(Image via Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.)
The start of the new year marks a fresh beginning in the minds of many and 2021 holds an expectation that life will be better than the previous year, which will go down in infamy thanks to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. You might be skeptical to put hope in the fact that a flip of the calendar will render the virus history and you would not be wrong. What will help reduce the virus’ spread comes from the cutting-edge platforms developed by small cap companies working in the capital marketplace.
As people return from their holiday breaks, investor activity has started to pick up noticeably, and discussions on the Stockhouse Bullboards alongside it. Amidst viral spread and political tensions that spiked, dipped, and rocked the market, investors were quick to find some rising and falling companies that demanded attention.
Even though many checked in with familiar companies, we had some fresh faces making their marks on the Top-6 most viewed Bullboard charts.
TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd. (CSE: TAAT, Forum) just announced progress with its initiatives to potentially expand production and commercialization of
its flagship product TAAT both domestically within the United States, as well as in new international markets.
According to the company, by optimizing production line layouts, automating workflows, and adding new machinery to the Company’s Las Vegas processing facility in which the Beyond Tobacco base material of TAAT is produced, the facility’s maximum capacity will be increased by approximately 100%.
However, shares of
Sona Nanotech Inc. (CSE: SONA, Forum) have continued to struggle in recent months. Following a series of upsets for its prospective COVID-19 rapid antigen test, the medical company has seen its stock lose more than 70% of value since early-October 2020 to sit just above $2.70. Several law firms, including
Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, along with
the Schall Law Firm, and
Bernstein Liebhard have joined a class action lawsuit against Sona. The suit claims that the company made false and / or misleading statements around claims about its COVID-19 antigen test.
In better COVD news, immunotherapy biotech company
VAXIL Bio Ltd. (TSX-V: VXL, Forum) released an update on its cooperative research and development agreement (
CRADA) with US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Its current testing has progressed on schedule and a further COVID facet to the study will be administered later this month.
Other healthcare companies invested in COVID-19 had a great week. Another COVID-19 testing play,
MedMira Inc. (TSX-V: MIR, Forum), climbed back near the top of the Bullboards on solid momentum that has recently kicked into overdrive. Shares of MIR had jumped upon an update on its
REVEALCOVID-19 PLUS Total Antibody Test that addresses the total antibody testing demands that have arisen from recent developments in COVID-19 vaccines across global markets.
(MedMira Inc. stock chart – Late Dec 2020 to early Jan 2021. Click to enlarge.)
This brings us to this week’s Investor Pulse Poll. With all of the news around new COVID-19 vaccines, restrictions remain around the world to keep people distant socially, which has been proven to help lessen the spread of the virus, along with requirements to keep people masked up. The responsibility lies on society to keep this trend consistent so long as the virus is a threat … do you believe it is possible for people to do this to help limit the spread of COVID 19? Let us know your thoughts by clicking the poll image below.
Taking a look at our previous survey, almost a third of you are looking at metals and mining stocks as a positive investment opportunity for 2021, with second place energy stocks (oil and gas in particular) still garnering significant investor attention. Cannabis, in a third-place tie, demonstrates a lot of renewed interest in the still fresh and young industry.
So, with this in mind, let’s dig a little deeper into what people are talking about around who is making moves in metals and mining the first week into 2021 ….
Montréal-based producer of innovative silicon solutions
HPQ Silicon Resources Inc. (TSX-V: HPQ, Forum) topped the Metals and Mining Bullboards once again this week as it continues to build its portfolio of unique high value specialty silicon products needed for the anticipated renewable energy revolution.
HPQ released
an update for shareholders this week that detailed promising results from electrochemical performance tests made with silicon-based by-products. According to early results, HPQ’s anode had outperformed the industry standard in cycling tests and power response. Current modelling shows the HPQ anode performing up to four times better than the industry’s current graphite at maintaining gravimetric capacity after up to 100 charge/discharge cycles.
This motivated the company to file a provisional patent application regarding their manufacturing, assembly, and usage as anode materials for Lithium-ion batteries.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX: IVN, Forum) noted this week that underground development at its
Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had mined and stockpiled 269,000 tonnes of ore grading 5.36% copper in December 2020 from the Kakula and Kansoko mines. The tonnage was 7.6% higher than the previous month, while the copper grade was 10.5% higher.
Social responsibility is one criteria that is gaining significant traction among investors and on that note,
Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. (TSX-V: RECO, Forum) recently received
an updated License from the Government of Botswana regarding the Tsodilo Hills, located in north-west Botswana near the Namibian Border, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, had been recognized by RECO as a site with this specific, and highly important, designation.
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Many have been tracking a solution from Vancouver-based tech company
Loop Insights Inc. (TSX-V: MTRX, Forum) to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Canadian telecom giant
Telus Corp. (TSX: T) selected Loop to into its internet of things (IoT) Marketplace for
its contact tracing product. A second product from Loop was accepted into the marketplace since then. The success of this partnership led Telus to launch an expanded sales and marketing campaign through, a specialized independent sales and marketing organization, The Acquisition Group, who supports several blue-chip clients in North America.
Utilizing both direct and indirect national sales channels, the focus of this campaign has centred around driving the material benefits from Loop’s venue tracing solution and will also work on supporting the customer intimacy benefits from Loop’s Fobi device as a means of stimulating the market opportunity for these key verticals.
From venue tracing to in-person testing,
Datametrex AI Ltd. (TSX-V: DM, Forum) announced on Wednesday that it had launched a
concierge COVID-19 testing service for the travelling public designed for individuals to be tested from their own homes rather than lining up at medical locations in both Toronto and Vancouver.
The Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Marshall Gunter noted that with many countries requiring a pre-departure negative Covid-19 test to travel, Datametrex is now a greater part of the solution to safely and with confidence reopen travel destinations world-wide.
“We have provided companies and governments with thousands of PCR based testing over the last few months and believe that testing is one of the answers to protecting global citizens.”
The Canadian tech company also made news this week when it reported that
its test kits were capable of detecting the new, more contagious, COVID virus strain that originated in the United Kingdom.
The third business 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. Upwards of $60 billion is wasted among buildings across North America every year. What is even worse, is that buildings account for up to 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Kontrol Energy provides a combination of software, hardware, and service solutions to help its customers to improve energy management, air quality, and continuous emission monitoring. On Wednesday, KNR announced that
Philip (Zhengquan) Chen, an experienced finance professional and has participated in numerous capital markets transactions, had been appointed to its Board of Directors.
The Bullboards are just getting warmed up for 2021 and investors are eager to see what the new year will bring. Stockhouse will 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.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Datametrex AI Ltd. and Loop Insights Inc., TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd., are clients of Stockhouse Publishing.