Comedy legend John Belushi, pictured here in much better shape than he was in 2023. Pic via Getty Images.
Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens
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Good morning everyone, and welcome to 03 January, 2024 – a date on the calendar worth noting as it was on this day in 1975 that a staple of US television comedy, the inimitable Saturday Night Live, debuted.
Below is the “cold open” sketch that started it all…
… which, as we can all agree, neatly sums up the entire show as something really funny that initially holds an enormous amount of promise, before Chevy Chase turns up and ruins everything.
It did launch the careers of a number of incredibly talented comics, many of whom are now a lot less funny, either because they’re now dead, or because they’re Chevy Chase.
This day in 1975 is also worth noting as it’s the day on which former US President Bill Clinton married former not-quite US President Hilary Clinton.
Which makes today the anniversary of the birth of one of the longest-running jokes in American history… and the start of a very patchy TV show.
What isn’t a laughing matter, though, are the efforts of the Stockhead team who have hit the ground running in 2024, committed as always to bringing you the very best we can in the way of news and information to help you navigate the vagaries and vulgarities of the ASX.
Today, those efforts include Rob Badman’s timely chat with Binance’s Aussie boss Ben Rose, and Nadine McGrath’s look at which companies are taking the bold IPO step into the arms of the ASX this month.
Also, down below, there’s all the data and digits that the number nerds seem to love, because Rise and Shine just wouldn’t be the same without it.
COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES
Gold: US$2,071.27 (+0.43%)
Silver: US$23.96 (+0.84%)
Nickel (3mth): US$16,375.40/t (+0.59%)
Copper (3mth): US$8,422.80/t (-0.57%)
Oil (WTI): US$72.75 (+1.53%)
Oil (Brent): US$78.25 (+1.57%)
Iron 62pc Fe: US$142.50/t (+1.06%)
AUD/USD: 0.68 (+0.27%)
Bitcoin: US$45,302.40 (+2.45%)
(Prices correct at market close, 4:00pm yesterday)
WHAT GOT YOU TALKING
Our very own on-camera powerhouse Sarah Hughan managed to get Leeuwin Metals (ASX:LM1) managing director Chris Piggott to sit still long enough that she was able to pick his brains about the year we’ve just had, and do some crystal ball gazing into what 2024 has in store.
Stockhead’s Sarah Hughan sits down with Leeuwin Metals (ASX:LM1) managing director Chris Piggott to close the books on 2023 and gain a sneak peek into what’s around the corner.https://t.co/yx62nC3ShU #ASX @LeeuwinMetals
— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) January 2, 2024
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BPP | Babylon Pump & Power | 0.006 | 50% | 27,787,803 | $9,986,590 |
| PEC | Perpetual Res Ltd | 0.014 | 40% | 3,720,740 | $6,300,294 |
| MTM | MTM Critical Metals | 0.092 | 35% | 19,839,754 | $6,761,722 |
| NVQ | Noviqtech Limited | 0.004 | 33% | 2,783,216 | $3,928,336 |
| AMM | Armada Metals | 0.037 | 32% | 239,230 | $5,824,000 |
| CPO | Culpeominerals | 0.044 | 26% | 5,384,229 | $4,079,683 |
| EDE | Eden Inv Ltd | 0.0025 | 25% | 740,741 | $7,334,027 |
| PAM | Pan Asia Metals | 0.155 | 24% | 761,053 | $20,877,679 |
| CDR | Codrus Minerals Ltd | 0.07 | 23% | 4,157,750 | $4,998,188 |
| BFC | Beston Global Ltd | 0.011 | 22% | 6,066,217 | $17,973,422 |
| LLI | Loyal Lithium Ltd | 0.375 | 21% | 1,071,106 | $25,240,547 |
| EYE | Nova EYE Medical Ltd | 0.29 | 21% | 5,822,227 | $45,750,934 |
| AL8 | Alderan Resource Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 1,002,882 | $5,534,307 |
| ESR | Estrella Res Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 3,298,685 | $8,796,859 |
| PKO | Peako Limited | 0.006 | 20% | 133,334 | $2,635,424 |
| RDS | Redstone Resources | 0.006 | 20% | 714,285 | $4,606,892 |
| SKN | Skin Elements Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 165,007 | $2,947,430 |
| VAR | Variscan Mines Ltd | 0.012 | 20% | 390,318 | $3,644,448 |
| DXB | Dimerix Ltd | 0.245 | 20% | 6,292,959 | $87,346,959 |
| NWM | Norwest Minerals | 0.032 | 19% | 533,126 | $7,764,377 |
| CR9 | Corellares | 0.026 | 18% | 677,395 | $10,231,999 |
| SGC | Sacgasco Ltd | 0.013 | 18% | 348,567 | $8,547,609 |
| DYM | Dynamicmetalslimited | 0.165 | 18% | 25,000 | $4,900,000 |
| CBL | Control Bionics | 0.054 | 17% | 53,362 | $6,664,095 |
| MVP | Medical Developments | 0.89 | 17% | 253,700 | $65,591,966 |
Yesterday’s Small Caps highlights were:
The first day back for the ASX in 2024 started with a confused bang for MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM), when surged more than 35% on no news early in the day, before a trading halt was requested at 11:23am “pending [the company] releasing an announcement”.
