Market Summary
| Dow |
12876.31 |
+130.43 |
(+1.02%) |
| Nasdaq |
2488.49 |
+42.97 |
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| Russell 2K |
733.23 |
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+15.30 |
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| S&P 100 |
644.89 |
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10/31/2007
We knew both were in the works for micro cap stock Challenger Powerboats (CPBI), but it became official on Tuesday - what used to be CPWB is now CPBI. And, a stock that used to be worth 3 cents is now worth 60 cents…all thanks to the 1-for-20 split.
Technically speaking, this should have no effect on the company’s valuation. A stock split is the equivalent to making change - no net difference.
In reality though, this does make it easier to pull the stock in an upward direction. A 60 cent stock is more palatable than a 3 cent stock. More importantly, institutions that have a hand in micro cap companies may be able to own a stock trading at 60 cents, where a 3 cent stock may be impractical or even impossible to own. So, from that perspective, the reverse split really is a good thing, even if the effect isn’t immediately evident.
That being said, I don’t look for this split to salvage the company. Challenger had a lot of promise a year ago. However, I think the company has fallen a little short of the promise. I do still think they could get there (sales greater than $10 million), but it’s been tough so far.
It looks like the old symbol has stopped working for most data vendors, so be sure to adjust your watchlist if you haven’t yet.
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10/30/2007
The timing on last weekend’s edition “Big Pharma, Small Biotech - Who Needs Who?” couldn’t have been any better. Why? Because it was only a kickoff to what I hope will become a fruitful discussion of biotechnology investing. The second act came on Monday when small cap company CEL-SCI (CVM) unveiled a brand new website, aimed entirely at explaining the usually-under-explained science of immunotherapy.
I’ve been scouring the site for a while, and already I’ve found some things I would have liked to known a long time ago. I’m NOT going to even try and teach you the ins and outs of immunotherapy - I’ll let the site do that. I will, however, highlight enough things to hopefully whet your appetite.
For instance, I never really had a grasp on why most immunotherapy efforts had failed. The reason is, they’re too targeted. There are a variety of cancer antigens to which a vaccine or antibody is targeted, and cancerous tumor calls can mutate as they grow. But, immunotherapy treatments thus far have only been aimed at specific antigens or tumor types. Target the wrong antigen, and the treatment is pointless. (I also think this is why immunotherapy has a bit of a bad rap within the investment community.)
The solution is simple enough - make the treatment less targeted. All well and good, but a multi-faceted immunotherapy may also be ineffective. See the two-edged sword?
CEL-SCI’s response to the problem was Multikine(r). Multikine is a combination of two types of treatments - one type to solve each of the previous problems with immunotherapies. It directly attacks cancer the way an ingested antibody would (like when you can’t shake a cold or the sniffles). And, it also induces and enhances the body’s own immune response, making it able to fight cancer on its own, like a vaccine does.
The company’s website obviously goes into a lot more detail, so I encourage you to take a look for yourself. I think it may clarify for investors exactly what CEL-SCI’s strategic advantage is. Even if you’re not an investor though, I think the medical science is fascinating enough to merit a look.
Side note: CEL-SCI’s site is the first and only site I’ve found to really detail the good, bad, and obscure within the world of cancer vaccines. It is centered around Multikine, but I believe their in-depth immunotherapy explanation will become an industry-wide resource. In turn, I also believe it will attract more investors to the stock. In that light, I see today’s announcement as another long-term plus for shareholders.
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Did anybody else catch the recent news from small cap company Titan Global Holdings (TTGL). No biggie - it was just a progress report on their soon-to-be-operational Card Services division. I just thought last Thursday’s Small Cap Network newsletter “Titan Global: Dollars in the Details” was a nice segue into today’s news.
Basically, Titan found a couple of partners to help turn the concept into reality. CardMarte will be providing the technology and know-how, while MetaBank will handle issuance of the cards.
One thing in the press release that I may have gotten wrong on Thursday…some of these cards can be re-loaded. I had it in my head these would all be like the pre-paid phone cards you see in many convenience stores, which are only good for one-time use. That, however, isn’t necessarily the case.
Anyway, the one part of the story that hasn’t changed is this - I really like this small cap stock right now.
I have to admit I’ve had a lot of fun watching TTGL roll over the last 10 months. It’s almost been a textbook-perfect example of consolidation periods, followed by rallies, followed by consolidations, etc. Along the way we’ve also seen some clear breakouts above major resistance lines. Now we can add a triangle or wedge to the list of things we’ve seen from TTGL.
