And the rollercoaster rolls on for the ASX.
The mighty Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, addressed our nation this week to celebrate his procurement of a massive two more days of fuel (200 million litres or 1.25 million barrels), flagging his earnest desire to secure our country’s future, one day at a time.
In a very rare occurrence, the ASX has officially decoupled from the S&P500, which now sits at its all-time highs.
Unfortunately, it is hard not to feel pessimistic right now, especially when many of those closest to the oil market are a long way from being a glass half full..
Just last Friday, the world was rejoicing as Iran’s foreign minister declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open”, sending Brent crude tumbling more than 10 per cent to about $US90 a barrel as relief swept through farmers and industry.
Within hours, Iran had reversed course and attacked an Indian tanker. The new week dawned and the US seized at least two Iranian tankers, with Iran taking control of two cargo ships in Hormuz, in a decidedly never-ending, tit-for-tat “ceasefire”.
To close the week, the benchmark Brent oil price is even higher, now up to US$105 a barrel, joined only by lithium as the two lone sectors showing any green on the ASX.
The US blockade on Iranian oil means even more oil is trapped in the Gulf, with US President Trump looking to max out Iran’s storage facilities.
Not even 2 months into the war, the world has lost nearly 87.5 billion litres, or 550 million barrels, of Gulf crude – almost 2 per cent of last year’s global output and around 300 times the amount of oil Albanese has “secured”.
But in the West, life goes on and pain remains limited. Sure, petrol is a bit more expensive, but most households can still afford to drive. Trucks keep rolling and food is still on the shelves.
But that reassuring picture is dangerously misleading. The last tankers to slip through Hormuz before the conflict have only just reached their destinations in Asia and the US, meaning the buffer is thinning and something far more significant is now likely to break than bend. The consequences for an unprepared nation can be dire.
Making matters worse at home, Cochlear shares collapsed this week after a major earnings downgrade flagged weaker implant demand and a reset in expectations. The company has now joined the piling heap of pummelled biotechs across the ASX as 2026’s latest victim.
Back to our Runners of the Week, a positive piece about all the good things happening in markets…. Fortunately for a few non-oil and gasies, several stocks were having a pop on the week, with top spot taken out by a newly minted Brazilian lithium player.
SOLIS MINERALS LTD (ASX: SLM)
Up 210% (3.1c – 9.6c)
This week's Bulls N' Bears Runner of the Week is lithium hopeful Solis Minerals, after it announced the acquisition of the Brazil lithium project from mining goliath Rio Tinto, situated in the prolific Minas Gerais region of Brazil. The project is a massive 93,000-hectare district-scale exploration package adjacent to PLS Group's $19 billion market cap Colina lithium project, placing Solis in a proven address for spodumene discoveries.
For a bit of context, PLS acquired the Colina tenure through its recent acquisition of Aussie junior Latin Resources for a cool $560 million in scrip - a more than handy endorsement for the mining region, even if I say so myself.
Proving that success often runs in the family, Solis is getting the old band back together from its last successful venture. Executives Chris Gale, Tony Greenaway and Mitch Thomas are joining the crew to potentially deliver another major exploration success, following their hard-earned win over at Latin Resources.
Minas Gerais is the mining capital of Brazil, and Solis’ new tenure sits directly along the valley from Colina's impressive 77.7 million tonne resource, with grades of a hefty 1.24 per cent lithium.
By acquiring the project for the bargain price of just US$500,000, with Rio Tinto retaining a 1.75 per cent net smelter return royalty, Solis appears to have snatched a low-cost entry into a world-class patch of ground.
Historical work by Rio Tinto included auger drilling, soil sampling and rock-chip sampling across multiple target areas, providing Solis with a substantial early-stage dataset to build on.
As a serious vote of confidence, the company has entered into a collaboration agreement with PLS, which already owns a 5.1 per cent interest in Solis. The deal provides PLS with a participation right in any future transaction involving the tenements on the same terms as any proposed counterparty.
The company is fully funded for an initial 2000-metre drilling push across its Mandacaru and Campo Grande priority targets.
The question now remains: can the new-look Solis replicate the Latin playbook and become the next Brazilian lithium play to be ripped off the boards in a tidy takeover?
ADISYN LTD (ASX: AI1)
Up 143% (6.8c – 16.5c)
Snagging silver on the week is semiconductor technology developer Adisyn, after the company locked in a massive raise following a successful demonstration of graphene-layer conductive technology on a 1cm by 1cm coupon. Adisyn's technology is looking to revolutionise the semiconductor world by solving limitations faced by traditional copper interconnects in advanced chips.
