Peramivir poised, says BCRX guru
- Mexico's Mania: Train be coming (GG & CPQ)
- Lost shakers of salt: Peru & Colombia
- Peramivir: Battle stations, piacere (BCRX)
- Endeavour Silver: Next Target (EDR)
HAPPY ONE-YEAR BIRTHDAY, Ticker Trax™
TIBURON, CALIFORNIA – No more than 36 hours have passed since geologist and Pediment Gold (TSX: T.PEZ, Stock Forum) exploration chief Mel Herdrick let slip his M-M&A forecast -- that's Mexico Manic Acquisitions.
"I think all heck breaks loose here, the silvers, the golds, the base M's," Mr. Mel (photo below) told me as we strode across Pediment's San Antonio Project on Mexico's Baja California peninsula. "If you have good will with the people who own the property rights and the water rights in this country, you're pretty much good to go."
All heck broke loose last evening when I went to see disaster flick "2012." (Takeway: If the world is ending and you liveth in LA, you better know how to freaking driveth a limo muy rapido.)
The hooey flooded Monday when Goldcorp (NYSE: GG, Stock Forum) let slip it finally shall conclude its due-d and purchase Canplats Exploration (TSX: V.CPQ, Stock Forum). Oh yes, another 38 percent instant gainer Monday: total purchase price approx. $285 million Canadian. (And happy birthdays aside, we here at TC’s TT™ have no financial interest in either of the two Mexico companies.)
See, the thing is, in my three or four jaunts to Mexico in the past five months, every geo, minerals economist and mining CEO/CFO has told me much the same about this beautiful Golden State neighbor of ours.
"I am surprised it took so long for Goldcorp to take out Canplats - they were the obvious candidate. So yes I do expect more deals in the gold and silver space," Canadian CEO Bradford Cooke of Endeavour Silver (TSX: T.EDR, Stock Forum) told me this morning.
Brad’s Mexico silver producer is itching to purchase l‘argent, too. He has been for a year. Endeavour Silver, a Planetary Prospect of Ticker Trax (one of 11), seeks to fortify its silver output in Durango state and Guanajuato state. Desperately seeking Susies please apply.
Mexico Manic Acquisitions (M-M&A) "are taking longer to consummate than one would expect, probably because the sellers don't want to leave anything on the table," Brad Cooke says as he and 500 other geo-CEOs keep one eye peeled to the Stockhouse ticker that shows the spot prices of silver, gold, copper, silica, iron ore.
Next Mexico silver target? "Endeavour Silver is trying to be a buyer short term to reach critical mass," says Mr. Cooke (separated at birth: actor Jeff Blum), "then we could become a takeover target." Thank goodness that news is out. Endeavour Silver's (EDR and EXK) Canada and USA-traded shares are among the top three performing silver stocks in the month of November.
Post-script: We learn that Mel Herdrick (with Mr. Fulp in San Antonio Project photo) is grooming his Pediment Gold team. "It's almost like a switch went off," says Mel, as we take a break from intensive site touring. The late-afternoon pause allows me to jump in the balmy/salty Baja sea for a 50-minute swim as Mel and fellow geologist Mickey Fulp watch, point wildly to the circling tiburones off the coast of La Paz and suck down their Dos Equis, or Tecates, or whatever they are. Just save me the limes.
The bright-bulb switch, natch, are the circling sharks searching for metals producers in Mexico, perhaps the most mining friendly place this side of, er, Quebec, or is it Wyoming? "This is 15 years or so I have worked entirely in Mexico," Mr. Herdrick tells me as I emerge from the Baja sea and trip full face-frontal on a sand dune-ette. "I just cannot imagine a place where it is easier to pull resources from the ground."
Hold that lime, Mel. Not entirely. Mr. Herdrick and his team, including local and youthful negotatior Guillermo (Memo) Estefani Monarrez and veteran heap-leaching artist Chris Babcock, are quick to list the challenges of appeasing the what's-in-it-for-us? demands of los ejidos. These ejidatariosare farmers and ranchers -- second-generation and third-generation beneficiaries of Mexico land reform, a process that stretches back at least to 1917, one year before the so-called Spanish Flu, a misnomer, swept the world. (How is that for a non-ejidatario-sequitir?)
Los ejidatarios often are awarded cultivation and grazing rights to land, in some cases otherwise entirely useless tracts except for mining ... or growing wild asparagus. Maybe cultivating peyote buttons.
I'll be reporting masabout los ejidos and the efforts of Pediment Gold and others, such as John Carlesso's and Grant Hall's tiny Oremex Resources (TSX: V.ORM, Stock Forum) in Durango state, as Canada’s small-fry miners attempt to make peace with the land, l’agua and the people. They make peace; we make money. (It is easy to make money, not so much the peace.Happy Birthdaytoday toTicker Trax™...)