Titan’s lows and highs are framed by two converging lines, and that convergence is only a few days off. I suspect this stock will break out of this tightening range pretty soon. And, my guess is that it will pop up past the upper edge - past the ceiling at $2.20. We saw a handful of trades as high as $2.35 a couple of weeks ago, but it didn’t stick. This time around - with the support being made by the rising portion of the triangle - I believe TTGL will be pushed past that resistance for good.

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10/22/2007
I have to admit I had mixed feelings about bringing your attention back to this small cap stock. But, being the Small Cap Network - and knowing our readers are pretty savvy traders - I figured you at least deserved to know that our former small cap stock pick Commerce Planet (CPNE) is starting to talk about a national exchange listing. And based on what we’ve seen so far, the market is fairly pleased about it.
If you were following the newsletter in the early part of last year, then odds are you made a ton of money on Commerce Planet. We started following the stock on March 22nd when shares were priced at 19 cents. The company was doing everything right at the time, so much so that by February 20th of this year the stock peaked at $3.48. It was the kind of trade that reminds you of why you’re interested in small caps in the first place.
Then shortly after that, things changed. The company finally started to face hurdles - as all companies do. But, the constant investor communication completely dried up. You couldn’t get a peep out of these guys about what was going on. The drought lasted for the better part of 2007, as the stock dwindled back to as low as 62 cents. The 50 day moving average line acted as resistance for most of that downtrend.
Well guys, today’s news may be just what the doctor ordered. CPNE shares are up big today, and above the 50 day average for the first time since March, on the news of a potential national listing.
Is this a breakout move? I don’t know. It sure looks like it could be, but maybe it’ll be a one-day wonder. The volume sure looks good, but given this stock’s history, I think I’d wait and see where this really goes…if it goes. Just wanted you to know in case you felt there’s something there.
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No real surprises here…we mentioned this micro cap biotech stock was probably moving for a reason, and today our guess was confirmed. MIV Therapeutics (MIVT) presented some impressive news at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference being held this week in Washington, D.C. The VESTASYNC heart stent - the one they’ve been working on forever - seems to be safe as well as effective, at least at the four-month mark.
In 13 of the 15 patients implanted with the hydroxyapatite-coated stent, the results and physical impact of the stent are well within acceptable tolerances. Most importantly, there’s no evidence of thrombosis whatsoever. That was the key goal behind the stent’s coating, as other coated stents have recently been implicated in major problems with post-stent-implant complications…most thrombosis.
Though I’m no biotechnician, this sounds very encouraging. I know four months isn’t a long time, but considering they bothered to present anything at all this soon tells me it’s worthy data. The efficacy to-date has been good enough to merit the planning of a wider-scale test of the same stent.
The stock was actually off a little today in the wake of the news. However, I also think the blast-off from a month ago was ultimately driven by this news - even before it was official.
At this point I believe the next milestone for MIVT is at 70 cents and 74 cents. We saw a handful of peaks there earlier in the year. If we can get past that zone with this recent push, maybe MIVT will be one of our Cinderella stories for 2007.
Click here for the news release
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Thanks for all the great feedback on Saturday’s commentary about small-cap biotech’s critical role in large-cap pharma’s success. We really enjoyed putting the unspoken reality together for you, though we also want to let you know we only scratched the surface of the topic.
We also want to share some of the key questions and comments we’ve gotten since then. Most are about CEL-SCI (CVM), but there are a couple of general biotech comments as well. Let’s just list each them one at a time, and respond accordingly.
1) agree with everything your saying , and truely realize the companies potential,but it has a long history of taking forever to do things. just look at the time its taking from when the fda allowed them to enter into phase 3 to the time its gonna take to build the manufactureing facility and actually start enrolling patients. cvm will be lucky to start enrolling patients by the summer of 08, but i doubt it. till then and for the last year owning cvm has been dead money, in one of the mkts greatest bull runs.
Response: Yes, we’d never say CVM has been on fire lately…a frustration in comparison to most other stocks. I think that’s just the nature of biotech though - they have to be hyper-careful, and painfully precise (and not just for the FDA). However, just so you know, Phase III is planned to start in the first half of 2008. The facility will be done in early 2008. I don’t doubt that timeframe at all. One thing to note though…the FDA is going to be looking at three-year efficacy data. So, if you’re looking for 2009 to be the payoff year, you might be early. I think the stock will start to rise before the final decision is made, but I’m looking for the last hurrah to coincide with an FDA announcement.
