The FTSE AIM 100 actually finished the week in positive territory – though it was a roller coaster ride getting there.
And whisper it, the small cap benchmark outpaced the index of blue-chip shares as it gained 0.4% over the last five trading days.
“Small caps have actually performed very well to date, be that fully listed small caps or AIM, and all the weakness we have seen have generally been in large caps,” said Simon Strong, growth companies analyst at City broker Cenkos.
“We still think the domestic UK economy is a sensible place to be exposed to for investors and inevitably on AIM there are a lot of UK domestic focused stocks.”
Doing its bit to burnish the image of small caps was miner W Resources (LON:WRES), up almost 50% over the week, with sentiment boosted by news Charles Scott has upped his stake to 3.15%.
Proving that old traders’ adage that it better to travel than arrive was Marechale Capital (LON:MAC).
Readers of this report will remember the mini-investment bank was mentioned this time last week as the top riser – as it had almost had doubled in value at that point.
The driver was the company’s investment in a UK solar energy developer that was that was waiting planning permission for project on a former RAF base in Northamptonshire.
This was duly granted earlier this week, prompting an odd reaction – a 67% plunge in the share price, making Marechale the week’s top faller.
Not far behind it in the losers’ stake was driller InfraStrata (LON:INFA), which lost 50% of its value after funding for its Woodburn Forest-1 oil well, in Antrim, Northern Ireland, disappeared.
An junior oiler on the way up was Mosman Oil & Gas (LON:MSMN), which added 9% this week after unveiling what it reckons to be a transformational deal.
Having teased us previously about acquisition plans, it revealed it is to acquire producing assets in New Zealand. It is paying £4.2mln to Origin Energy to buy the STEP project, which includes the Rimu, Kauri and Manutahi fields.
Since being refurbished, the operation has been producing an average of 603 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which at current energy prices and exchange rates generates around £3.4mln of revenue a year. The plan is to significantly increase that output.
W Resources (LON:WRES), a Iberia focussed tungsten firm, was another winner – rising some 40% over the course of the week – after a major shareholder increased its stake.
Star of week yet again was African Potash (LON:AFPO), which rose another 74% this week and is up 500% over the past month.
What’s the catalyst this week for the miner developer turned trader?
It signed its first deal of the new era under executive chairman Chris Cleverly to supply a Zambian group with fertiliser.
The agreement was for 50,000 tonnes of the product. AP hopes to be the middle man for ten times that amount to Comesa, a grouping of African countries similar to the EU.
Also doing very well, thank you, was Atlantic Coal (LON:ATC), which spiked 50% after better than expected interims.
As the name suggests, the company is a coal miner. Its base is Pennsylvania and the product it sells is a top quality anthracite.
Given a boost this week was Asiamet Resources (LON:ARS), which will be more familiar to punters in its former incarnation Kalimantan Gold.
Under new management that has a track record of building and selling rather big metals projects, the latest update revealed the potential of its most developed current asset, BKM, in Indonesia.
Drill results showed there was high grade copper mineralisation that is close to surface.
This, it turns out, means there is the potential for a low cost starter pit that transforms the economics of an already pretty handy mid-sized project.
Pity about the copper price, eh? But perhaps this will have ironed itself out by the time the mine is finally built.