From an investor's point of view, 2022 is much more challenging than 2021. Inflation flared up noticeably last year. The dimension was still quite manageable for market participants and growth-oriented investors, as the capital market interest rate remained in a minus interest rate scenario shaped by the central banks until the fall of 2021. Now, however, the tide has turned: In January, the U.S. Federal Reserve was confronted with an inflation rate of 7.5%, the highest rate of price increases since 1982. The markets reacted with shock and sent the ten-year U.S. Treasury rate above the magic 2% mark. It is now becoming much more expensive for all those seeking capital, but those who are now smelling spring air are the banks because the interest margin that had been out of sight for almost a decade is returning. The original banking business is back, and for the industry leader Deutsche Bank it is like a comeback to the premier league.
The mobility revolution is in full swing. The future belongs to battery-powered vehicles. The sales figures for e-cars are rising sharply worldwide. So is the price for the all-important raw material lithium. With innovative approaches, Altech Advanced Materials AG could revolutionize the market for lithium-ion batteries. Conventional lithium-ion batteries already lose significant power during the first charging cycle. Altech uses an anode coating with high-purity aluminum oxide (HPA) and an enrichment of silicon. In this way, battery performance can be increased by more than 15%, and service life can be extended by as much as 30%. The Company is still a long way from bringing its products to market. The next stage is to set up a pilot production facility and demonstrate commercial and industrial production. If this succeeds, customers are likely to be knocking at the Company's doors. An analysis.
At the beginning of December last year, we took an in-depth look at the Canadian biotech company XPhyto Therapeutics. The in-depth report looked at the three divisions - Diagnostics, Innovative Dosage Forms and Psychedelics - and put the business in the context of the overall market. In the meantime, a lot has happened at XPhyto: the Company has published an update on the individual business areas and announced news around its activities in rapid PCR-quality corona tests. Reason enough for an update.
After years of hype, the prices of the best-known biotech shares have also fallen recently. The Canadian cancer hopeful Defence Therapeutics (ISIN: CA24463V1013) has also lost ground in recent months. Yet the Company is on a strong course. Defence Therapeutics has patented Accum™, a technology for drug conjugates, which it also uses for vaccinations. Two Phase 1 trials are scheduled to start against breast and skin cancer this year. In addition, Defence Therapeutics has another iron in the fire with a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV). As Defence CEO Sébastien Plouffe points out, some major industry players are already showing interest in collaborations. An update.
The market correction for stocks related to electromobility, hydrogen and fuel cell technology continued to gain momentum in recent weeks. However, First Hydrogen (ISIN:CA32057N1042) was able to escape this. Since the publication of our initial report at the end of December '21, the share price has increased by around 63%. In addition to the positive share price performance, the Company has also shone on a fundamental level. For example, First Hydrogen is making good progress with the market launch of hydrogen filling stations. In addition, the quality of the management staff was significantly increased in order to achieve the targets.
Digitalization is one of the most important social and economic developments of our time. Companies face the challenge of rethinking business operations and processes with the help of existing digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things, blockchain or artificial intelligence, and in some cases implementing radically new processes. While many projects fail, the transition from the analog industrial age to knowledge and creativity shaped by digital technologies and digital innovations offers opportunities to establish new, highly scalable business models. In 2015, the former publishing house Aspermont started its digital transformation by building a unique platform technology. This transformation was completed last year. Since then, the expansion phase has been gaining momentum. The opportunities for the Australian company are enormous but have hardly been noticed by the market yet.
The Canadian gold explorer had an impressive start to the new year by reaching a milestone. The Company has one of the largest non-producing land areas in West Africa. Located in Mali, Africa's third-largest gold producer, the project has enormous development potential. The right course has been set. It is just a matter of when, not if, the Company will reevaluate. Furthermore, the Canadians are increasingly a potential takeover candidate.
Humanity is still caught up in the covid pandemic. The shares of vaccine manufacturers have skyrocketed. Despite great successes in combating the pandemic, there are also downsides. These are secondary damages, such as damage to the heart. This is where the Canadian company Cardiol Therapeutics comes in. The company is currently undergoing promising clinical trials with preparations based on cannabidiol that are intended to treat inflammatory heart disease. Recent research shows that cannabis ingredients can prevent infection with the Corona virus by blocking its entry into cells. This suggests that Cardiol’s preparations could have blockbuster potential. Analysts unanimously believe that the shares, which are also listed on the NASDAQ, have the potential to multiply.
wallstreet:online AG has presented an interim report for the past year. It clearly shows what already became clear in the Report 2021 a discrepancy in the company valuation compared to the peer group. The number of securities accounts and the assets under management could now be more than doubled compared to the previous year. According to the data, the company is the largest neobroker operator in Germany, with EUR 8.8 billion in assets under custody.
Hydrogen is the ultimate future topic and is not only revolutionizing the automotive industry. The topic is becoming explosive because e-mobility cannot solve all the problems of the future and cannot be used in many areas. With its specification, hydrogen is also reaching air, rail and shipping traffic and is thus coming more into the focus of science. Will it be the topic for 2022? The opportunity for investors is favorable as governments around the world declare climate protection budgets. Germany and France plan to jointly invest tens of billions in transforming their industries. Norwegian H2 specialist Nel ASA is one of the European pioneers in electrolyzer technology. But what are the opportunities for investors in 2022 after a 300% increase since 2018? A look at the overall market and specifically at the stock.