Although there was still as sense of a heavy undertow as far as small caps trading was concerned to start the week, the end of tax year / end of quarter antics was not enough to prevent at least a decent amount of speculative situations either continuing, or emerging.
For instance, it is usually the case with the stock market that it is better to travel than arrive. In the case of 88 Energy (88E), it has been very good to travel and great to arrive. This is said in the wake of the operations update from the Alaskan explorer. Perhaps the reason that the shares surged another 28% was that the company managed to leave them (traders) wanting more – with an additional update to be revealed in “7-10 days” regarding Merlin-1.
There was a decent 7% spike higher for shares of SPAC Fragrant Prosperity (FPP) – which has already announced its intention to look for opportunities in the cannabis and cannabis therapeutics space. The reason for the enthusiasm on the part of investors was the news Dr. Daniel S. Reshef, MD, MPH, PhD has been appointed to the Board of Directors as a non-executive director. He has had senior management positions at leading companies including Hoffman La Roche, Genentech, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Investors were considering that the good doctor’s rolodex will be operational soon after he gets his feet under the desk at the end of this month in terms of intelligence regarding a potential target.
Fans of Gabriele Cerrone, Executive Chairman at Tiziana Life Sciences (TILS) were left having to be patient for just one more night as the company had to update its original RNS which suggested the pharma sector supremo would be appearing on Bloomberg at 6.20pm BST. Instead, it will be one more sleep until GC appears on the financial channel on March 30. Shares of Tiziana rose nearly 7% anyway in anticipation of a potentially informative media event.
Shares of Okyo Pharma (OKYO), another company where Mr Cerrone is a mover and shaker, bounced back to life after a quiet period. Their 1.5% share price gain was helped along by news of the appointment of Dr Rajkumar Patil as Chief Scientific Officer. He arrives at the dry eye and ocular allergy company after 30 years experience in the pharma R&D space.
It feels as though next generation tech investor Pires (PIRI) is rarely out of the news these days in terms of the frequency of its RNSs. The latest one regards the update from investee company Getvisibility. Here the development is that the AI group has signed a global distribution agreement with StarLink, following its successful partnership in the US. Pires said that while companies are adapting to a hybrid model of employees working from the office and from home, the threat of data attacks is increasing. It also said the global distribution agreement reflects the growing necessity for companies to protect themselves as a result, with its shares rising nearly 6% as a result.
It could be argued that the biggest turning point in recent years for Bitcoin and indeed, leading cryptocurrencies was Paypal’s acceptance in the autumn. This led to Bitcoin more than doubling in the aftermath, helped along by crypto cheerleader Elon Musk. The latest boost to the anti-fiat cause has been news that payments giant Visa said it is accepting the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). The company said it is “bridging the worlds of digital and traditional fiat currencies,” with USDC used to settle a transaction with Visa over Ethereum blockchain. Interestingly enough this “blockchain bridge” concept was quoted a few weeks ago by Valereum Blockchain (VLRM), while crypto miner Argo Blockchain (ARB) rallied 4% and Bitcoin app Mode Global (MODE) 1.5%. This was relatively modest given the potentially transformational news from Visa.
Dev Clever (DEV), the developer of mobile and immersive experiences and an edtech specialist, announced its audited full year results for the year ended 31 October 2020. The highlights here were a climb in total revenue of 161% to £1.25 million as the sales channels for the Group’s core educate platforms Launchyourcareer.com and VICTAR VR were initiated, as well as the signing of an exclusive three-year global distribution agreement with Lenovo. In addition, significant additional growth capital raised up to £12 million gross, with a further £6 million gross is expected to be completed imminently. CEO Chris Jefferies will be hosting a capital markets event on April 6th in the wake of this update.
Oracle Power (ORCP), the natural resources and power project developer served up a new presentation focusing on the Company’s development strategy for its highly prospective gold interests both located in world class gold mining districts of Western Australia: the Northern Zone Gold Project, near Kalgoorlie, and the Jundee East Gold Project, east of Northern Star’s Jundee Gold Mine.
Xtract (XTR), the copper-gold exploration and development company, delivered results of reconnaissance diamond drilling adjacent to the historic Kalengwa high-grade copper-silver open pit located in the North-Western Province of The Republic of Zambia. This was in contract to the ongoing Bushranger Project updates, which many in the market are so familiar with. Xtract said that the results from the hole completed and analysed are very encouraging. Once fully processed, the results will be assessed with a view to establishing the extent of the mineralised zone and follow-up required to more fully delineate it.
Mining SPAC Critical Metals (CRTM) was making friends in the wake of its interim results. The part that went down well with traders was the line from the company which read, “We have now narrowed down our search and are in discussions with a small number of potential opportunities on which we will provide further updates on as these discussions progress.” Shares of Critical jumped another 12% as it was revealed that further strong support from shareholders in recent weeks, in the form of the exercise of warrants post period end has strengthened cash position by some £935,000.
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