2) Another question about anyone trying to “buy-out” Cel-Sci: Who actually owns the patents on Multikine & Cel-1000? Not Cel-Sci directly. Can you write about thet?
Response: Great question. There are a few patents out there for something called Multikine. I think they’re all somewhat similar, but CEL-SCI has actually been assigned the one designated as a cancer treatment with a specific cytokine mixture. Here’s the patent office link. I know that CEL-SCI had filed a suit against another maker of a ‘Multikine’, though I don’t know where that stands now. Anyway, CEL-SCI controls the patent they need to control. The CEL-1000 question I can’t answer. I don’t think it’s CEL-SCI, but I’ll see what I can find out.
3) Another example of this is Generex biotechnology. They are entering phase 3 clinical trials for their oral spray insulin and have avoided big pharma collaboration. It appears likely (particularly in view of Pfizers recent withdrawal of Exubera from the market) that it will pay off large for the shareholders. Thought you might find this of interest.
Response: Thanks for the mention. I’ve heard of it, but that’s about it. Maybe there’s something there - especially after the Pfizer (PFE) news.
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10/18/2007
It’s about time this small cap company got past that nagging resistance at $2.20. I’ve been talking about it for a few weeks now to no avail. But this morning, small cap stock Titan Global (TTGL) topped September’s double peak of $2.20 by moving all the way up to $2.35. Folks, that’s a breakout move. It’s not a sure-fire sign of an impending rally, but it certainly seems to suggest one could pan out.
Better still is the volume behind the move - another key within the world of technical analysis. We’ve seen more than half of a million shares trade hands today, and we’re not even halfway through the session. It’s incredible because it’s going to end up being the highest volume day in years (and maybe even ever, if things continue at this pace).
The catalyst? That’s the weird part. The only real news that coincides with the surge is yesterday’s reiteration of the 2008 revenue forecast, and the publication of the 2008 operating earnings forecast. The numbers were good, but not a surprise. And truthfully, the top line expectation actually shrank a little bit from the number they gave us on September 5th.
The market doesn’t seem to care though - they want it, and want it bad. So, who am I to stand in the way? If that’s what it takes to push TTGL into a fair valuation and closer to our target, then so be it. I’m just glad everyone else is finally agreeing with what we’ve been saying about this small cap company since January. Just for the record, anybody who jumped in then is now up about 74%.
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Regular readers of the Small Cap Network site - and the Small Cap Network blog in particular - will know we’ve been watching micro cap biotech company MIV Therapeutics (MIVT) very closely of late. Why? Mostly because of our technical analysis of the chart. Shares started hinting at a breakout move a couple of weeks ago. Though the bears had a couple of opportunities to put out the fire, the buyers have remained persistent. Based on the chart, as well as other factors, I have to start liking this micro cap stock pick again.
I mentioned more than a few times in recent blog posts that the key to it all was getting back above the key Fibonacci retracement lines following a pretty poor summer/fall. MIVT fell from 60 cents in July to almost 30 cents last month. Just to be on the safe side, I went all the way back to January’s and February’s peak of 74 cents to draw my Fib lines. You know what? MIVT has still topped the 38.2% and 61.8% retracement lines, at 48 cents and 58 cents respectively. Currently at 68 cents, this micro cap stock is actually back above the level it was trading at when we picked it in April.
The distinguishing factor this time around? Volume…there’s lots of it (a lot more than with prior rallies).
The next milestone is 74 cents…only 6 cents away. Why is that significant? That’s where we topped out early in the year. (I could have used December’s peak of $1.07 as the next hurdle, but that surge was emotion/volatility-based, and doesn’t mean as much to me. I want to use a stock’s organic highs and lows as my guideposts.) A move past 74 cents, I believe, could really light the fires…perhaps even more so than the breaks past 48 and 58 cents did.
Needless to say, the past two weeks have been huge for this micro cap biotech company, and very rewarding for those investors who stayed in (or got back in when we first started talking about it again a few days ago). I think it may be just the beginning though. Keep your eye on the 74 cent mark.
