Interesting that the only TV interview Jim Chalmers has given...

Interesting that the only TV interview Jim Chalmers has given before tomorrow's budget was with Bloomberg TV. Then, Bloomberg lead off today's daily Australian Briefing with the following:

"The nation’s critical minerals industry will get a bigger boost in the budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said. “The critical minerals space is one of the reasons why there is so much attention from global and domestic investors, but we need to make sure we can attract and deploy that,” Chalmers said in an interview with Bloomberg in Canberra yesterday. The budget, which the treasurer will release tomorrow night, will probably record a second consecutive surplus."

I reckon there is going to be an upside surprise in the budget that will benefit the sector and will translate to upward pricing impacts on current (and emerging) battery materials producers in Australia. We've seen a solid accumulation of PLS stock (as well as LTR and others) over the past fortnight by the smart money.  This morning's action doesn't smell right - an hour in and we are down 2% on a token volume of 3m shares.  That (to me) looks like an old-fashioned head fake.  Time will tell, but I reckon share prices of Oz lithium and other battery material producers will be markedly different come Wednesday morning.... IMO.

GLTA