When it’s hard to keep track of the news cycle, you can bet the markets are going to be a bit more volatile. That’s been the case this Fall trading season so far, and October doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.
Hot markets make for hot Bullboard discussions at Stockhouse, and many sectors have seen new (and returning) companies generate a lot of discussion as a result. This week we’re highlighting three of the up-and-comers that are vying for the top spots in their sectors.
With many long-term and prospective investors gathering at Stockhouse, it’s always impressive when a fresh face beats out some of the common favorites. Whether it be from a rising share opportunity or corporate shake-up, these are companies that demand attention.
This week’s rising star on the energy Bullboards is undoubtedly
Valeura Energy Inc. (
TSX:VLE,
Forum), which came just shy of first place. The Canadian company with holdings in Turkey has had a wild few weeks, jumping up in mid September before recently falling back down. VLF shares opened the week at $2.38 on Oct. 1, climbed a bit, then receded to $2.29 on Oct. 8.
It’s been a tremulous time for Valeura, especially with Turkey making headlines. Following the short-lived spike in September, the Company looked to shake things up on Oct. 4 with the
appointment of a new COO. The appointment of Peter Sider makes it appropriate that VLE finished above
Vermillion Energy Inc. (
TSX:VET) this week on the Bullboards, considering Sider had previously served as VP Operations for Vermillion.
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The VLE Bullboard has been lively in figuring out how Sider will fit into the company, and increasingly on the outlook of operations in Turkey. Stockhouse Member
kcac1 pointed out that the company seems to be doubling down on its position in the country.
“From last week is obviously aimed directly at the Turkish Government and uses the US as an analogy of how a country got out of Energy Dependence by concentrating on unconventional Oil and Gas. I would think Sean's presentation accomplished its goal of gaining the attention of his audience and all eyes from Erdogan on down are watching the Thrace basin...”
(Po?st: The Turkish Energy Forum Presentation)
If you’ve been following the technology Bullboards recently, you might be familiar with
Quarterhill Inc. (
TSX:QTRH,
Forum). The tech developer and provider has been scraping into the Top 6 chart pretty consistently over the last few weeks, but this week it was runner-up for the top spot by less than 1,000 views. The big action was at the start of the week, when QTRH dropped from $1.73 on Sept. 30 to $1.63 on Oct. 1 before settling.
Looking at the three-month chart, we notice a jump in August before a recent fall back down, so what happened? The former can be explained by
strong Q2 fiscal results releasing on Aug. 8, while the latter lines up with a big departure as Quarterhill announced on Oct. 1 its
President and CEO had resigned.
The QTRH Bullboard naturally wondered about the resignation and when the company would recover, but quickly turned attention to bigger news. The Company is involved in litigation with tech giant
Apple Inc. (
NASDAQ:AAPL) that can mean a big payday on the way, news of a similar lawsuit going against Apple gave Stockhouse Members like
Rosmorduc an extremely positive outlook.
“Apple will pay and pay big. Our day is coming in early 2020.
I'm hoping for a $250M settlement for ALL iphones so everybody can move on once and for all. $250M for Apple is like $25 for the common Joe so they should get this over with fast. $250M will quadruple our cash position and the market will give QTRH the recognition it deserves. $4.00 - $5.00 target will be within reach...”
(Po?st: RE:VirnetX Prevails in Appeals Court as Mandate Issued in Apple)
The recurring themes for this week also held true on the industrials Bullboards, with runner-up
PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (
TSX-V:PYR,
Forum) capturing our attention. Like the companies mentioned earlier, the plasma processing company recently had a
corporate shake-up of its own with a board restructuring on Sept. 29, but shares climbed up from $0.495 on Sept. 30 to $0.54 on Oct. 4.
After Friday, shares stood still on the
announcement of a trading halt. Unfortunately for anxious PYR Bullboard members, the halt kept extending with no end in sight, and discussions focused on what could possibly be taking so long.
Was the upcoming news good or bad? Though some were worried, Stockhouse Member
Kongratulation reassured readers that a long halt likely meant positive news (and with a
Wednesday announcement of a $20 million contract, we can see they were right).
“…The halt is there for a reason, to protect investors. That way all investors have a level playing field when they make investment decisions, after the news is released.
What my experience tells me is: If the news was negative, it would out by now (nothing to gain by waiting). So we can presume that the news is positive. On what? Your guess is are as good as mine.
Now, I get it that people with open shorts are nervous and are trying to play mind games with long investors so they can cover their short cheaper at the open, but I am not certain that it will work...”
(Po?st: RE:Board of directors)
New Stockhouse readers find that Bullboard discussions range the gamut from excited to skeptical and everything in between. At the end of the day, however, cautiously optimism usually seems to win out. That’s why the current results of our Investor Pulse Poll on the homepage on future gold prices aren’t that surprising.
So far, a whopping 77% of respondents believe that gold prices will stay steady or keep rising, and more believe in the latter. It’s not to late to add your voice to the crowd, however, so head on over to the
homepage or click the image below to cast your vote.
(Click image to go to the poll)
Next week we have a shorter trading week in Canada on account of Thanksgiving Weekend, but the American markets will stay open and so will the Stockhouse Bullboards. When you’re too full of turkey, gravy, and political discussions, head over to Stockhouse for some lively discussion on the hottest stocks around. For previous editions of Buzz on the Bullboards:
click here.