Global Stocks Tank, What Fills the Gap?

Donald Trump shook global markets like a snow globe on Thursday - Chaos ensued, how will it all land?

Money is moving out of giant, “globalisation era” stocks - so where will it go to now?

Here is where we think the money will flow to and why...

read our Saturday Weekender here

Our ‘Quick Takes’ on news from our Investments

• IIQ engaged the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to run lab and animal studies for its breast cancer therapeutic product.
• EIQ signed Partnership and Integration Agreements with ScImage and MedAxiom, two leading US healthcare technology companies.
• EIQ announced Mayo Clinic would help run clinical validation studies for its AI Heart Failure detection tech ahead of FDA submissions later in the year.
• Fresh off the back of a resource upgrade, SS1 presented in front of investors at the ‘Mining Forum Europe’ conference in Switzerland.
• SGQ published a maiden JORC resource for its project in Brazil - 41.2Mt at 0.68% niobium and 40.6mt of rare earths at 4.13% TREO.
• PFE identified six exploration targets at its lithium brine project in the Smackover region in Arkansas, USA.
• 88E received the final US$2.2M in owed funds from its JV partner on its oil project on the North Slope of Alaska, USA.
• TG1 started a soil sampling program at one of its WA gold projects. This project sits in the same part of WA where another ASX listed stock moved ~10x off the back of a discovery...
• GEN started early construction work on its iron ore project in Gabon only ~2 weeks after signing a Mining Convention agreement with the Gabon government.
• GUE published an operational update confirming that it was closing in on a deal for its 21.9% owned enrichment Investment Ubaryon.
• GAL announced assay results from its Norseman project in WA. More assays are pending before a deeper RC drill program is planned.
• IIQ hosted a webinar running through it’s upcoming solid tumuor cancer therapeutic’s studies.

Deep dive notes we wrote this week

Our new Investment - RocketBoots (ASX:ROC)

On Monday we added ROC to our Portfolio.

ROC is our first Investment in 2025 and is also a rare tech pick for us.

Over the last few years we have had a pretty good run with our ASX tech stock Investments:

OneView Healthcare (ASX:ONE) - Up ~858% at its peak from our Initial Entry Price.

AML3D (ASX:AL3) - Up ~306% at its peak last year from our Initial Entry Price.

EchoIQ (ASX:EIQ) - Up ~120% at its peak last year from our Initial Entry Price.

(Noting past performance is not an indicator of future performance)

ROC has developed “Vision Artificial Intelligence” technology for giant companies to analyse and respond to in-store customer behaviours

It is currently in use by TWO major, household name companies and ROC has a ~$35M (revenue, based on our back of the napkin calculations) “advanced stage sales pipeline”.

Our bet is that if ROC can sign one or more new deals in their $35M “advanced pipeline” it could multiply ROC’s current ~$700k FY24 revenue.

...and materially re-rate the ROC share price.

Here more detail on why we Invested in ROC: ASX: ROC - Our new Investment

A few days later, ROC announced they had received a $1M strategic investment from a tech focused investment fund... with a new board member

Read more: 💻 ASX: ROC - Our new Investment

Fast forward to Friday, and ROC announced that Bombora Investment Management, a tech focused investment fund, had made a strategic $1M investment into the company.

Bombora’s new $1M investment means ROC’s $3M capital raise has now been upsized to $4M.

Bombora will be a substantial shareholder in ROC at circa 7.5%.

And Bombora’s co-founder David Willington is joining ROC’s board.

Bombora has had a successful outcome with ROC Chairman Roy McKelvie before, and perhaps that is what attracted them to the ROC opportunity.

Roy is also the chairman of a private company called Pathify that recently secured a $180M valuation following a US$25M capital raise.

Bombora first invested in Pathify at a $26M valuation, and were able to take some money off the table in the recent larger funding round (a rare event for a private investment).

ROC’s Chairman, Roy comes from a private equity background and his experience was one of the big reasons for our Investment.

Read more: 💻 ROC to bank another $1M, secures new strategic investor, and board member

Inoviq (ASX:IIQ)

This week IIQ engaged world leading cancer research centre, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to run lab and animal studies for its breast cancer therapeutic product.

Peter Mac is one of only a handful globally that combines a dedicated cancer hospital with a fully integrated cancer research program.

IIQ and Peter Mac will look to validate IIQ’s therapeutic for use against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

(and potentially other cancer types in the future...)

Results from the lab studies (in vitro) with Peter Mac are expected in Q3 2025.

Results from the mice studies (in vivo) are expected in Q4 2025.

Read more: 💻 IIQ pairs up with prestigious Peter Mac on potential breakthrough breast cancer research (with a string of catalysts to follow)

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ)

This week SGQ put out a maiden JORC resource for its niobium/rare earths project in Brazil.

(and SGQ is weeks away from drilling to increase the resource)

SGQ announced a maiden JORC resource for its project of:

• 41.2Mt at niobium grades of 0.63%, and
• 40.6Mt of rare earths at grades of 4.13% TREO (total rare earths oxide)

The resource estimate is based on historical drilling, which was only on 10% of its ground.

Mineralisation starts from surface.

The resource is open at depth, in all directions and is only based on drilling down to depths of ~100m.

SGQ’s resource came in with niobium grades similar to two of the three producing niobium mines in the world.

SGQ’s resource also came in with rare earths grades comparable to $6.5BN producer Lynas Rare Earths and a lot higher than ~$400M Arafura Rare Earths.

SGQ’s project is in Brazil, next door to the world’s biggest niobium mine (supplying ~80% of the market).