Side Note: There’s a lesson to be learned here, and that is, be ready. When MIVT broke the ceilings of its Fibonacci lines, it blasted well past them in a matter of minutes. Sometimes waiting makes sense, but sometimes you gotta’ take a chance before the rest of the crowd does. I doubt many people were able to capture the majority of the move past the key Fibonacci retracement levels once the rally started.
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I think Titan Global (TTGL) has been one of the best small cap stories of the year, and certainly one of our best small cap stocks picks from earlier in the year. Yet, I still believe the best has yet to come. Translation: I feel this stock could still have some more room to climb before it’s all said and done.
Anyway, if you’d like to find out for yourself just what’s going on, you’ll have your chance on Thursday. Titan’s hosting a conference call for investors, presumably to speak about yesterday’s forecast, but also to catch everybody up on all the recent news. If the call is anything like the previous ones, you’ll also get a few hints about what’s coming for the company.
WHO: Titan Global Holdings
WHAT: Investor Conference Call
WHEN: Today, October 18, 2007, at 12 noon ET
HOW: Callers within the United States may dial (800) 700-7353. When prompted, tell the operator that you would like to connect to the Titan Global Holdings conference call. International callers can dial (612) 332-0342.
COST: The conference call is free of charge.
WEBCAST: An online audio simulcast of the call will also be accessible at http://www.trilogy-capital.com/tcp/titan/
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I rarely voice my opinion about a company handling bad news very gently. That’s just one of the realities of dealing with a hyper-sensitive market. You can always tell when things are really bad, though, when a company starts to make up words and phrases to justify poor results.
So, when Bank of America (BAC) explained a 32% drop in Q3 earnings as a result of ’significant dislocations’, I had to say something. Here’s the exact quote from Chief Executive Kenneth D. Lewis…
“While the significant dislocations in the capital markets have hurt most participants, we are still very disappointed in our third-quarter performance. However, the majority of our businesses experienced solid revenue growth as sales momentum continued, demonstrating the value of our diverse business mix.”
Huh? That’s 44 words, and I still have no idea what he’s trying to say. If ’sales momentum continued’ and the ‘majority of your businesses experienced solid revenue growth’, then what’s with 32% dip?
Yeah, I know I’m more of a tell-it-like-it-is guy, good or bad. On the other hand, I certainly understand the ’silver lining’ philosophy, of only for PR purposes. However, that’s not my point here. I’m just saying ’significant dislocations’ is a fairly obvious veil for saying ‘we had a crappy quarter because…’ Internal problems can be fixed. I have no idea if significant dislocations can be fixed.
Bottom line - be wary when a company starts to get so creative with words that they actually start to make terms up.
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10/17/2007
Back on September 5th we took a good look at small cap company Titan Global’s (TTGL) revenue guidance for fiscal 2008. With the acquisition of AppCo and USA Detergents, the company forecasted a top line of $747 million. Today, Titan updated those numbers in addition to publicizing their earnings projection. Let’s just say we’re having an increasingly-difficult time calling this a small cap company, even if the capitalization currently says it is.
The projected revenue range is now $735 to $747 million. Earnings, not counting warrants and convertible debt, is expected to be somewhere between $15 million and $17.5 million. That translates into $0.24 to $0.28 in earnings per (diluted) share.
Those are record-breaking on all three fronts, validating our discussions and encouragement from nine months ago.
If you want the division-by-division breakdown, click here for the full press release. I’m more interested in the stock and how it might respond.
Specifically, I’m hoping this will rock the boat enough to get TTGL past that nagging ceiling around $2.20. We didn’t finish today pointed in the right direction, but shares remain within visual range of that resistance line.
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I thought I was a genius when I suggested going ahead and locking in any profits at $1.40 on our micro cap stock pick Spicy Pickle (SPKL). After all, most of our readers were sitting on a 60% to 70% gain in only a matter of days. My plan was to let it cool off, retreat, and then re-enter a trade after a good dip, with all new price parameters. That’s just what micro cap stocks do, right?
Somebody forget to tell Spicy Pickle shares that was my plan. The extent of any ‘pullback’ was Thursday’s low of $1.27. Since then, it’s been nothing but buying. Shares are at $1.95 right now, and got as high as $2.02 today. That’s about 140% better than the entry of 83 cents most of our readers got on the 24th.
If you were smart enough to ignore my target and stick with it instead, I really think you need to go ahead and lock down this gain. Yeah I jumped the gun back at $1.40, but this has gotten crazy. I can’t imagine how SPKL could move any higher without a good pullback first.
