ASX Today, page-24887

Today's volume is close to 25m shares, it's well above the ave. daily volume of 15m.

The sp is closed at $1.715 which is well over Friday's close of $1.635.A great result when the market closed 1.40% lower.

Today's action was an accumulation at its best. It was actually started on Friday. After Friday's session I thought there was probably a new insto buying in LTR as it didn't seem to me a short covering because the shorters are cold blooded, they can wait in bad days, instead they sell it down. But they couldn't do it on Friday, they just watched.

In today's trading I can see from the course of sales and buys that the buy orders are coming by a broker and for an institutional buyer.

Btw no news from shorters today!
What do they think?
According to Shortman's report their shorts was at 3.49% of all shares or 76.5m shares on short position and needs to be covered.

When will they be able to cover their shorts positions?
If a takeover rumour is real, what to do?
Are they going to cover it partially or wholly?

I think they are waiting to see when the buying pressure is going to end, then they will strike to push it down. Otherwise if they would prefer to stop the buying pressure and sell against it they'd lose too much shares. I assume they prefer to wait and see.

Anyway that's their problem.
We know where we are going.

We will see .

RE: The article about RIO's lithium ambition and takeover thoughts

I don't give much credit to the article on The Australian for now.

We already know that there will major M&A activities in the lithium sector. Because the major hard rock projects are all in Australia, so the M&A will start in Australia.

We also know for long time that RIO is interested in lithium. I made some comments about RIO on my most #:61300316 on May 9 2022;

"In relation to BHP's negative thoughts about lithium recently, I am now thinking that RIO might be after LTR. We know that BHP and RIO never bid on the same company head to head. BHP says they don't think lithium would have a 100 years of good run (they say 20-30 years. LOL), but we know RIO is very keen about lithium, they bid on couple of big projects, they unsuccessfully started to develop their own mine in Serbia (Jadar), but RIO has failed on all of them. RIO also has got the northern and western tenements around LTR's KV project... Anyway we will see what happens next".

We know the parties. The major one is RIO because BHP has already stated in many occasions that it's interested in nickel, copper, etc. They never said they were interested in lithium although it doesn't mean that BHP is not going to make a lithium project acquisition.

However RIO is the one who got tenements around LTR's KV project just recently (see below).

Yes, RIO can easily buy PLS or LTR, maybe both at the same time. They have a lot of cash. Money is not the issue. It's only the issue of RIO's board to make that decision. If they make it then bang, they buy it.., if they offer the right price though.

RIO have the capacity to write off billions dollars on projects, assets, debts and anything they don't like. RIO have already spent more than $500m on Jadar project in Serbia which is now a scrap. They don't care.

But they need to buy a big lithium project if their decision about having a considerable position in lithium sector is still solid.

And yes, there is only two asset RIO could buy in Australia which could comply with RIO's credentials, they are LTR's or PLS's projects.

So it's best to relax and wait and see what is coming up.


PS: RIO's tenements (taken recently) around LTR's KV project. (This is an old map I've made before. LTR took some more tenements at the location for water collection purposes). I can also add that RIO has put its ruler on LTR's assets and is doing something.