We think the resource is strong enough to justify SGQ’s market cap and we think there could be a location premium attached to the project as it moves closer to development.

Read more: ⛏️ Our take on SGQ’s maiden resource. It’s shallow and from surface... more drilling to come

AML3D (ASX:AL3)

We put out a note on AL3 after listening to Trump’s Liberation Day press conference on Thursday morning.

Trump put reciprocal tariffs on global trading partners and seems to be genuinely serious about rebuilding the US manufacturing industry from the ground up.

The US admin’s primary objective looks like it is to restore US competitiveness in making things domestically.

Our 2024 Tech Pick of the Year AL3 stands to benefit from the push by the US administration to rebuild and modernise the US manufacturing industry and industrial bases.

AL3 supplies metal 3D printing systems to speed up shipbuilding supply chains.

AL3 already has a US technology centre and manufacturing hub set up in Ohio, USA.

AND the company raised ~$30M to double capacity in the US.

With the massive changes happening in the US industrial sector, we think that is exactly where any company like AL3 needs to be marketing itself right now.

So it was good to see AL3 spend a few weeks recently on the ground in Washington.

AL3 was toured around by a firm called Bondi Partners.

Bondi Partners was founded in Washington DC, in early 2020 by former Australian Ambassador to the United States, the Hon. Joe Hockey.

Hockey has deep roots in the US from his time representing Australia diplomatically in Washington and has strong familiarity with the workings of a Trump presidency.

Bondi Partners sounds like the ideal partner for an ASX small cap to be shown around Washington.

Read more: 💻 Trump announces tariffs to revive US shipbuilding - AL3 3D prints metal ship parts fast... in the USA.

Macro News - What we are reading & listening to 📰

Defence:

Norway urged to drop ‘crazy’ ban on investment in defence companies (FT)

• Norway’s opposition parties want to lift the ban preventing its $1.8T oil fund from investing in major defense companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
• They argue it’s hypocritical to rely on NATO’s nuclear umbrella while excluding defense investments.

Germany decides to leave history in the past and prepare for war (BBC News)

• Germany is ramping up military spending, lifting debt limits to counter potential Russian threats.
• The Bundeswehr faces critical shortages, with urgent calls for more troops, weapons, and infrastructure funding.

UK floats plan for joint European fund to ‘stockpile’ weapons (FT)

• The UK is proposing a European defence fund to jointly purchase weapons and stockpile military equipment.
• The plan aims to ease budget strain by financing defence projects with market-backed borrowing.

Gold:

As Trump Sinks Dollar, Once-Unthinkable Worry Grips Markets (Bloomberg)

• The dollar is unexpectedly weakening as investors seek alternatives like gold and the yen.
• Trump’s tariffs and isolationist policies are fueling doubts about the dollar’s safe-haven status.

How a $1.4tn Trump trade war could unfold (FT)

• A Trump-led tariff war could slash $1.4tn from the global economy.
• Retaliatory tariffs risk trade disruption, higher prices, and lower living standards.

Gold rally: Price soars to $5000 an ounce in ‘once in 40-year gift’ for investors, fundies (AFR)

• Gold hits A$5,000/oz, fueling fund launches and a potential decade-long bull run.
• Miners' stock prices lag behind soaring gold, creating big earnings potential.

Investors flock to gold funds as fears over Trump tariffs mount (FT)

• Gold hits record $3,148/oz as investors rush into safe assets amid tariff war fears.
• Gold-backed ETFs see $19.2bn inflow, marking fastest pace since the pandemic.

Indians shift to gold investments as local equities flounder (FT)

• Indian investors pour record Rs57.3bn into gold ETFs as equities falter.
• Gold-backed loans in India surge 74.4%, with rising demand amid economic uncertainty.

Gold Hits Record as Trump’s Tariff Spree Sparks Haven Demand (Bloomberg)

• Gold hits a new record above $3,160 as Trump’s tariffs spark global economic concerns.
• Investors flock to gold amid fears of slowdown, with the metal up 20% this year.

Trump Telegraphed His Tariff Plan. Wall Street Was Still Shocked. (WSJ)

• Hedge fund manager Rob Citrone bet against stocks during Trump's tariff speech but was shocked as markets initially rallied.
• Trump's sweeping tariffs triggered a market rout, wiping out $3.1 trillion and sending recession odds soaring.

Rare Earths:

Russia, US in talks over joint rare earths projects (Mining.com)

• Washington and Moscow begin talks on joint rare earths projects in Russia, with mutual interest in cooperation.
• Russia holds the world's fifth-largest reserves of rare earths, crucial for tech and military equipment.

Silver:

SilverSqueeze2.0 could trigger a breakout for silver that sees prices challenge $50/oz (Kitco News)

• Silver investors rally around the idea of a "Silver Squeeze 2.0" to break price manipulation and trigger a bull run.
• Experts believe silver's price may surge if it breaks key technical levels, potentially reaching $50 in the medium term.

What else we watched and listened to:

Gold Fields vs. Gold Road: Australia's $2B Gold Battle

Gold Going Higher, Dollar Losing 75% Value - Rick Rule

Rick Rule: Retail Investors Still Not Interested in Gold

Will M&A spark life into lithium?

#65 Eric Sprott | Gold, Silver & Markets: Powerful Insights from The Man, The Myth, The Legend

David Morgan: Silver Squeeze 2.0 — Will Price Run on March 31?

Gold’s at $3,000 But Junior Mining Stocks Look Broken (or do they?)

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Bye for now.