New Recommendation : Powerband SolutionsNew Recommendation: PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: PBX.V)(OTC: PWWBF) ***Please note: This company issued a trading halt this morning (11/16/2018), pending the release of some substantive news. Since this was done at the company's behest, the news will almost certainly be positive - meaning it's all the more important that you get the story on this stock now, so that you are ready the moment the halt is lifted. Bear in mind that this may not happen until early next week. As soon as the halt is lifted, I will immediately issue a special alert. I will repeat this warning at the end of the update. You became a member of PSM for one reason: to get the inside track on today's best, most prospective publicly traded early-stage/venture-level companies. Companies that trade at pennies on the dollar to what their true value is; companies that are still months, even years away from hitting their stride within their chosen sectors. Today's recommendation fits that description perfectly and adds another crucial element: scaling potential. Companies doing business online, over the internet and mobile apps, have taken commerce to the next level. The best example of this so far as been Amazon.com, which has revolutionized retail sales by completely eliminating the need for physical travel, physical point of sale, and physical interaction. The one segment Amazon has not been able to crack, however, is the automotive market. Today's recommendation was chosen specifically because it checked all of the above boxes: it's young and therefore drastically undervalued; it operates online and is therefore readily and infinitely scalable; and as its product gets ready to roll out, it now stands as the best candidate to do what Amazon has so far not been able to do. Background If you've ever purchased, or even thought about purchasing, a car, you've seen the multitude of choices that are available. There are so many, in fact, that it's overwhelming. Here are a few figures to illustrate that premise: 70% (40 million) of vehicles sold annually in the U.S. are used vehicles (Canada an additional 10%). 46% (18.4 million) of used vehicles sold are consumer to consumer. 26% (10.4 million) of used vehicles sold are through auctions, both online and physical. 3 out of 4 new vehicle sales in the U.S. involve a used vehicle. And any consumer who's tried to dive into any of the major online auction portals has had to face major hurdles. That includes the high costs of buying and selling (up to $1,200) and substantial time (up to two weeks). That combined with limited networks and monopolization from the dominant auction portals has left would-be buyers with little choice but to eat the overhead, stomach the potentially disruptive time delays, and accept the lack of selection. At a point in history when consumers aren't used to having their options limited, the time for a more streamlined, intuitive, and efficient solution has come. And today, it's here from a company that's still technically in its startup phase. The Opportunity PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: PBX.V)(OTC: PWWBF) is a technology company that provides web-based auction and financing solutions for the automotive and other industries. Powerband The company develops and commercializes PowerBand Exchange, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) auction and finance portal platform, for its automotive dealership, original equipment manufacturer (OEM), commercial fleet, and rental company customers. It also provides a suite of cloud-based auction and finance portal software tools. This includes: LiveNet Auction, a portal that allows dealers to create an instant online auction that launches a used vehicle to a network of used vehicle buyers. Marketplace Auction, which allows dealers, dealer groups, rental, and leasing companies to load a used vehicle onto the site with a description of the vehicle, photos, condition reports, and a preset reserve bid. The company also offers an appraisal system an electronic used vehicle appraisal system and market intelligence that offers automotive dealerships with retail market price valuations and decking tool and finance portal solutions. PowerBand Solutions is a true penny stock play. Its shares are trading at $0.14 (CAD) on the TSX-V and $0.09 (USD) on the OTC. And that gives it a market capitalization of $4.9 million (CAD) and $3.47 million (USD). It's the sort of opportunity that I live for because it defines venture-level investing. Vital Stats Ticker Symbols: (TSX-V: PBX.V)(OTC: PWWBF) Share Price: $0.14 (CAD)/$0.09 (USD) Market Capitalization: $4.9 Million (CAD)/$3.47 Million (USD) 52-Week Range: $0.09$0.31 (CAD) 12-Month Target: $0.25 (CAD)/$0.16 (USD) PowerBand Advantages Significantly lowers auction fees: $50 sell fee and $150 buy fee. Dramatic reduction in time to sell and buy vehicles: 20 minutes vs. two weeks. Transparent, simplistic buy-sell online auction and inventory management processes, which remove the middlemen. Positioned to be a leader in the evolving online direct-to-consumer business model for the automotive industry in which the consumer controls the trade-in, sell, and purchase process. Additional industry verticals recreational vehicles, power sports, and heavy equipment and geographic reach U.S., Australia, Asia, and Europe. Next-generation private sale event marketing platform. Disrupting outdated traditional practices. Features Inventory Management Powerband Integration with existing dealer management and inventory systems. Preset age and value triggers. Simple launch-to-auction process. LiveNet Auction powerband Mobile platform that's used to conduct instant live vehicle