The recent economic data from China has once again disappointed. In July, industrial production in the world's second-largest economy did not increase as much as expected; the central bank even reacted with an interest rate cut. There have been several instances of weak economic data from China recently, fueling expectations of reduced demand for crude oil. The price of WTI crude oil fell slightly from USD 82.50 to USD 80.50 within days. For the Canadian oil producer Saturn Oil & Gas, however, this is not a disaster because they were able to generate lush cash flows even in the challenging second quarter, despite the quarterly average for the WTI price declining to about USD 75. The Q2 figures were surprisingly good, with a new record cash flow and further increases in production.
The start of testing under real road conditions for the Canadian hydrogen innovator's hydrogen fuel cell-powered light commercial vehicles got off to a furious start and clearly demonstrated the advantages over both battery-electric vans and internal combustion engines. Admittedly, the "Light Commercial Vehicles" have only been tested by two of the sixteen major fleet operators participating in the British "Aggregated Hydrogen Freight Consortium". However, the impressive results already suggest that the internal target of selling between 10,000 and 20,000 units in 2025/2026 is no utopia. In the best case, the sales volume would amount to EUR 1 billion. Currently, the market value of the First Hydrogen share stands at EUR 90.84 million.
Cardiovascular diseases have been in the spotlight, especially since the Corona pandemic. After receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, athletic and often young individuals experienced heart inflammation. When the heart muscle becomes inflamed, it is referred to as myocarditis. If the inflammation affects the heart's outer lining, known as the pericardium, it is called pericarditis. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most cases of myocarditis and pericarditis in male adolescents and young adults occurred within one week of the second dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Cardiol Therapeutics is a life sciences company with a portfolio focused on combating heart diseases such as pericarditis, myocarditis and heart failure. The Company is in the clinical discovery and development stage of anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic therapies. Antifibrotic means that no scarring occurs during the healing process of human tissue. The experienced team is focusing on an active ingredient that occurs naturally in nature, cannabidiol.
The countdown is on! Despite many imponderables and detours, the latest generation broker, Smartbroker+, is about to be launched. As of today, users can explore the future brand world. In the process, the already successfully running Smartbroker was expanded with new functions and optimized according to the latest customer experience requirements, which should attract new, especially younger target groups in the future. On the other hand, the unique selling proposition of the Next Generation Broker will be retained. Like its predecessor, Smartbroker+ combines the extensive product range of traditional brokers with the favorable conditions of a new broker.
After a bitterly cold crypto winter last year with price losses of up to 78% for Bitcoin alone, the asset class has become one of the best performers on the market, with a gain of 90% since the beginning of 2023. Companies from this segment, such as MicroStrategy, Coinbase, Hut 8 Mining and Bit Digital, were able to more than double in this period. In contrast, the German Bitcoin Group, which operates the trading platform for digital currencies, bitcoin.de, with its subsidiary, has some catching up to do. However, the holding company has significantly more substance than comparable competitors.
Short infotainment formats are popular among viewers - for example, before the news or between two movies. The Canadian biotech startup Defence Therapeutics has now been chosen by the series "Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid" as a partner for a series on the opportunities and limitations of biotechnology. For the Company, which is aiming for the Nasdaq, the associated publicity can only be beneficial. What remains decisive, however, is what happens behind the camera. Groundbreaking research is currently underway.
More is better. According to this motto, the innovative cancer specialist Defence Therapeutics has built an extensive patent portfolio in recent years. Here we discuss the areas in which patents have been filed, what options Defence Therapeutics has as a result, and what will be crucial for the Company, which is facing several clinical trials in 2023 in the coming weeks.
The first series of tests under real road conditions went better than expected for the hydrogen innovator based in Vancouver and London, clearly demonstrating the advantages of hydrogen fuel cell-powered light commercial vehicles with a range of over 500 km compared to battery-electric vans and internal combustion engines. Following in the footsteps of fleet management provider Rivus, which is responsible for managing over 120,000 light commercial vehicles and trucks annually, utility company SSE, which currently maintains one of the largest vehicle fleets in the UK, is now entering the test series. If the results continue to confirm the positive trend, First Hydrogen faces a golden future in the billion-dollar market for climate-neutral vehicles.
In times of crisis like now, the urgency in the supply of strategic metals becomes very apparent. Currently, China is the majority owner of these elements, with 70%. With further escalations in Ukraine and global instabilities, access to key resources is essential, as long-established supply routes can be suspended overnight. Rare metals are crucial for various modern technologies, from smartphones to wind turbines and defense equipment. China could impose an export ban on key raw materials to achieve its strategic goals in Taiwan and exclude the West from supply. This is political leverage that can only be softened by consistently building alternatives. Almonty Industries has 4 major tungsten properties in Spain, Portugal and South Korea. Soon the largest mine will go into production.
Cancer specialist Defence Therapeutics has applied for international patent protection for its versatile Accum™ adjuvant technology. This means that the numerous projects the Company is driving forward in parallel thanks to its platform approach will soon receive a "price tag". Specifically, this involves vaccines against various types of cancer, ranging from skin to pancreatic cancer, some of which will soon be transferred to a Phase I study. The same applies to the promising chemotherapeutic AccuTOX™. We discuss the outlook for the CRISPR "gene scissors," which mRNA study will soon deliver results and the state of takeover activity in the industry.