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

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Friday 20 October, a date that I’ll remember for quite some time as it’s the day that I learned that rapper Snoop Dogg, despite looking a lot like a desiccated mummy that’s been freshly liberated from an on-fire Louisiana swamp crypt, is only four months older than I am.

He’s turning 51 today… which, now that I think about it, makes a lot of sense, because that means he’s… (wait for it…) 357 IN DOGG YEARS.

… I’ll show myself out.

But before I do, let’s all pause and think about the amount of time and effort that Snoop’s put into his career, and reflect on the lessons we can learn from it.

Longevity in the rap business is about as assured as longevity of your portfolio value – and it’s only through wise decisions wrapped in a veneer of acceptable risk that rappers like Mr Dogg are able to sustain their value.

Wise decisions need good information, and that’s the same motivation (he says, drawing an incredibly long bow) behind the Stockhead team’s drive to bring you the best market information and insights that we can.

That’s why Emma Davies has been digging around to find out what the deal is with the emerging West Musgrave mining hub, and Bevis Yeo has donned his rubber pants to bravely wade into the world of stuff that burns.

(Who are we trying to kid? Bevis needs no encouragement to don his rubber pants.)

And for those among you with helplessly short attention spans like mine, here’s all the fiddly data and digits to get you up to speed this morning as well.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$1,973.07 (+1.3%)

Silver: US$22.99 (+0.56%)

Nickel (3mth): US$18,655/t (+0.33%)

Copper (3mth): US$7,972.50/t (+0.03%)

Oil (WTI): US$90.30 (+2.24%)

Oil (Brent): US$93.15 (+1.81%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$119.04/t (+0.03%)

AUD/USD: 0.6326 (-0.14%)

Bitcoin: US$28,679 (+1.42%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Our very own Christian Edwards, a man who himself managed to work as a journo in China without getting snatched off the street, has some interesting insights into what’s happening on the other side of the Bamboo Curtain this week.

Albo’s promised to stand up for Aussie exporters hurt by China’s punitive tariffs, where snatching TV anchors seems reasonable diplomacy. https://t.co/7BHoBBu7N8

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) October 18, 2023

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

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Yesterday’s Small Caps highlights

Whitebark Energy (ASX:WBE) pared back from its morning gains of circa 100% but still managed to close out much better off than the rest of the market, after  revealing its Wizard Lake oil and gas field has returned to production.

The company reports that workovers at Rex-4 and Rex-1 have been completed, and the field has returned to production effective October 18 with Rex-1, Rex-2 and Rex-4 collectively producing 50 bopd and 300 mcf/d (100 boe/d).

Making a sharp move in late trade was Mighty Kingdom (ASX:MKL), which earlier this week informed the market of  ‘several unsolicited enquiries’ about getting taken out for lunch.

“In response to this interest, the board of Mighty Kingdom has decided to undertake a strategic review process of the company with the view of maximising shareholder value,’’ the game developer said.

“As part of this review process, MKL is considering all options with respect to its business including, but not limited to, a whole or partial divestment, joint venture arrangement or a strategic investment into the company to further growth and development.”

Mighty Kingdom also said it had conducted a share placement to raise $1m, with director and sophisticated investors taking up the shares at 1c a pop. Shares were being snapped up for 1.2c late in the day, a 27% increase.

Also trimming gains earlier was Tesoro Resources (ASX:TSO) up 20% after a near 30% burst, on news that the company has delineated a new large outcropping gold anomaly which has never been drilled at Drone Hill, with wide outcropping intersections of up to 47m.

The newly-discovered surface mineralisation is confirmed to extend at least 750m west and 380m south of the Ternera Gold Deposit in Chile, and assay results for initial eight scout holes at Kitsune returned prospective lithology and alteration with a similar geological setting to Ternera.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

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TRADING HALTS

Microba Life Sciences (ASX:MAP) – Proposed acquisition and an accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer.

Imricor Medical Systems (ASX:IMR) – Pending the release of an announcement in respect of a capital raising.

Southern Cross Gold (ASX:SXG) – Pending an announcement in relation to material exploration results from the Sunday Creek project.

Volt Resources (ASX:VRC) – Pending the release of an announcement in respect of a capital raising.