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Good morning everyone, and welcome to 09 April, 2024 – an important date in the history of relations between Britain and Spain, as it was on this day in 1731 that things got a little out of hand during a coast guard inspection, and someone lost an ear, sparking a conflict that I’d wager most people have never heard of.

Captain Robert Jenkins was the captain of Rebecca, and during a trip from Jamaica to (I’m assuming) Britain, the vessel was stopped and boarded by the Spanish guarda-costa or privateer La Isabela on suspicion of smuggling.

Historic accounts differ on who was responsible, but it was either the commandeer of the Spanish ship, Juan de León Fandiño, or Spanish lieutenant Dorce who sliced off the ear of Robert Jenkins, ostensibly to send a message to the British about the dangers and evils of smuggling.

After the skirmish, Jenkins was justifiably quite upset, but when he was offered a sword in order to retaliate, he said: “Nah, it’s okay… I’ve got one ‘ere”.

I 100% made that last bit up, because I reckon it’s funny. Anyway…

Outraged by the incident, Britain did precisely nothing about it until 1738, when – at the behest of West India merchants – the British parliament sought redress for the removal of Jenkins’ ear.

The history books tell us that diplomatic means of acquiring an apology from Spain for the incident failed, leaving English King George II “no choice” but to instruct his navy to “initiate maritime reprisals”.

And thus, The War of Jenkins’ Ear began, with a series of skirmishes between England and Spain for nine years, until everyone (presumably) realised how dumb it was to go to war over a man’s ear, and stopped fighting.

England, it must be said, did get the last laugh – as anyone who has summered in Spain over the past 30 years will attest, having witnessed first-hand the devastation wrought upon Spain’s beaches and islands by thunderous hoards of beetroot-red, liquored up tourists using the entirely of Spain’s coastline as a combination boudoir and toilet for months on end.

On an entirely unrelated note, though, I am delighted to inform you that the Stockhead team has been beavering away tirelessly, to bring you some excellent content to peruse before the market gets going today.

That includes Christian’s amazing look into the fight between Ozempic and actual food, and Eddy’s been chatting to some brokers to see what they reckon is red hot right now.

And Josh has a bit about copper with a naughty headline. Cover your eyes, kids.

Plus, I have once again dedicated minutes of my life to looking at how much things cost, and compiled a handy-dandy list below so that you’ve got a running start at the market when it opens this morning.

 

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,340.20 (+0.43%)

Silver: US$27.93 (+1.62%)

Nickel (3mth): US$17,804/t (+0.53%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,329.50/t (-0.32%)

Oil (WTI): US$86.68 (-0.26%)

Oil (Brent): US$90.58 (-0.65%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$102.68/t (+2.71%)

AUD/USD: 0.6608 (+0.05%)

Bitcoin: US$71,761 (+3%)

 

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Hungry to learn more about what’s happening in the world of med-techs? Here’s a dose of What the Facts?, featuring a chat with Race Oncology’s Daniel Tillett, to sink your voracious teeth into.

 

 

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

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Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Linius Technologies (ASX:LNU) was climbing on the back of last week’s news that the company had signed a new agreement to provide its sports solution, Whizzard, to the Lone Star Conference – one of the college-level football sporting associations in the United States.

Lepidico (ASX:LPD) rose sharply after announcing that eligible directors and key management confirmed they will participate in an Entitlement Offer.

Qoria (ASX:QOR) surged after knocking back a takeover proposal from K1 Investment Management that it received late last week, which had K1 offering $0.40 cash per Qoria share for 100% of the company. No prizes for guessing that Qoria has since climbed in value to just over that offer amount.

Mining minnow Alice Queen (ASX:AQX) was up +20% on news that its largest shareholder, Gage Resource Development, has agreed to invest a further $3.6 million to help advance its gold exploration activities. Gage currently holds an 18.67% stake in the company.

Far East Gold (ASX:FEG) announced that initial assays of drill core from the first ever drill hole at the Aloe Rek prospect area  in the company’s Woyla Copper Gold Project have confirmed high-grade gold within the Victory vein system. Detailed field mapping across the Woyla tenement have confirmed an increase of 5,500m in the strike length of th project’s low sulphidation epithermal vein system from 13,000m to 18,500m.

 

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

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TRADING HALTS

Great Southern Mining (ASX:GSN) – pending the release of an announcement in relation to a proposed capital raising.

Empire Resources (ASX:ERL) – pending the release of an announcement to the market in relation to a capital raise.

VRX Silica (ASX:VRX) – the company is undertaking a capital raising.

Heartland Group Holdings (ASX:HGH) – pending the outcome of the capital raising on the NZX.

Ansell (ASX:ANN) – pending an announcement in relation to a corporate transaction and an associated capital raising.

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