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Good morning everyone, and welcome to 27 June, 2024 – a dark date indeed in the history of the New York Stock Exchange.

It was on this day in 1893 that a panic started among New York’s investors, which has been blamed on a number of factors from around the world – including right here in Australia.

The main thrust of it, though, has its roots three years prior to the panic, when a failed coup in Buenos Aires didn’t meet its objectives but did result in the resignation of Miguel Juárez Celman as President of Argentina – and a severe dampening of investment via Baring Brothers bank as a result.

That and a failed wheat crop in 1890 in various parts of the world combined to knock the stuffing out of a lot of investment in South America, Australia and South Africa – and the Europeans, concerned that the rot might spread, hit the panic button.

And thus, a run on “specie” began – specie being gold bullion coins that were used as a store of value – which were seen to be a much safer bet than the paper money that the US was using for day-to-day transactions.

In the years that followed, the results of the Great American Railroad Bubble became apparent. Investment in railroads in the US went ballistic during the 1880s, and once it turned out that every square inch of railroadable land had been railroaded, the inevitable happened – and the bubble burst.

In February 1893, receivers were appointed to deal with the collapse of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad – and the wheels came off everything from there. US investors sparked a run on the banks, and European investors – smelling blood in the water – sold off everything they could that wasn’t backed by cold, hard gold.

The end result was catastrophic in the US – 500 banks closed, around 15,000 businesses failed, and farms all over the country went belly up. Unemployment hit 25% in Pennsylvania, 35% in New York, and 43% in Michigan.

It took the US government two horrible years to get its act together, eventually striking a deal with the somewhat shadowy “Morgan-Belmont Syndicate” – a body of private investors and bankers led by Drexel, Morgan & Co., A. Belmont & Co., J. S. Morgan & Co., and N. M. Rothschild & Sons.

The deal saw the bankers essentially strongarming the wider business community into line, pushing for investment in Treasury bonds paid for in gold to help rebuild the shattered gold reserves that had fallen to just US$42 million – far below the mandated minimum of US$100 million that the government was supposed to maintain.

Luckily for you, you won’t need to enter into a murky backroom deal with private capital merchants in order to get the information you need before the market opens today.

Christian Edwards has turned his towering intellect on an explainer of what’s in store for Emerging Markets in the near future, and – as always – I’ve thrown together lots of fiddly little things below, so you don’t need to go ferreting all over the internet for your ASX info this morning.

 

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,316.53(-0.22%)

Silver: US$28.92 (-0.05%)

Nickel (3mth): US$17,319/t (+2.78%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,581/t (+0.95%)

Zinc: US$2,807/t (+0.32%)

Oil (WTI): US$81.25 (+0.53%)

Oil (Brent): US$84.61 (-0.47%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$106.46/t (-0.08%)

AUD/USD: 0.6676 (+0.51%)

Bitcoin: US$61,629.50 (-0.26%)

 

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

If you’re ever feeling the Stock Market Blues, take a solid dose of Eddy Sunarto and have yourself a nice lie down… doctor’s orders.

 

 

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:

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Diablo Resources (ASX:DBO) cancelled a bunch of securities on Wednesday afternoon. Enough to enlarge the survivors to $0.022 for a 37% gain. Easy money.

In complex, but ultimately happy news, Actinogen Medical (ASX:ACW)  said it had a very positive phase 2a biomarker trial for its Xanamem Alzheimer’s Disease candidate, which was published in the (100th edition!) of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. ACW says the trials demonstrate potential Xanamem efficacy in patients with elevated blood pTau.

And Metallica Minerals (ASX:MLM) was higher because of a takeover offer from Diatreme Resources, and nothing else matters right now. The offer – which Diatreme is adamant will not be improved upon – is gaining momentum, with the company now boasting a 63.79% interest in its target.

Elsewhere on Wednesday morning, Classic Minerals (ASX:CLZ) was up early, after announcing an extension to the closing date of its non-renounceable pro-rata rights issue at an issue price of $0.004 per new share, with 1 bonus option for every 2 shares subscribed for, exercisable at $ 0.02 on or before 30 June 2027.

Minbos Resources (ASX:MNB) has signed a non-binding collaboration agreement with Talus Renewables to develop the Capanda Green Ammonia Project through the deployment of Talus green ammonia technology, TalusAg, “a first-to-market green ammonia system which enables sustainable and cost-effective localised ammonia production”.

Mithril Resources (ASX:MTH) has received firm commitments for a capital raising of $3.7 million at $0.20 with cornerstone investment by Jupiter Gold and Silver Fundn at a 29 per cent premium to its last traded share price.

Eastern Resources (ASX:EFE) has engaged Nagom, an experienced lithium consultancy in Perth, to plan and manage metallurgical testwork for samples from the Lepidolite Hill Project.

And Cassius Mining (ASX:CMD) was up on news that its international arbitration against the Government of the Republic of Ghana  – seeking damages in excess of US$275 million as a consequence of Ghana’s “breaches of contract and statute” – has taken a step in the right direction for the company, with the Tribunal finding that it has jurisdiction to hear the company’s contractual claims despite Ghana’s objections.

 

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:

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

TRADING HALTS 

Pexa (ASX:PXA) – pending a public announcement by the Australian Registrars National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC).

Traka Resources (ASX:TKL) – pending the release of an announcement relating to an acquisition and a capital raising.

Bannerman Energy (ASX:BMN) – pending the release of an announcement relating to a proposed capital raising.