It might be the said that a chimpanzee throwing darts at the back page of the Financial Times could make money on the stock market at the moment. It is becoming that easy. The reality is that one probably does not need either the darts or the Financial Times – indeed, the views of the Chimp are probably more relevant than anything you might read in the FT, especially regarding the AIM market.
But for those happy to keep shooting fish in the present stock market barrel, it was not so much a question of which stocks to buy, but which stocks might rise the most. The most obvious riser was once again Argo Blockchain (ARB), with the crypto miner arguably being a unique play in terms of cost of production and increasing capacity. The 31% rise in the shares was all the more impressive given Presidents’ Day in the US, and Bitcoin not quite managing to hit the key $50,000 level. The most compelling part of the re-rate however remains the discount Argo Blockchain has compared to US counterparts Riot and Mara.
Life science AI specialist DeepVerge (DVRG) said that it had signed a non-binding Heads of Terms with Microsaic Systems (MSYS) to enter a multi-year Framework Services Agreement. DeepVerge will be appointed as non-exclusive agent to promote Microsaic’s technologies. The deal is to be completed on or before the 31 March 2021, and will allow for the supply of miniaturised mass spectrometry contamination detection equipment and services across DeepVerge’s network.
It was interesting that international CBD group Zoetic (ZOE) was on the front foot, both in terms of the 2p share price rise to 76p, and the latest progress update. The company said that it is confident that its careful approach to distribution will ultimately yield better sell-through rates and higher revenues. Zoetic also expressed enthusiasm about the growing popularity of its lines and looked forward to seeing this trajectory continue in the coming months. The recent bear attack attempt was also thwarted by a major shareholder. He stated that in four generations of experience in the convenience store sector, the Chill brand has, with no in-store promotional spend, outsold famous brands with million-dollar marketing budgets – something which is seldom seen.
Sometimes it takes a while for the penny to drop, or in this case rise, with a stock in the junior reaches of the market. However, it would appear that investors have finally picked up on the merits of investment company Riverfort Global (RGO) in the wake of this month’s latest moves in the digital assets sector. The company said it had invested £300,000 for a 7.5% shareholding in a newly incorporated digital assets technology company, Pluto Digital Assets as part of a fund raising to raise a total of £2.5 million, which included a significant investment from company of the moment, Argo Blockchain.
Pires (PIRI), in which Riverfort is a large shareholder, was also in the news. It updated on its investment in Low6 Limited, as did fellow investor in the next-generation sports betting platform, Gunsynd (GUN). In December 2020, both Pires and Gunsynd announced £200,010 investments each in Low6. The latest is that Low6 has advised that it is proposing to extend the pre-IPO round to allow further investment from a leading gaming industry player. Low6 said that it mow has circa 80,000 users and three new influencer partners, Arsenal Fan TV, The United Stand TV and True Geordie, who have had a better than expected positive impact on user growth.
Oracle Power (ORCP) saw its shares rise 8% as the company reported on new from Australia. the AIM listed natural resources and power project developer said its exploration efforts are progressing well at Jundee East, which is located only 7km due east of one of Australia’s largest gold mines. CEO Naheed Memon said the initial orientation soil geochemistry programme has now been completed and samples have been dispatched to the assay laboratory. In addition, with the gravity survey crew having arrived at Jundee East to conduct a detailed close spaced gravity survey over the prime targets, Ms Memon was optimistic that these two programmes will provide valuable information to understand the scale of targets identified within the Project area, in preparation for drill targeting.
Another day, another new high for Dev Clever (DEV), where perhaps the third lockdown has reminded investors of the merits of online and immersive career guidance, development platforms and consumer engagement experiences, as opposed to home schooling hell. Shares in Dev stretched to a 27.5p close, in the wake of the company’s trading update earlier this month. In it was news that it had made significant progress in the last financial year, ended 31 October 2020. Accounting revenues hit £1.2m, subject to audit, and booked revenues stood at £2.4m. This represented an increase from £480k and £500k respectively from the previous financial year and was in line with management’s expectations, reflecting the considerable progress the company made during the year.
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