ASX has edged higher so far today, having dipped in early trading.
The S&P/ASX200 is up 1.90 points today to 7,401.30 at time of writing. Over the last five days, the index has gained 0.30% and is currently 3.03% off its 52-week high.
Top-performing stocks in this index are EML Payments Ltd up 22.91% on the back of an encouraging regulatory ruling and Deterra Royalties Ltd up 4.22%.
IT, Materials, Real Estate, Industrials and Consumer Discretionary sectors are all in the green.
Other high performers include BHP up 1.3%, Fortescue 3.1% higher and Rio Tinto 1.8% higher.
Gains can be put down to Singapore iron ore futures lifting 2.8% to a 3-week high of $US105.95.
Afterpay was also higher by 3.1% amid US tech gains, while Health Care, Staples, Financials, Utilities, Communications and Energy stocks fell, with the major banks down 0.4-0.9% and CSL down 0.4%.
Kogan faces board spill
Kogan may be looking forward to Black Friday sales, which it has already started, but it has other things to think about as it holds its AGM today.
Chairman Greg Ridder has had to defend Kogan’s corporate governance after a number of proxy advisers advised a vote against the remuneration report.
It didn’t stop Kogan from earning a second pay strike in as many years.
Last year Kogan received a strike against pay when shareholders revolted against a $100 million-plus options deal for co-founders CEO Ruslan Kogan and CFO David Shafer.
At last year’s AGM Kogan.com saw a 43% vote against the remuneration report.
This year, the vote against was 41.69%.
“I expect we will have a degree of adverse sentiment expressed in today’s vote on the remuneration report,” Riddler said.
“From my position, and that of our board, I wish to reinforce that we are always listening to the feedback from our shareholders on how to review and improve our company, which is demonstrated in the significant changes made over the past 12 months, including changes to the composition of our board and the implementation of new policies and frameworks of governance of your company.”
Kogan will now go to a board spill motion on the back of its two strikes.
Other changes Kogan has made in the 12 months, include right-sizing inventory levels since the end of fiscal 2021, bringing warehousing costs down and developing its own last mile delivery services which operate in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
On the crypto front
We’ve tapped into eToro analyst Josh Gilbert’s knowledge of all things crypto to get his take on the crypto world. Here’s what he said…
“Bitcoin and a host of other crypto assets fell precipitously last week, with a few possible factors in play.
“Firstly, the Taproot upgrade to the bitcoin blockchain created uncertainty in the investor community. Perhaps the most important upgrade in the past four years for the network, Taproot was meant to streamline the crypto asset’s transactions, making them faster and cheaper. Upgrades of this nature can cause short-term uncertainty as investors hold fire to see what will happen to the network.
“Also affecting price levels recently is the US infrastructure bill. The bill, led by President Joe Biden, could see companies subjected to stricter rules around the reporting and handling of crypto assets, and this has fed into further investor uncertainty.
“Finally, with bitcoin and other crypto assets having reached fresh all-time highs, there was always likely to be a measure of profit-taking from investors which then translates into price weakness. Both BTC and ETH go from strength to strength, and the ups and downs of the market are a part of this story.”
Ticketmaster teams up with NFL to issue NFT tickets
“Ticket reseller Ticketmaster has teamed up with the US NFL to issue souvenir NFT tickets,” Gilbert says.
“American football fans can now redeem their NFTs alongside game tickets as a “token of appreciation” for buying on the platform.
“In order to redeem their NFT tickets, fans must scan into their NFL game with the Ticketmaster Safetix ticket. They can then get one NFT per eligible game – but, crucially, they must attend the game in order to be able to redeem it.
“The program offers up the chance to create digital memorabilia for fans but leaves out one of the crucial aspects of ticket buying and reselling – scalpers. NFT technology could largely eradicate the issue of scalping, but Ticketmaster appears to have held back from making that step at this time.”
On the small cap front
Carnavale Resources Ltd (ASX:CAV) is up 14.29%. CAV will use helicopter-borne technology, which can identify targets deep in the earth’s surface, in its latest forays into the platinum group elements-nickel-copper prospective ground at the Barracuda Project.
Evolution Energy Minerals Ltd (ASX:EV1) is up 9.68%. EV1 has adopted an environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework that will steer every aspect of how it does business.
Kinetiko Energy Ltd (ASX:KKO) is up 5%. KKO has spudded the third of three new project wells at its Korhaan natural gas asset, part of its flagship Amersfoot property in South Africa’s Permian Age Coal Fields.
Openn Negotiation Ltd (ASX:OPN) is up 3.57%. OPN is moving forward on its path to North American commercialisation with the signing of binding agreements with two real estate brokerage firms.