(Image via Mind Medicine Inc.)
To say 2020 was a challenging year is an understatement. From markets hitting unprecedented highs to the economic cratering in March due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic that put stocks across the board to the ultimate test.
From ups, downs, to everything in between, global economic uncertainty weighed heavily on a shakeup of some of the hottest investment sectors.
As 2020 winds down, we see a clearer picture emerging. Some markets have recovered, many businesses pivoted and bounced back, even managing to thrive in this new economic climate. Gold prices rallied to a new high while cannabis stocks fell, there were as many success stories out there as failures for small-cap investors.
As is the largest investor hub in Canada, Stockhouse continued to see high traffic to the investor discussion Bullboards. What have been the top companies and sectors of discussion heading into the Christmas holiday? Here are the top six most-viewed company Bullboards in our most popular sectors.
High tech company PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (TSX: PYR, Forum) has been a standout in its field this year. Following its recent public listing, PYR signed an additional contract with a US based tunneling client for approximately $1.1 million. This brings the total value of all the contracts signed with this client is more than $3.6 million.
Any company that can address the COVID spread automatically seems to attract eyes on its operations and that is certainly true for Loop Insights Inc. (TSX-V: MTRX, Forum). The Vancouver-based Internet of Things (IoT) Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology company has gathered a lot of attention among investors since making history with the first-ever, end-to-end venue-tracing management solution.
As a provider of contactless solutions and AI aimed at driving automated marketing, venue management and tracing to the brick-and-mortar space, MTRX has seen national attention for its “bubble,” which allowed NCAA basketball to play on in Nevada and Florida. This has meant that pairing Loop Insights’ venue-tracing platform with revised safety protocol has allowed games to be played at multiple venues without even a single case of COVID-19 reported.
The third company to highlight in the tech space is Kontrol Energy Corp. (CSE: KNR, Forum), an emerging player in smart buildings and cities through IoT, Cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) technology. KNR reported this week that it had completed its debenture exchange by private placement for a total of $3.65 million for 2022 Debentures and new proceeds of $871,000 were raised.
Kontrol’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Ghezzi explained why investors should take notice of this move:
“With the exchange of the 2020 Debentures we have improved the balance sheet and the Company's net equity position. As we continue to execute on our business plan, we believe this is an opportune time to begin the graduation process to the senior North American exchanges for an uplisting in 2021.”
By the end of the year, the company will have also fully changed its name to Kontrol Technologies Corp.
This brings us to our Investor Pulse Poll for the week. As we look ahead to 2021, which sector do you have the most confidence in seeing the best returns next year? Let us know your thoughts by clicking the image below.
(Click image to vote.)
Looking at least week's poll, as investors are busy preparing their portfolios for the Christmas tax sell off season, it seems that a majority of you are choosing to hold your chosen stocks steady for now.
Traders will want to follow what is happening at today’s Life Sciences Investor Forum, a leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for Life Sciences companies to meet with and present directly to investors.
One of the presenting companies to watch out for at the forum is clinical stage pharmaceutical company Theralase Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: TLT, Forum), who will likely discuss its recent partnership with the University of British Columbia and how its Review Ethics Board had approved the commencement of a Pivotal Phase II Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Clinical Study to enroll and treat patients who present with Carcinoma In-Situ and who are considered Bacillus Calmette Guerin-Unresponsive or are intolerant to BCG Therapy.
The cannabis sector has been working hard to prove itself in 2020 and the year was significant for the industry having been classified as an “essential service” in some regions. The healthcare sector as a whole has been transformed to meet the needs brought on from the COVID pandemic.
Canadian cannabis company AgraFlora Organics International Inc. (CSE: AGRA, Forum) is ready to evolve having just received a newly issued Standard Processing License from Health Canada for edibles manufacturing at its 51,000 square-foot fully automated facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Co-Founder and Operational Founder of AGRA’s subsidiary, Edibles and Infusions Corporation, James Fletcher, stated - “We are now able to commercialize our formulations and bring to market cannabis activated pectin and gelatin gummies, hard candy, and sugar-free variants.”
Similarly, psychedelic medicine biotech company Mind Medicine Inc. (NEO: MMED, Forum) successfully completed its of a pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the development of lysergic acid diethylamide (aka LSD) assisted therapy for an anxiety disorder. MMED is now prepared to open an IND in August 2021 with a Phase 2b clinical trial for LSD assisted therapy in anxiety.
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Exploration-stage mineral company
Oroco Resources (TSX-V: OCO, Forum) saw a bump in its stock upon releasing news that it had raised
$15.48 million (CAD) in a private placement to advance its Santo Tomas Project in northern Sinaloa, Mexico. The work at Santo Tomas is expected to include the expansion of an infill drilling program and securing environment permits.
Meanwhile, gold miner
Novo Resources Corp. (TSX-V: NVO, Forum) just completed its earn-in obligations and earned a 70% interest in precious metals rights on Essential Metals Limited’s (ASX: ESS) Kangan project. The Kangan project comprises a portion of the Company’s Egina project in conjunction with Sumitomo Corporation of Tokyo, Japan (pictured below).
(Map of the Egina project via Novo Resources Corp., with the Kangan project highlighted in red. Click to enlarge.)
Finally, we have gold producer
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (TSX:KL, Forum), who declared a quarterly dividend payment for Q4 2020 on Wednesday of
$0.1875 (USD) per common share that will be paid on January 14th, 2021 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 31st, 2020.
This payment represents a 50% increase in the quarterly dividend from the previous payment of $0.125 (USD) per share, paid on October 14th, 2020 to shareholders of record on September 30th, 2020.
As we prepare to put up a new calendar and embrace a new year ahead of the holidays, investors are already getting excited for what 2021 could bring to the markets, as well as Stockhouse. From the newest hot sectors and rising small-cap opportunities, to the monuments shakeups and stories that seem to pop up out-of-nowhere to captivate the markets. For previous editions of Buzz on the Bullboards:
click here.
PyroGenesis Canada Inc. and Loop Insights Inc. are clients of Stockhouse Publishing.