After peaking at 22 cents in early February, Applied DNA (APDN) hasn’t been quite as impressive as the run from 9 cents to that 22 cent high (a 144% differential). However, we can say this much…we’re seeing the stock hold its ground. The 17 cent mark seems to be the line in the sand; that’s where the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement line is, as well as most of the recent lows. We’ve not closed under 17 cents since reaching 22 cents. As long as that level holds up as support, I’ll be satisfied.

As far as a ceiling goes, I’m buying into any break past 22 cents. I’m still a short-term seller (ok, profit-taker) at last year’s high of 27 cents.

The one thing I added to this chart is the 3×4 DMA (displaced moving average). It’s at 18.6 cents right now, and seems to be drawing APDN higher. This DMA has has had pretty good luck with halting any pullbacks, while prodding some decent rallies. That alone won’t be enough to get shares past 22 cents from here, but it could start the process.

We’ll look at this chart again when there’s more to look at.

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Here’s the recent chart of Spicy Pickle (SPKL)…pretty straight-forward as far as I’m concerned. The support line broke today, allowing SPKL to trade as low as 91.5 cents.

As you can see, that’s also under the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is a matter of perspective. If you like values and can be patient, I see this as a good thing. If you were hanging on to your SPKL shares and hoping every single day is a winner, then you’re probably not thrilled right now.

Given the choice, we’d all rather see this stock blast past prior highs and never look back. Life doesn’t work that way though. In this case, the bears won the battle (though not the war). It happens. Now that it has though, I feel we have to take a more critical approach with any re-entry. That means we will probably want to wait until it’s clear the stock is in recovery mode (or makes a crazy low) before jumping on board. That could be tomorrow, next week, or next month. However, it also means a better price when we do get in again.

The alternative is chasing a stock while it’s on the way up. I’ve done that too, but I’ve found it’s much less stressful to buy at lows than it is to buy at highs…though it requires more patience.

SPKL remains on our radar, but is not an immediate ‘buy’ at this time.

Side note: In some ways I’m almost glad this happened now. It’s good to flush out any dead weight/potential sellers every so often; it clears the decks for the next bullish leg. That’s a fairly warm-n-fuzzy viewpoint, but true all the same.

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OK Titan Global (TTGL) fans - or maybe I should say former Titan Global fans - the impending move from its bulletin board status to the pink sheets finally became a reality for Titan Global today…or yesterday actually. It was the least touted exchange switch I can recall, though I don’t think a single soul was surprised.

Equally unsung was the ticker switch…it’s now back to ‘TTGL’ rather than ‘TTGLE’. The ‘E’ was added while it was a bulletin board stock to let the public know their quarterly SEC paperwork was late. I guess in some sense there’s the benefit of reverting to a pink sheet status….the dreaded ‘E’ is removed. It’s about the only upside though.

Not that they’re required to do either, but a little notification would have been nice. I spent the better part of yesterday thinking they’re was something wrong with my data feed. The feed was fine - the ticker and exchange changed with no announcement whatsoever.

Somehow I keep replaying in my head a scene from one of the ‘Austin Powers’ movies. Dr. Evil, frustrated that his staff doesn’t keep him informed of pertinent information, goes into a soliloquy about the matter….”Throw me a frickin’ bone here! I’m the boss! Need the info!”

I guess technically I’m not the boss, nor did I ‘need the info’. It would have been nice though. Add it to the long list of things the company didn’t communicate to the investment community.

Anyway, as a pink sheet stock they’re no longer required to file anything with the SEC. So, there’s the test. If they choose not to file quarterly reports, the company is dead to me. Even if they choose to file reports (and strive to rewin a bulletin board listing), there’s still a lot of bridges to rebuild. I don’t want to say it can’t be done, but they used up all their trust from my end.

We’ll see, but I’m not wasting any space on my near-term watchlist. Maybe I’ll set up my calendar to remind me to check back in a year.

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How would you like to parlay a $110K jackpot into a $2.75 million windfall? Don’t ask me - ask the people at SpongeTech Delivery Systems (SPNG). They saw one of their smaller customers burn through their initial car-wash sponge order in about a month. The same company opted to re-order 25 times the initial number the second time around. As a result, I estimate you can ramp up SpongeTech’s 12 to 18 month sales backlog to somewhere in the neighborhood of $19 million.

The stunning comparison - as it has been for a while - is the ridiculously low (current) market cap of $3.3 million. The icing on the cake is just how close this company is to turning a profit.

As exciting as the dollar amounts involved here are, I think the popularity of the sponges is the real message. U.S. Asia Distribution took delivery of 10,000 pieces in December, and within 25 days had sold 93% of them. The next order was for 250,000 sponges.

So here’s the not-entirely-rhetorical question…why do you think a distributor would want to re-order 250 times as many units as they did in the first order? The second key question…how do you basically sell out of something in a month?

My answer? Because the product is right on target.

I had a feeling these sponges would catch on, but honestly, I never dreamed we’d see this kind of growth this quickly. Here’s the real kicker - U.S. Asia Distribution so far has only been handling the car-wash sponges. I suspect they’ll generate similar growth when/if they bring the new ‘Puddle Pals’ (children’s bath sponge) into the mix. Their new pet sponge is being tested too.

Say whatever you want - the company is more than fulfilling their end of the bargain, which is producing sales and getting closer to profits. I can’t believe a company on track to do roughly $12 million in sales for the next year is valued at $3.3 million. I’ve said it a dozen times…I don’t think that kind of radically-undervalued situation can persist.

Efficient market? Actually - and despite my rant - yes I do think the market is efficient. I just think the market is slow in its efficiency when it comes to small caps. (Isn’t that why we like small caps in the first place?) The re-order story above is pretty much par for the course for SpongeTech. Eventually the majority of potential buyers will find SPNG, and realize an amazing transformation is taking shape. Your opportunity for gain lies in owning the stock between now and then.

Here’s the press release.

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