There was a decent buzz amongst the small caps to start the week, with not only a recovery for recent risers, but also some stocks that have been off the boil in the recent past. A good example of a riser revival came in the form of Wishbone Gold (WSBN), which was up 22% after an interview with Chairman Richard Poulden. The stock was described as a “potential 100 bagger” by a leading (normally bearish) stock market commentator in the wake of its recent Australian new metals exploration campaign and new tenement application in Queensland.
Equally buoyant was self-styled dynamic AIM listed exploration and mine company ARC Minerals (ARCM). Here traders have already been gushing over the soaring copper price with relation to ARC. Added fizz has been provided by Anglo American (AAL) saying that following an Exclusivity Agreement signed in July, it has completed its technical review and will be submitting specific due diligence queries in respect of the Zamsort and Zaco companies. This allowed bulls of the stock to infer that rather than just a JV, a takeover could be in the offering, something which perhaps explained the 14% share price rise for ARC Minerals.
Indeed, mining companies were certainly on the front foot, with mining investor Gunsynd (GUN) currently in apparent TR1 heaven, with more to start the week after last week’s announcement. On this occasion it was perhaps the most successful small cap investor in recent history on the UK stock market – Chris Akers, who made his debut on the Gunsynd shareholder register with 3.67%. The shares were already squeezing high in the run up to the Rincon IPO in Australia at the end of this week, in which Gunsynd is a significant investor. Gunsynd stock added 16% as traders second guessed how strong Rincon’s market debut will be.
The mining stock risers of the day were led by Anglesey Mining (AYM), building on recent significant gains with a fresh 40% surge, with observers noting how this rise has been achieved even without the result of the now legendary Preliminary Economic Assessment from the Houston Project in Canada.
Fresh highs were also in evidence at Jubilee Metals (JLP) with another 10% surge, with one observer commenting that sharp re-rates occurring in companies where cash flow generation and a growth strategy are combined.
Speaking of such re-rates, this has been evident at pharma services Open Orphan (ORPH) where a slew of contract wins in recent months has boosted the bottom line and the share price. The stock edged up again to 23.8p as traders digested news its subsidiary Venn Life Sciences has been awarded two new contracts. The first contract is a COVID-19 study for a European pharmaceutical company which involves 200 patients in 50 sites, while the second will see Venn assist with project management, design and implementation of new processes related to clinical development and improvement.
With the hook being last week’s subscription update regarding Intrinsic Capital, shares of edtech specialist Dev Clever (DEV) saw its shares rise another 6%, still below the 10p subscription price due to kick in over coming months. For instance, 20,000,0000 was announced last week, with another 60,000,0000 due by June at 10p and once achieved, a further 50,000,0000 at 25p. Dev Clever shares are currently just 8.6p, still at a discount to the initial subscription price.
In terms of underpinning the recent reverse takeover of Two Shields on December 1, there was an indication that cybersecurity firm Brandshield Systems (BRSD) timed it deal well as the stock rose 5% to 23.63p, comfortably above the opening level at 19p. It would appear that so far the message regarding Brandshield’s edge of AI and big data to identify threats online seems to be getting through to the market.
It is always interesting to see stocks where bears are persistently on the case, or where there is rumoured to be a short in the market squeezing the price higher. In the case of CBD specialist Zoetic (ZOE) the possibility that a leading market maker has been caught short of the stock pushed the shares to a new intraday high of 69.8p. Credence in such a scenario was provided by the way that Zoetic gapped up massively in the wake of last month’s “landmark” distribution deal in the US, but also that the stock barely retraced following the announcement. Zoetic climbed another 5%.
There was welcome relief for the COVID-19 ambulance / coffin chasers, with shares of Synairgen (SNG) leading the pack, after being in the doghouse for a month after the conveniently timely arrival of vaccines. The rumour mill regarding SNG suggested a mix of the aftermath of a clumsily handled placing at 175p leading to an overshoot on the downside, imminent clinical trial results, and a heavy COVID-19 winter even with vaccine rollout. The potential of a Synairgen / big pharma deal was also in the mix to lead the shares up 20%.
Shares of inventory monetisation play Supply@Me Capital (SYME) rose another 14%. This came in the wake of the trading update last week in which the company said that it had progressed with all three of its funding channels. As far as what traders were looking at currently, as something of the August “Supply@Mania” returned to the stock, further updates on the key UK, US and UAE markets as well as StormHarbour and further captive bank updates to add billions to the company’s monetisation capability.
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