Lots of small and micro cap stocks saw strong buying yesterday, but none as much - on a relative basis - as Hard to Treat Diseases, Inc. (HTDS:PK), IDO Security, Inc. (IDOI.OB), and Expo Holdings, Inc. (EXPH.PK). With significant percentage gains made on volume well above their norm, these three low-priced stocks deserve a closer look. Perhaps the buying was an omen of things to come.
Hard to Treat Diseases, Inc. (
HTDS) jumped from $0.0025 to close at $0.0053 on Tuesday, though it's worth noting that shares have fallen back to $0.0038 today. Thus, the net gain has been whittled down to 56 percent. Still, it's a big gain.
The move came in front of an announcement that the company would be releasing in North America a television broadcast that originally aired in Europe. The clip discusses Hard to Treat Diseases' treatment solution -
Ribavarin - for Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
If that alone was the sole reason for the stock's big move, then the gain may prove tough to retain. In fact, much of it is already being given back.
To the company's credit, Hard to Treat Diseases is expanding its markets for its MEVAC platform. However, the fiscal side of the company's business is still an enigma. We don't expect investors to stay interested in HTDS for very long. And, they likely never will unless the company starts to file quarterly numbers.
IDO Security, Inc. (
IDOI) is up 44 percent for the week so far; volume has been a little better than average.
Though the recent gain hasn't been tremendous, the complexion of the chart now is very different than what we've seen over the prior five months. We may well be watching a paradigm shift of sorts, meaning IDOI is gearing up for a major move.
There's been no news since July 21st, so this recent strength has been completely organic... which is what we want to see.
Bigger picture, personal security and safety devices are - for some reason - back en vogue again.
IDO Security has posted some solid sales results with its MagShoe of late. If it were just IDO though, we may have just chalked it up as a short-term fad. However, we heard of similar results from Universal Detection (UNDT) and its bio-detection products yesterday. If the clamoring for safety and security hardware is more than a short-term spike in worry, then the IDOI uptrend could grow legs.
Expo Holdings, Inc. (
EXPH) is up 686 percent since July 6th, and up 29 percent for the week.
The reason for the move is fairly clear - the company (a cabinetry and fixture manufacturer) announced the launch of a new branding product as part of a collaboration with Moving Ideas Inc. However, the rally's initial nudge actually came last week when Expo Holdings announced a 125% improvement in Q1 earnings.
Any longevity to the trend? Yes and no. The stock is well overbought right now, so from a technical perspective it's tough to step into Expo Holdings at these prices. On the other hand, the company is actually achieving more success than they ever have. Expo was not a reporting pick sheet company, but has started to voluntarily file regular quarterly reports. This may be an idea worth watching, and buying, after the euphoria wears off.
