Iran Continued
Perhaps the most consoling aspect of the Iran conflict as far as the London stock market was concerned this week was the way that the FTSE 100 closed almost flat on Friday. This compares to down 3% for AIM and 2% for the small caps as a whole. The latter is disappointing given the way that the tiddlers have traditionally been jam packed with resources stocks, be they miners or oilers, and they should continue to benefit the longer the disaster in the Middle East continues. Indeed, it is hard to believe that 50 years after the 1973 oil embargo / Yom Kippur war, we are still in the same, backward, foolish game. Presumably, in fifty years time this kind of thing will still be going on. Thankfully, many of us will not be around to witness it, especially if the current debacle goes wrong.
Of course, the key market in all of this remains Crude Oil. Perhaps not as key as it was in 1973. One might expect the current price gouging in petrol prices to lead a few more people to go for EVs. What is interesting is the way that we see WTI having delivered one spike earlier in the week towards the $120 zone, then coming back to settle largely in the upper $80s and the $90s. This is despite the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil, and despite the way that if this weekend the US successfully manages to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, those long oil may find that they are say, $20 offside on Monday.
But if WTI could be vulnerable to a US-Israeli breakthrough this week, Gold is even more of a head scratcher. One would think that in a situation where we are we are on the edge of WWIII, then Gold would have continued the stellar run it has had since the summer. Instead, the yellow metal was down 3% on the week. One would imagine unless all hell breaks lose, we could head below the $5,000 level in coming days. Chart support is as low as $4,800, even if the rally then resumes.
In contrast, and perhaps rather counterintuitively, Bitcoin, the failed store of value for 2025, has managed to rebound 3% over the past 5 days. One would suggest that after having fallen 50% from its October peak, all things being equal, an area of equilibrium has been found. Certainly, anyone caught up in the early summer euphoria of last summer would be licking their wounds, or carted out of the amphitheatre totally. At least it may mean that companies buying into BTC now, like the new Kwasi Kwarteng / Nigel Farage (an investor) vehicle Stack BTC (AQSE:STAK) could be buying at the right price. That is as opposed to the early birds such as Smarter Web (SWC) who have witnessed share price declines that may the Dotcom Bubble look like a walk in the park. At least this week SWC moved to redress the balance with its voluntary purchase offer for warrant holders. This could finally give some stability to a share price which has been in free fall, and as the company has said, as it attempts to address the overhang issue. That said, historically such situations need a stock to go all the way back before they can truly regain momentum.
The same kind of thing may be said about Tap Global (TAP) where I have remarked on many occasions regarding the “pesky seller” who seems to appear any time the shares get near 3p. This week the company announced a lock-in, and of course we do not know whether the pesky seller would be included in this. But at least there is the implication of a tighter book, something which could allow the shares to finally break 3p, and give long suffering shareholders the kind of valuation on their company that they deserve.
This Week’s Risers
Although much higher at one point, the aforementioned Stack BTC (AQSE:STAK) did manage to deliver a 102% rise on the week, not surprising when it was announced that the company had raised £260,000 gross at 5p. The fundraise comprises an equity participation from Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK political party and Blockchain.com, one of the leading industry players in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency space. STAK closed on Friday at 12.37p.
There was an obvious driver for 88 Energy (88E) and a charting target win for Zaks Traders Café, off the back of oil spiking towards $100. Although the shares were up 67% on the week to close at 1.8p, above recent support at 1.5p there could be a new leg up to 2.5p by the end of next month.
The market celebrated the launch of investee company Alludium launching its no code AI platform, with a decent 45% rise on the week to leave Catenai (CTAI) at 0.3p. That said, as recently as November the shares were trading at 0.6p plus, so if resistance at 0.33p was is cracked in coming days, we could witness a return towards the best levels, driven by the latest news.
On Friday Zenith Energy (ZEN) announced the acquisition of two agrivoltaic development projects with an expected installed capacity of approximately 23 MWp and 5 MWp, respectively, located in the Piedmont region of Italy. As stated in the Zaks Traders Café interview with the company yesterday, it is a clear winner as far as the present oil price crisis, something which has been underlined by the way that the shares have risen 35% this week.
Pantheon Resources plc (PANR) the oil and gas company developing the Kodiak and Ahpun oil fields in close proximity to pipeline and transportation infrastructure on Alaska’s North Slope has had a rather torrid time in the recent past. However, the rise in the oil price combined with the announcement of Lord Spencer of Alresford (Michael Spencer) as its new Chairman should change sentiment towards the company. Indeed, the 34% rise in the share price this week suggests that it already has.