auctions to PowerBand's vast network of online buyers. Easy to create comprehensive vehicle profiles. Quick process auctions last 20 minutes. Provides ability for high automotive inventory turnover. Extensive reach with a large certified network of buyers and sellers. Marketplace Auction Powerband Online listing vehicle exchange. Cost-effective alternative to traditional physical auctions. One-stop shop for dealers, OEMs, rental, leasing, and fleet companies. Efficient disposal of inventory, which compresses sale cycle times. Extensive network to leverage and expose inventory. Allows dealers to buy and sell used vehicles to maximize their inventory. PowerBand's DealDesk assists clients in both finding vehicles and selling excess inventory. Dynamic Electronic Appraisal System powerband Fully digital appraisal process that's compliant with the stringent regulations and vehicle disclosure rules of the Ontario Motor Vehicle Dealers Act (MVDA). Customizable to meet the compliance requirements of any province or state. Simple, easy-to-follow streamlined process. Provides consistency and transparency, which leads to greater confidence for retail customers. Can be used within the service department to provide an appraisal to upsell to its customers. Proper appraisals generate greater closing ratios. Helps dealership management to establish productivity metrics. Market Intelligence powerband Provides automotive dealerships and commercial fleet companies with retail market price valuations derived from over 250,000 vehicles in the database. Enables dealerships to customize comparisons within a geographic region for local market pricing on targeted vehicles with specific features. Analytical tools and reporting functions produce graphs, tables, maps, and reports to summarize information and enable dealers to make quick decisions based on the local market information. Finance Portal PowerBand has developed a state-of-the-art finance portal that features a built-in desking solution referred to as PowerDesk. A web-based lending platform that facilitates loan originations on any asset type from any integrated lender. Cloud-hosted service that is virtual, adaptable, and can be integrated with LiveNet and Marketplace, which offers banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions direct loan origination sources. PowerDesk allows a dealer to prepare payment scenarios quickly and accurately which includes all manufacturer-supported incentives, rebates, and programs, and the industry's easiest finance-to-lease comparison on one simple-to-read screen. Will accelerate PowerBand's phase-three consumer rollout. Growth Strategy: A Three-Pronged Approach 1. Dealers, Strategic Partners, and Private Sale Events: Developing Canadian network of franchised and independent dealers to buy and sell vehicles on PowerBand's auction platforms. Integrating PowerBand's remarketing platform directly with Strategic Partners' ecosystems and accessing its vast customer base. 3Q 2018 acquisition of LeadSource Canada will immediately generate accretive private event sale revenue and incremental LiveNet auction transaction revenue. Expansion planned into the U.S. in 4Q 2018 with key strategic partner. 2. Commercial: Introduce vast vehicle supply from commercial fleet market participants. Attract OEM, rental, corporate, and fleet companies to PowerBand with an expansive buyer's network and cost- and time-effective online vehicle disposal platform. Soft launch in 4Q 2018 with an aggressive push starting in 1Q 2019. 3. Consumer and Blockchain: Develop an ecosystem whereby consumers will be able to receive real-time vehicle valuations, sell or trade in their vehicles in a transparent auction process, and purchase and finance a new vehicle all online. Anticipated launch in 2H 2019. Development of an automotive industry blockchain platform for certifying vehicle history, financing, mileage, servicing, accidents, etc. 2019 initiative. Growing List of Strategic Partnerships powerband Bottom Line PowerBand represents nothing short of a quantum leap in the way automobiles are sold. With the cost of transfer down an order of magnitude and the time involved in finding a buyer and closing the deal down by as much as a factor of 1,000 (two weeks cut down to 20 minutes), this is indeed a paradigm-shifting improvement in executing one of the most important consumer good transferals (measured in total dollar amount) known today. But that's only the beginning of the story... If this list of functions had been put together by a company that counts its market capitalization in the hundreds of millions or the billions of dollars, as an investor, I'd be impressed. But in the case of PowerBand, it's been created, perfected, and deployed by a company with a market capitalization of less than $5 million (USD). And it's for that reason that you're seeing this recommendation here today. But I need to emphasize that this company is in the early stages of executing its business plan. There are still many steps to complete before the real power of the technology can finally be put to use. But this will happen within the next 18 to 24 months. And because this is a web- and mobile-based business, the scaling will be lightning fast. Analysis This company is highly undervalued for the capabilities that its platform will bring to users maybe by order of magnitude. That metric is hard to calculate given the early stage of deployment. But on a share-price basis, today's pricing represents a better than 50% bargain when compared to 52-week highs. Recommendation We are initiating a position with PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: PBX.V)(OTC: PWWBF) with an initial buy-under set at $0.20 (CAD) and $0.13 (USD).