In the meantime, here in La Paz land, I am going to telegraph the words of someone who soon might become my front-and-center counselor and personal guru on matters animal, mineral and spiritual: our 26-year-old international business affairs graduate and philosophy aficionado, Pediment's Memo Estefani (in photo here). As we hurl ourselves, he at zee 4x4 wheel and me at his side, toward Cabo's airport at 140 km per hour the other day, Memo addresses my sprawling personal queries: "Mr. Thom," he says, with those Latino aspirated aitches, "the big picture is always bigger than you think. 'Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine,' this is what we all like to think. Sabe? But the truth, veridad, might be, maybe, that happiness, you know ... is the obligation ... of us all."
I oblige, Mr. Memo. And ummm, sorry subscribers, but I stopped munching buttons in the Sonora desert surrounding Tucson, Arizona, when I was about the same age as Memo is now. (Saguaro National Monument West, full moon and dates provided on request. Bingo.)
In the meantime, I am headed to an evening affair Monday (today) with Mexico's Paramount Gold (TSX: T.PZG, Stock Forum) at a San Francisco location that is top of the mark.
Great expectations, analyst tells TC
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BCRX, Stock Forum) soon will see its antiviral influenza treatment peramivir reach shores other than those of the USA and Japan. (Please see:Stockhouse exclusive article.) This much is certain in the wake of wonderful life-saving tales about the intravenous protein inhibitor. The life marks for H1N1's peramivir amid what appears to be a worsening flu season in the northern hemisphere are emerging in Israel and many other nations.
On the stock side of the pharmaceutical equation, I turn, at the request of our subscribers, to Active Trading Partners' David Banister in Rhode Island. Mr. Banister and I have shared data, fundamental and analytic, since 2002 or so.
D.B. uses waves, log rhythms, sentiment, resistance points and other charting loci to determine breakthrough movements in the prices of securities and other investments, including silver and gold. (I respect and have benefited from Mr. Banister's spine-tingling analytics, just as I benefit from acupuncture and long swims in the salty sea. Still, Ticker Trax subscribers in this, the one-year anniversary of our service to you, you know that we advocate purchase at relatively low levels; in this case BCRX at $1.70 11 months ago; and 18-month to two-year hold spans if possible and longer. This is here the largest amount of largesse is always made. "There is no such thing as smart money," a Texan told me years ago. "There is such a thing as long, long, long-term money.")
Mr. Banister? "Remember," David calls in today, "you quoted me on your service on BCRX and I said it was a massively bullish chart, well that was at $8.20 - 50 percent up so far. Once it breaks the $13's, you're probably looking at $21 a share at the next pivot -- with potential to $25.50. The stock had a bullish reversal pattern at $8.20 which I spotted, and now has another once it closes over $13."
Thanks for the geek leak, David. You are honourable.
We here at Ticker Trax expect developments today or later this week on the sale of antiviral agent peramivir to governments outside the USA -- possibly to the World Health Organization.
Manna from Ghana
X-tra long on the shore: Planetary Prospect X-tra Gold Resources (OTC: XTGR, Stock Forum) in Ghana just published a map linking drill holes with the science and art of GPS. I have it if you want it. I am purchasing more shares at the price of $1 to $1.10. CEO James Longshore called in Sunday to tell me he and Haywood Securities will be raising about $3 million in a share/warrant offering to qualified investors starting today. I do not participate in private placements unless my entire Ticker Trax audience can participate. Still, this is the one PP I would do if I had just one shot during the next 18 months. (Also, word of wisdom from Jimmy -- You may PP in the salty sea, but not in the pool.)
Questions about our 11 Planetary Prospects? Feel free to call or slog me: thom.calandra at stockhouse.com. I have great interest right now in exploring several nations -- Ghana, Mexico, Peru and my beloved Colombia. They are all primed.
(All photos by Thom Calandra … but what about the ones of Thom Calandra? Thom owns shares of our 11 Planetary Prospects.)
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Ticker Trax™ is published by Stockhouse Publishing Ltd. Ticker Trax is an information service for subscribers and neither Stockhouse nor Thom Calandra is a broker or an investment advisor. None of the information contained therein constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Calandra or Stockhouse that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Ticker Trax does not purport to tell or suggest the investment securities subscribers or readers should buy or sell for themselves. Subscribers and readers of Ticker Trax should conduct their own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decisions. Ticker Trax will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader’s reliance on information obtained in the reports. Subscribers and readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions. Opinions expressed in Ticker Trax are based on sources believed to be reliable and are written in good faith, but no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to their accuracy or completeness. All information contained in Ticker Trax should be independently verified. The editor and publisher are not responsible for errors or omissions or responsible for keeping information up to date or for correcting any past information. Ticker Trax does not receive compensation of any kind from any companies that may be mentioned in the report. Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. Owners, employees and writers may hold positions in the securities that are discussed in Ticker Trax. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL THOM SEEKING PERSONALIZED INVESTMENT ADVICE, WHICH HE CANNOT PROVIDE. Copyright 2009 all rights reserved.
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