	25%	6,940,428	$6,483,126
ME1	Melodiol Glb Health	0.01	25%	8,613,990	$21,508,430
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.005	25%	35,732,918	$3,532,684
OPN	Oppenneg	0.01	25%	4,051,861	$1,940,240
ROO	Roots Sustainable	0.005	25%	42,994	$554,889
DRO	Droneshield Limited	0.375	23%	12,288,749	$179,005,601
IPD	Impedimed Limited	0.225	22%	23,178,739	$373,474,588
YAR	Yari Minerals Ltd	0.017	21%	1,838,130	$6,753,009
1CG	One Click Group Ltd	0.018	20%	3,572,520	$9,211,063
SLM	Solismineralsltd	0.66	18%	3,973,101	$35,286,341
AQX	Alice Queen Ltd	0.02	18%	512,632	$2,150,752
GBZ	GBM Rsources Ltd	0.021	17%	409,500	$11,087,301
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.0175	17%	22,058,039	$42,670,558
ATH	Alterity Therap Ltd	0.007	17%	460,151	$14,639,386
AUZ	Australian Mines Ltd	0.028	17%	1,357,554	$15,691,737
PRX	Prodigy Gold NL	0.007	17%	51,129	$10,506,647
SRZ	Stellar Resources	0.014	17%	2,763,742	$12,071,571
TGM	Theta Gold Mines Ltd	0.1	16%	726,384	$60,206,451

Some standouts:

Carnegie Clean Energy (ASX:CCE): +50% on no fresh news specifically that we can see, other than catching a nice breaker on the rolling Energy sector waves.
Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC): +36% > As we note further below in Trading Halts, there’s an announcement on its way from the company regarding a potential acquisition. Meanwhile, Reubs has noted the following:

“PEC is chipping away at its flagship 137Mt Beharra silica sands project 300km north of Perth.

“A painfully slow environmental approvals process – thanks to ‘extended Government processing delays’ – is now in its final stages.”

Reuben also has some good intel on Theta Gold Mines (ASX:TGM), which is up 16.28% today at close.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

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

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume	Market Cap
AJQ	Armour Energy Ltd	0.002	-33%	8,761,186	$14,764,026
VPR	Volt Power Group	0.001	-33%	13,296,733	$16,074,312
PEN	Peninsula Energy Ltd	0.1325	-26%	27,314,763	$226,269,001
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.0015	-25%	898,301	$11,649,361
DOU	Douugh Limited	0.006	-25%	3,893,632	$7,871,187
KNM	Kneomedia Limited	0.003	-25%	142,818	$6,019,141
MCT	Metalicity Limited	0.0015	-25%	1,018,679	$7,472,172
YPB	YPB Group Ltd	0.003	-25%	237,333	$2,973,846
DSE	Dropsuite Ltd	0.28	-24%	27,043,734	$256,313,341
WSR	Westar Resources	0.029	-22%	19,506,617	$6,858,228
FGL	Frugl Group Limited	0.011	-21%	613,363	$13,384,868
ZEU	Zeus Resources Ltd	0.017	-19%	10,181,044	$9,644,901
AHN	Athena Resources	0.005	-17%	318,900	$6,422,805
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.0025	-17%	1,483,474	$4,004,189
CCO	The Calmer Co Int	0.0025	-17%	1,300,000	$1,692,233
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.005	-17%	59,271	$29,019,595
TMX	Terrain Minerals	0.005	-17%	14,669,214	$6,499,196
WHK	Whitehawk Limited	0.032	-16%	2,198,877	$9,749,302
LML	Lincoln Minerals	0.011	-15%	8,790,426	$18,469,254
ARD	Argent Minerals	0.012	-14%	2,893,481	$16,505,737
EXL	Elixinol Wellness	0.012	-14%	170,238	$6,397,879
FFT	Future First Tech	0.006	-14%	23,540,405	$5,003,856
MOH	Moho Resources	0.012	-14%	542,733	$3,634,089
AUE	Aurumresources	0.125	-14%	55,000	$3,625,000
SVG	Savannah Goldfields	0.091	-13%	108,550	$20,564,086

TRADING HALTS

Tymlez (ASX:TYM) – Capital raising.

Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) – Capital raising.

Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) – Capital raising and a pending announcement regarding a royalty acquisition.

PolarX (ASX:PXX) – Capital raising.

Energy Transition Minerals (ASX:ETM) – Pending an announcement on the lodgment of a Statement of Claim with an arbitration tribunal in Copenhagen.

Greenwing Resources (ASX:GW1) – Pending an announcement regarding the company’s funding arrangements. This halt could last as long as the commencement of trading on Friday, Greenwing advised.

Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) – Capital raising.

Top Shelf International Holdings (ASX:TSI) – Capital raising.

Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC) – Pending an announcement regarding a potential acquisition.