On Stockhead today, what the EU’s ICE ban means for your battery metals stocks, how to use P/E ratios, and Carl Capolingua’s dirty rotten coal scoundrels.

But first … the day ahead.

Australian industry data for 2020-21 is due out today from the fine folk at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which gives a rundown on EBITDA for various sectors.

That includes mining, a sector which enjoyed a near unparalleled rise in cash generation last year. Those figures should be interesting if unsurprising given the temporal lag.

Also out today, preliminary retail trade growth for April, which should make for interesting reading after three straight months of growth to start the year coming out of last year’s Covid lockdowns.

TRADING HALTS

The following companies entered trading halts and are expected to exit in the coming days.

Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL) – trading halt, pending an announcement relating to a potential material transaction

Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) – trading halt, pending an announcement relating to the release of clinical results for the dose escalation phase of the 1b/2 Zantrene AML trial in Israel

Apiam Animal Health (ASX:AHX) – trading halt, pending an announcement regarding a capital raising

Crowd Media (ASX:CM8) – trading halt, pending an announcement regarding a capital raising

Predictive Discovery Limited (ASX:PDI) – trading halt, pending an announcement regarding a capital raising

 

MARKETS

Gold: $US1,849.61 (-0.24%)

Silver: $US21.86 (-0.58%)

Nickel (3mth): $US26,788/t (+0.9%)

Copper (3mth): $US9,373.00/t (-0.9%)

Lithium Carbonate, China (Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, May 19): $US68,850/t (+0.1% weekly)

Lithium Hydroxide, China (Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, May 19): $US70,625/t (-0.2% weekly)

Oil (WTI): $US110.88 (+0.38%)

Oil (Brent): $US114.43 (+0.35%)

Iron 62pc Fe: $US130.35 (+1.49%)

AUD/USD: $US0.7094 (+0.04%)

Bitcoin: $US29,689.60 (+0.63%)

 

What got you talking yesterday?

The Earth may revolve around the Sun but risk capital is circling Galileo Mining (ASX:GAL) after the junior explorer’s Callisto discovery.

Some new assays yesterday kept that ball rolling more than a week since the find was first reported to the market.

The palladium find has sent Galileo up 571% over the past month, valuing prospector and founder Mark Creasy’s ~26% stake in the company at more than $60 million.

 

YESTERDAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow rose after making announcements during the trading day).

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Technically artificial intelligence (AI) training data services Appen (ASX:APX) might not be the smallest cap in the cupboard, but it’s certainly been trying on sizes.

Mainly small ones – in the few months since Christmas APX has lost almost half its value – with the gentle scribes at the AFR referring to them as that ‘bombed out AI software company’.

Well, now they’re a total takeover target after receiving an offer from Canadian based telco, Telus International.

At $9.50, the offer price was a huge 48% premium to Appen’s $6.40 closing price on Wednesday.

There’s totally going to be a bidding war. Our fave kind of war.

Ragusa Minerals (ASX:RAS) was up on nothing new, other than another morning of outsized gains for this innocent lithe little lithium out at Litchfield, which picked up an additional 570sqkm in the region’s luscious pegmatite belt in the NT on Monday.

The $17m market cap stock is up some 35% over the past week to one-year highs.

The virtual reality business  xReality Group (ASX:XRG) has raised $1.26m via a placement at NO discount to the last trading price. The share price went all Lawnmower Man – up 40% yesterday morning.

BBX Minerals (ASX:BBX) says it’s hit “significant precious metals values” in Brazil. Its value was significantly more precious following and, wait for it, still moving heavenwards is Eden (ASX:EDE) thanks to an excellent offtake agreement.

 

YESTERDAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow fell after making announcements during the trading day).

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