The Good Morning Report – 21st December

5 Things that Grabbed my Attention

1. Ocean freight shipping spot rates have now spiked 20% since the situation in the RED SEA flared up....Malaysia just banned Israeli cargo ships from the Straits of Malacca...Global supply chains are now getting very messy which means huge disruptions and wild price swings.

2. There are some whispers that RIO Tinto (TIO) may takeover Pilbara (PLS)....The funds that are short PLS would get absolutely crushed. Hard to believe that 21% of the shares on issue in PLS are sold short!

3. The physically backed ZKB SILVER ETF increased by 6.5 million ounces in a day....If WESTERN investors start cottoning on about how cheap SILVER is - then look out!! BUY ETPMAG

4. Rex Minerals (RXM) has signed a letter of intent with Japan's Nittesu Mining with the aim of kickstarting RXM's Hillside Copper project in South OZ...Large copper projects with all the approvals are as rare as hens teeth these days. I rate RXM as a SPEC BUY last sale $0.20.

5. Tracy @ SuperEquity has had a great call on Block Inc (SQ2) - it's been one of the best large cap performers in our market of late.

ASX Market Update

ASX 200 up 48 points to 7537

Our market charged higher again as another strong lead from Wall Street gave investors even more confidence. GOLD miners were the best performing group putting on just over 2% despite the AUD GOLD price only increasing by a smidgen. NEM added 1.67%, GDX put on 2.3%  and RRL increased 2.38%. 

Random Observation

Look at the table below which shows just how tiny the investable SILVER market is - just US$31.2bn worth!....People don't properly realize that investors will one day be fighting like cats and dogs to secure a piece of the action. I don't know when the fireworks starts but that dude (if it's one or could be a fund??) who bought 6.5 million ounces is now sitting in the absolute box seat.

A Swiss Investor Taking a Big Stake In Silver?

The Swiss ZKB Silver ETF Inventories increased a stunning 6.5+ Moz in one day.

This was more than 2X what moved into the SLV ETF.

This is a $150+ million One-Day Silver Investment.https://t.co/tzXBfcl2YV pic.twitter.com/KowSYThzcr

— SRSrocco Report (@SRSroccoReport) December 19, 2023

The Day Ahead

My dad got his letter published in the Australian today. He is spot on...

• Our SPI is down 55 points
• Bitcoin up 3% to $43,482
• BHP in US down 1.76%
• Newmont in US down 1.56%
• Block Inc in US down 1.5%

Movements affecting our resource stocks today (USD)

• Gold down 0.35% to $2045
• Paper Silver up 0.45% to $24.43
• Platinum FLAT @ $965
• Copper down 0.33% to $3.88
• Brent Crude FLAT @ $79.21
• Iron ore up 1.3% to $134

Asian Market Update

Japan up 1.37%, Hong Kong up 0.68% and China fell 1%

I'm calling it - I think the Alibaba share price has seen its lows. It hard to reconcile that this TECH beast which rakes in billions in free cash flow and continues to grow has performed this poorly on the market.

Alibaba announced it is now getting into the Funds Management business - I think they'll clean up.

When Alibaba stages a major turnaround, so will the ASIAN TECH TIGERS ETF - BUY last sale $7.58 

Global Market Update

US Market

DOW down 475 points to 37082

US stocks finally took a little breather as profit takers moved in.

One thing I find interesting is the divergence between large caps in the US and China - the divergence has really opened up...

In BLUE is the DOW which is the top 30. In GREEN is China's 50 largest.

European Markets

Germans FLAT, Brits up 1% and Frenchies added 0.12%

There was a bit of celebration by economists with UK inflation slowing down to a lower than expected 3.9% in November....But the harsh reality for the working poor is prices are even higher than the huge spike experienced last year, therefore the economic situation is even more dire for most.