As copper interconnects get smaller and smaller in exchange for more and more powerful chips, issues that arise include increased resistance, heat generation and power loss.
The age-old Moore’s Law has long held that the number of transistors on a chip and, by extension, computing power or memory density, tends to double roughly every two years, often enabling more capacity in the same physical space or in a smaller space.
Unfortunately, despite pushing this theory to its limits, humans are getting to a point where copper could be the limiting factor.
Enter graphene. Adisyn’s approach uses a proprietary Atomic Layer Deposition, or “ALD”, methodology. This week's milestone involved independent verification of low-temperature ALD deposition of a carbon layer on copper at temperatures below 300°C.
Crucially, the deposition temperature was well below the 450°C semiconductor thermal limit, a capability vital for integration into existing manufacturing processes. This breakthrough led to the $20 billion fund manager Regal Funds Management joining the party, corner-stoning a $14 million institutional placement for Adisyn.
The money is now slated for the company’s next phase of its semiconductor strategy, commercial partnerships, and development, as it hones its potentially world-changing technology.
333D LTD (ASX: T3D)
Up 96% (2.8c – 5.5c)
Taking out bronze is 333D Limited, which, believe it or not, is a 3D printing company that runs a digital platform for medical imaging data.
The company’s shares more than doubled on Wednesday to 5.5 cents after its quarterly report highlighted some seriously positive operating cash flows and continued revenue momentum.
333D Limited operates a platform that captures, manages and monetises medical imaging data (DICOM) and 3D visual datasets, placing it squarely at the intersection of healthcare, AI-driven analytics and digital infrastructure.
It’s a business built on turning clinical imaging into structured, usable - and potentially commercial - data assets.
Notably, this is a name that’s seen plenty of fast-money volatility before. Back in August last year, the stock made a spectacular run, surging from around 0.7c to as high as 29c within a matter of weeks, underscoring just how momentum-driven this corner of the market can become when interest turns its way.
This week, 333D said it had generated cash receipts of $231,702 from customers during the quarter, with a positive net operating cash flow of $71,505, representing a substantial gain from last quarter’s net cash outflow of $99,180.
333D says it has used its non-fungible token intellectual property (NFT IP) for all things from chest x-rays to MRIs.
Radiology images are very similar to NFT’s – in that the images contain data that is unique to that image.
The company’s in-house design and engineering team also works closely with clients to produce high-performance 3D printing solutions.
A clear example of this came through a client request for a lightweight, custom-designed horseshoe for a racehorse. The finished product was manufactured using a high-strength scandium alloy, weighing 47 grams less than a conventional shoe. The horse went on to win its next race.
NOVIQTECH LTD (ASX: NVQ)
Up 72% (1.8c – 3.1c)
Rounding out our Runners is sustainability and supply chains service company, Noviqtech. Its subsidiary, Coralia, has entered into a strategic agreement with the Pure Data Centres Group subsidiary, A Healthier Earth (AHE), to assess carbon removal offtake and facility construction at its Great Barrier Reef biochar project in North Queensland.
Biochar is a charcoal-like material made by heating organic waste such as wood chips, crop residues or manure in a low-oxygen environment, a process called pyrolysis.
The project plans to convert 2 million tonnes of agricultural biomass waste and woody weeds into 550,000 high-integrity biochar credits over its lifetime.
The deal will assess the economic feasibility of AHE securing a long-term credit offtake for at least 70 per cent of the project's total biochar carbon removal credits.
NoviqTech said the partnership has entered the market during a “supercycle” of demand for high-integrity biochar carbon removals, driven by data centres and AI. Tech-based removals, such as biochar, trade at a material premium, with prices for high-quality credits currently ranging up to US$220 per tonne.
The ink had barely dried before Coralia released another partnership, this time with Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology, to advance biochar applications in low-carbon concrete for the data centre sector.
Phase 1 of the partnership will test whether biochar made from invasive Chinese apple trees can be successfully used in low-carbon concrete and landscaping applications, with Swinburne leading technical validation of performance and durability alongside the environmental impact.
At its core, the project is chasing a share of the cement market, an industry responsible for about 8 per cent of global emissions. At the same time, it is positioning for rising data centre construction demand, with Australia expected to need billions of dollars in new infrastructure before 2030.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