And yes, I still plan on buying on a dip. Somebody asked when we were going to issue the next alert. I was waiting on the dip discussed above, but it never really materialized…at least not in a meaningful way. I’m still watching though, and I’ll send out the alert in an e-mail. What I’m looking for is a full Fibonacci retracement. The 38.2% line is at $1.43, or even better is the 61.8% retracement at $1.07
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10/16/2007
I just knew there had to be more to the story behind micro cap company MIV Therapeutics’ (MIVT) recent rally. The deal with Smith & Nephew is likely to be important, but not the kind of thing that pushes a stock (in dire straits, no less) up from 37 cents to 57 cents. Earlier today they announced they’d be presenting information about their coated heart stent trials at the upcoming Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference. (I’ll bet that’s a wild weekend, huh?) The conference is a great opportunity for a micro cap company to gain visibility in the field.
Just to get everyone up to speed, MIV has been working on a heart stent that is coated with hydroxyapatite, or HAP. Heart stents have been the topic of a much heated debate lately. The older bare-metal ones are now known to eventually fall apart near a patient’s heart, as well as negatively interact with artery walls. To solve the problem, manufacturers started coating heart stents. The problem is, the coating caused other problems that were just as bad. HAP is expected to be completely non-reactive, as well as durable.
But first, the company had to run a series or real-life trials…in humans. We discussed the first implantation back in June.
As it turns out, they’ve apparently implanted 14 more HAP-coated stents since then. The study they’ll be reviewing at the conference is a 15-patient study.
I caution anyone against reading too much into anything here. Just because MIVT is talking about their research doesn’t mean it’s ready. All the same, it’s an encouraging step. I believe this news leaked out a few days ago, and is the primary cause for the recent strength. Maybe it’s all deserved, but I don’t think it’s a game-changer.
As for the stock, things were great until today, then they just dwindled after reaching a high of 63 cents. Buy the rumor, sell the news? Looks like it to me. Let’s leave it alone for now and see how things take shape over the next few days. The Fibonacci lines are my primary guideposts here. I want to see a good pullback and recovery before getting excited again….there’s a little too much froth for my comfort.
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10/15/2007
If you’re wondering what got into small cap stock Clearly Canadian (CCBEF) on Monday when it gained 12.2%, we can tell you - CEO Brent Lokash sent a letter to their shareholders updating them on the company’s 2007 progress. All well and good, but maybe too little/too late at this point. Monday’s 17 cent rebound doesn’t even come close to recouping the $1.29 (-47.1%) lost over the last two months.
Ultimately I attribute the selloff to one of two (possibly-related) things. The first one is just a lack of results. The company has been on an expansion rampage, and should at least be reporting strong top lines. Have they been? That’s the second problem…how would anybody know? They’ve not communicated much of anything substantial - good or bad - in weeks, except for a $9.3 million private placement on September 26th. Their quarterly numbers were posted in late August without even a press release. The numbers were up, but only due to acquisitions. Take those out, and you actually have a pretty good-sized dip in sales of beverages.
I used to like this company…I really did. But, this is the second time I’ve seen them drop the ball in the communications department. Some small and micro cap companies can afford to do that, but CCBEF isn’t one of them.
They’ve put a lot of other people’s money on the line with some aggressive acquisitions. Granted, they were all high-quality acquisitions, but I don’t sense any real growth yet. Quite the opposite actually. I think the market is getting a little impatient, and I can’t say I blame them.
It’s a few weeks until their earnings announcement. Maybe that will redeem them. At this point though, I don’t think any small cap stock speculator has, or wants to have, a trading position here. The company has talked theory and philosophy and strategy, but nothing in the way of numbers. I kind of hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid I’m not.
Our micro cap stock pick Applied DNA Sciences (APDN) did indeed get off to a good start, opening at 15 cents today, leaving behind a gap from Friday’s high of 12 cents. The gap ended up acting as a vacuum, pulling shares to as low as 14 cents. But, that would be the extent of any pullback. Since then, APDN has marched up to the current level of 16 cents after reaching as high as 17 cents.
Fortunately, anybody who wanted in at a pretty good price was able to get in. I know some of you got the opening price of 15 cents, and others of you even got in at my recommended limit of 14 cents.
If for some reason you still didn’t jump in (but wanted to), I don’t know that I’d wait at this point. The bears had a chance to pull this one down, and couldn’t do it. The result of the bearish attempt was a recovery that probably just incited more buying. Volume is huge today as well, which also draws attention. Yet, the buy-in has been methodical and well-paced.