At the time of writing, that announcement hasn’t landed yet. We’ll have something on it once it does.
Culpeo Minerals (ASX:CPO) was also enjoying a rapid rise in fortune, ostensibly off the back of last December’s announcement of significant widths of visible copper mineralisation intersected at very shallow depth at the El Quillay Prospect, Fortuna Project in Chile.
Meanwhile, Pan Asia Metals (ASX:PAM) jumped around 20% early in the day on news that the company has signed on the dotted line to convert existing MOUs into binding Option Agreements to purchase 100% of the ~1,200km2 Tama Atacama Lithium Brine Project, one of the largest lithium brine projects in South America.
PAM says that Tama Atacama is a Tier 1 asset in a Tier 1 jurisdiction “in the truest sense of the term ‘Tier 1’”, citing “extensive lithium surface anomalies with elevated lithium results up to 2,200ppm Li and averaging 700ppm Li (270ppm Li cutoff) extending over 160km north to south”.
The landscape changed a little over the course of the afternoon, with minnow Perpetual Resources jumping 40% just after lunch, despite no news since it announced rock-chip and grab samples showing “encouraging presence of pathfinder elements, suggesting potential for LCT-type pegmatites within Perpetual’s Brazil exploration permits” a couple of weeks before Christmas.
Nova Eye Medical (ASX:EYE) picked up where it left off at the tail end of last year, adding nicely to its tally on the back of news that proposed changes to the US Medicare system that would have negatively impacted the company are no longer going to be pushed into effect.
The company had been staring down the barrel of five major Medicare Administrative Contractors altering what’s known as Local Coverage Determinations to restrict or deny coverage for several procedures, including canaloplasty for minimally invasive glaucoma surgery at the end of January, 2024 – however, those proposals have now been completely withdrawn.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JAL | Jameson Resources | 0.031 | -31% | 175,000 | $19,607,999 |
| PKD | Parkd Ltd | 0.02 | -26% | 35,401 | $2,808,375 |
| LSR | Lodestar Minerals | 0.003 | -25% | 1,456,296 | $8,093,589 |
| ME1 | Melodiol Glb Health | 0.0015 | -25% | 1,327,728 | $9,457,648 |
| ICE | Icetana Limited | 0.0265 | -22% | 54,001 | $8,997,367 |
| 88E | 88 Energy Ltd | 0.004 | -20% | 4,393,004 | $123,204,013 |
| NOV | Novatti Group Ltd | 0.067 | -19% | 843,184 | $28,108,493 |
| BCT | Bluechiip Limited | 0.013 | -19% | 3,422,706 | $12,725,981 |
| ST1 | Spirit Technology | 0.066 | -18% | 1,699,357 | $58,955,043 |
| OAR | OAR Resources Ltd | 0.0025 | -17% | 163,526 | $7,931,183 |
| TAS | Tasman Resources Ltd | 0.005 | -17% | 520 | $4,276,016 |
| CLU | Cluey Ltd | 0.071 | -16% | 800 | $17,137,153 |
| EQS | Equitystorygroupltd | 0.031 | -16% | 105,000 | $1,576,747 |
| AVE | Avecho Biotech Ltd | 0.003 | -14% | 8,782 | $11,092,540 |
| IEC | Intra Energy Corp | 0.003 | -14% | 35,000 | $5,812,736 |
| L1M | Lightning Minerals | 0.12 | -14% | 86,100 | $5,911,509 |
| OAU | Ora Gold Limited | 0.006 | -14% | 181,224 | $39,826,416 |
| RIL | Redivium Limited | 0.006 | -14% | 851,937 | $19,115,984 |
| HIQ | Hitiq Limited | 0.019 | -14% | 6,200 | $7,182,069 |
| MTC | Metalstech Ltd | 0.19 | -14% | 108,958 | $41,570,010 |
| OEC | Orbital Corp Limited | 0.091 | -13% | 118,266 | $15,309,707 |
| FCT | Firstwave Cloud Tech | 0.035 | -13% | 173,456 | $68,383,225 |
| HMI | Hiremii | 0.036 | -12% | 1,919,286 | $4,940,235 |
| PHX | Pharmx Technologies | 0.036 | -12% | 82,236 | $24,538,778 |
| A8G | Australasian Metals | 0.15 | -12% | 41,718 | $8,860,484 |
TRADING HALTS
MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM) – pending an announcement to the market that might explain its sudden skyward move early yesterday.
Infinity Mining (ASX: IMI) – pending an amendment to announcement dated 29 December, 2023.
