We’re just over a week into 2020 and, while the markets have been wild, a fresh batch of companies have already attracted significant investor attention.
As people started to come back from their holiday breaks, investor activity has started to noticeably pick up, and alongside it, discussions on the Stockhouse Bullboards. Amidst geopolitical tensions that spiked, dipped, and rocked the market, investors were quick to find some rising and falling companies that demanded attention.
And even though many checked in with familiar companies, we had some notable fresh faces making their marks on the Top-6 most viewed Bullboard charts. Here’s a look at three potentially rising stars.
The cannabis Bullboards continue to be hot on Stockhouse, and
AgraFlora Organics International Inc. (
CSE:AGRA,
Forum) was one of the newer names drawing a big crowd last week. The small-cap cannabis producer saw increased trade volumes as shares dropped into 2020, from $0.13 on Dec. 20 to $0.085 on Jan. 7.
Looking at the long-term charts for AgraFlora shows that the trend is more of the same for the company, but the increased trade volume and recent news show it’s starting the year with renewed optimism. In it’s Jan. 7
corporate update, the company highlighted an “industrial scale” edibles facility in Winnipeg, and earlier on Jan. 3 announced the
closed acquisition of a German EU-GDP medical cannabis distributor.
What the "Buzz"
Our Bullboards have up to 2 Million pageviews a day. Get the inside scoop on conversations around the most significant trends and stock appreciations in our weekly wrap up.
Get "Buzz on the Bullboards" delivered to your inbox every Thursday!
Buzz on the Bullboards | Sign Up Here
As the trading activity for AgraFlora picked up, so did the AGRA Bullboard discussions. Users wondered whether the stock was headed down because of pressure, or manipulation, or both. While AgraFlora’s latest release looked good on paper, many users like Stockhouse Member
Miscster1 became extremely frustrated that it also hid a bit of bad news about a delayed Health Canada license.
“Great update, unfortunately buried in this release is that HC has asked for a 2nd Request for more information RMI that they plan to submit by Jan 15th. Why would they withhold this information, leading everyone to think that every Friday might be the day, knowing full well we are now at least at the earliest a month away.
I own a significant amount of this stock and have for over 3 years now, and am extremely pissed off how they have lead us all to believe that licence is around the corner and they knew full well it wasn't happening…”
The healthcare Bullboards also started off 2020 with high traffic, with
Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (
TSX:ONC,
Forum) making a splash in its first appearance in second place on the Top 6 most-viewed chart. The biotechnology company is developing oncolytic viral treatments for cancer, and heading into the new year, its shares took off. After closing at $2.40 on Dec. 24, ONC jumped up to $6.15 on Dec. 31 before coming down to $5.18 by Jan. 7.
Unfortunately, the company has released no news releases that would explain the leap, at least at the time of writing. Oncolytics’ latest two releases, a Dec. 12
announcement of an upcoming presentation highlighting a potential new biomarker and a Dec. 9
summation of a presentation demonstrating positive clinical trial data, barely moved the needle.
On the ONC Bullboard, users speculated on a combination of potential drivers. Maybe good results were about to be released, either from ONC or studies that could affect it. Maybe an insider or big buyer was driving up the price. At the end of the day, as Stockhouse Member
canadafan pointed out, it could have been anything, but investors need to focus on the tangible long-term.
“There was a lot more talk here last week during the uptick. I’m as guilty as the next. Easy to get excited when price is through the roof, day after day. In reality, nothing goes straight up or down for that matter. Since there was no news or significant data to support the rise, it can be assumed much of the rise was a combination of upward spiral, short squeeze & speculation, all at the same time.
Now, with enough time past & still no news, the uptrend has reversed & short sellers are trying their hands on the way down. Could also be ONC itself selling into the market with recent atm revival. Regardless, little has changed; Should solti aware-1 results be good, price will do awesome, and the opposite is also true. The long term still solid as a rock...”
(Po?st: Was a lot more talk/ activity here last week.....lol)
Our last new highlight might be surprising, as the industrials Bullboards usually have a clear 1-2 favorite well in the lead. This week, however, the gap was closed significantly by
Xebec Adsorption Inc. (
TSX-V:XBC,
Forum). The company’s products look to convert natural gas into clean energy sources, and it seems heading into January, it’s picked up some support. Shares of XBC closed at $2.15 on Dec. 31 before climbing up to $2.63 on Jan. 7.
As with Oncolytics above, Xebec’s press releases don’t give us much to go on. On Dec. 9 the company announced a
public offering of $20 million, which
closed on Dec. 27 at $23 million. On Dec. 10, Oncolytics also announced the
acquisition of a clean dry air service company in California.
In this case, however, the XBC Bullboard had more to go on. Users highlighted two recent “buy” recommendations from analysts, giving the company an average target price of $2.90. In addition, the company’s latest release discussed another big announcement towards year-end of 2019, and although it hasn’t come yet, Stockhouse Member
ddogold got some reassurance from Xebec’s IR and showed that serious investors aren’t afraid to reach out.
“I last spoke with IR mid-December and was told that while they hoped to issue an update with regard to this all important BOO project , Brandon emphasized the need for patience as there are many moving parts that must be brought together to finalize such a project. That being said I too anticipate an announcement shortly...”
(Po?st: RE:News soon??)
Looking back on the end of 2019, the markets were riding record highs and investor confidence was strong. Optimism heading into a new year has historically been reflected in what some call a “Santa Claus Rally” that sees stocks lift after Christmas and past New Year’s Day, and we asked Stockhouse Readers what they thought of the phenomenon. The results reflect the optimism, as the majority believed we would see an end-year boost (though the opposite proved true).
We’re now already more than a week into a new year and a new decade, and with the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference around the corner, metals have been seeing a lot of attention. Our new
Investor Pulse Poll asks which metals readers think will have the best 2020, and if the early year results are anything to go by, we're in for some big price swings. Make sure to cast your vote by clicking the image below or heading to the Stockhouse homepage.
(Click image to go to the poll)
The Bullboards are just getting warmed up for 2020, and so is Stockhouse. We’re excited for what the new year and decade will bring for investors, and we’ll keep checking in every week to bring you the latest updates on the biggest moves and predictions. For previous editions of Buzz on the Bullboards:
click here.