Point being, I don’t necessarily see APDN getting reeled in now. If it had opened at 22 cents, yeah, I can see it happening. But now, all I see is a ‘bottom up’ foundation being laid (where the stock moves from low to high levels). I think the risk of missing out on more upside follow-through is now greater than the risk of a pullback. If you’re interested, I believe you should just go ahead and do it here.
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We finally got the much-anticipated resolution of the dispute between our small cap company pick Titan Global (TTGL) and mega-telecom provider AT&T (T). The $60 million in universal service fees (USFs) being disputed wound up being settled with a modest $7.2 million.
Though the number is dissappointing, I think getting this behind them is worth any dollar amount. The whole thing was supposed to be finalized by July, and I’m sure dragging it on was not only costly, but a distraction.
The dollar amount? I know it’s nowhere near $60 million. On the other hand, I don’t know that Titan ever actually expected the whole $60 million. I believe they high-balled the amount, expecting to get a good fraction of a larger number than a fraction of a smaller number. As they say though, possession is 9/10 of the law. Once AT&T possessed the dollars, it was going to be tough to get any out of their hands. Getting $7 million at all is impressive.
Besides, this thing could have costed millions more to keep pursuing. Though it stinks, a large cap company like AT&T can afford to keep an army of lawyers working on the arbitration (it wasn’t handled in court, but through an arbitrator). As a small cap company, it probably just didn’t make financial sense for Titan Global to keep fighting.
In any case, the market seems to be ok with the news. Shares were up Friday, and we’re seeing some follow-through today. Remember, we pegged $2.20 as the potential breakout point. TTGL is at $2.15 as of right now.
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OK fans, we’re just a few minutes away from seeing Applied DNA Inc. (APDN) begin trading following the launch of our profile. Will this small/micro cap stock end up being a hot potato right out of the gate, or will the buying spree at least be civil? As with any micro cap stock, I suggest staying cool until it becomes clear how this stock pick will behave immediately after we suggest it. Here are a few things I would do…
1) As with Enigma (ENGM) and Spicy Pickle (SPKL), you probably want to use a limit…at least early on. I think 14 cents would give you plenty of opportunity to get in at what’s still a decent price.
2) If APDN opens above - and stays above - 14 cents by the latter portion of the session, maybe then you start migrating in at market prices. Or better still, just wait. If shares are just ridiculously high, I’m guessing they’ll get reeled in temporarily later in the week. If they still don’t then, then odds are that APDN is above 14 to stay, and it’s likely safe to step in even at what seems like an elevated level.
I’ll update the blog if anything interesting develops as the day moves on.
Are you a subscriber to the Small Cap Network newsletter? If not, you’re missing out on some great trading ideas and exclusive market commentary. To sign up, just go to the top right corner of any page of our website. You’ll be joining thousands of other subscribers who have already benefited from our news and views.
10/12/2007
We got this e-mail yesterday. Normally we’d just respond via e-mail, but I think this reader’s question is actually something all of our readers would benefit hearing our answer to. The name and e-mail address have been removed, of course.
I am new to this “investing idea”. I have about $200 to start with and would like to see a small cap with good potential to jump within a 30 day mark. What is a good Small cap to invest in that you see as being a “Gold MIne” for my $200? I know it is not much to invest, but i need to start somewhere and learn the ropes as i go. Thank You
Thanks for the question. Where to begin…..
To be honest, I really can’t encourage you to start with small caps, and especially speculative small caps. You could turn that $200 into $400 overnight, but you could just as easily turn it into $0. Yeah, you do have to start somewhere, but I’d feel better about you safely turning $200 into $250 over a period of a few weeks. It’s not sexy, but neither is whittling away all your money by trading volatile and risky stocks.
Generally speaking, small speculative stocks should only make up a small portion of your portfolio. This is the piece most advisors would call ‘aggressive’. That allocation is usually between 10% and 30% of a portfolio.
The other dimension….most small cap traders still own a small collection of stocks rather than just one. That may help spread your risk out across the $200, but then per-trade commissions start to chew into any gains (which are small on a dollar basis).
Looking for a single ‘gold mine’ stock is basically the same as taking that $200 to Las Vegas, which ironically might be an easier way to double your money…or lose it all.
I’d suggest an attractive mutual fund and/or a DRIP program to start. Once you have that built up, then it may be feasible venture into the small cap world.
Are you a subscriber to the Small Cap Network newsletter? If not, you’re missing out on some great trading ideas and exclusive market commentary. To sign up, just go to the top right corner of any page of our website. You’ll be joining thousands of other subscribers who have already benefited from our news and views.
10/11/2007
Just in case you don’t browse the website on a regular basis, we posted a new Trader’s Corner article earlier this week. It comes complete with two new technology stock ideas, and updates on our older trading ideas. To see it, just click here.
Remember, the articles on the homepage are exclusive - you won’t find them anywhere else…not even in the e-mail version of our own newsletters. Be sure to check the site every now and then to find what’s new there.
We actually got this question about our micro-cap stock pick Titan Global (TTGL) via e-mail. However, I’ve been meaning to do a blog entry on this very thing anyway. So, two birds, one stone.
I was able to get into SPKL@.80 thanks! But what is happening with TTGL are you unloading your shares? Are you going to to the same w/SPKL? Thanks
We don’t have any TTGL shares. We have warrants at $1.00, but haven’t converted any yet. Even if we did, they’d be restricted shares. So, the TTGL dip isn’t anything we’ve done.
As for SPKL, we sold some…I think on the first trading day after we covered it, which was September 24th. We sold about half of what we owned. I doubt we’ll sell anymore for a while. We also own very little compared to the daily volume now, so I don’t see us having an impact there either.
You can always monitor our activity from this disclosure page.
Now, back to Titan Global’s chart….
I’ve been patiently waiting for the break past $2.20. We saw a couple of attempts a few weeks ago, but it just wasn’t getting any traction. Then when I saw the stock fall all the way to $1.70 yesterday, I just figured it wasn’t going to happen. Then when I looked at the same chart a few hours later, I started to think maybe that’s exactly what the doctor ordered.
Why? It was a full 38.2% retracement. That may have been enough of a dip to wash anybody out, and let all the second-chancers in. With that mini-capitulation out of the way, I feel TTGL now has a better shot at getting somewhere. Just a thought.
Are you a subscriber to the Small Cap Network newsletter? If not, you’re missing out on some great trading ideas and exclusive market commentary. To sign up, just go to the top right corner of any page of our website. You’ll be joining thousands of other subscribers who have already benefited from our news and views.
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Latest Company Profile Blogs
Fri, May 9, 2008 @ 07:09 am
A few days ago I discussed a concern I had with small cap stock Bio-Matrix Scientific Group’s (BMSN) breakout above 63 cents. That concern? That the stock wouldn’t be able to hold onto those gains. Well, I feel a little better now (and more so every day). We’re now into our fourth day of trading [...]
Fri, May 9, 2008 @ 06:20 am
I don’t know if it was being featured on ‘The Price is Right’ that prompted yesterday’s big surge from our bulletin board stock pick SpongeTech Delivery Systems (SPNG), but it may have helped. Or, maybe it was CEO Michael Metter’s letter to shareholders. Frankly, it doesn’t entirely matter what the reason is, because I think SpongeTech’s [...]
Thu, May 8, 2008 @ 06:55 am
It seems like only yesterday we were examining bulletin board company Stockgroup Information System’s (SWEB) earnings, yet now it’s time for the next update. On May 14th, at 3:00 p.m. EST, StockGroup will be announcing their Q1 results. At 4:05 p.m. EST the same day they’ll be hosting a conference call to discuss those numbers.
What we’re thinking [...]
Recent Newsletter Editions
Sat, May 10, 2008 @ 02:31 pm
As promised, today we're going to take a look at Bio-Matrix's numbers, which will ultimately determine our valuations (and price target) for the stock. We did the same back in March when we first started looking at the company, though our projections were based on average industry-wide pricing. This...
Thu, May 8, 2008 @ 01:07 pm
With the market finally starting to shake its flu from the early part of this year, several interesting small cap names are starting to emerge as leaders. I mentioned one of them last week - the company working to overcome the Internet's bottleneck. Their technology makes data transmission via the Internet...
Mon, May 5, 2008 @ 01:18 pm
Applied DNA (OTCBB: APDN) has completed their anti-counterfeit technology circle. No, that's not code for anything - they really have rounded out their product line to cover all the bases. To fully explain why today's news is important, I have to take a small step back and explain what they do. I promise...
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