One of the consequences of being in a bull market for small cap stocks after some twenty years is that bears / shorters do not necessarily know how to handle the likes of acquisition vehicle Ridgecrest (RDGC). They fail to understand the consequences of new, star management, the fact that the stock never traded near the placing price of 0.6p (the low was 0.9p), that even after the recent 5x rally the shares have a micro-cap valuation, and that their best hope – a speeding ticket RNS, has not and will not make a dent in the share price either. Instead, they can only bleat from the side lines, wishing losses on retail investors, and trying to turn the tide like a latter-day King Canute. Helping Ridgecrest rise another 22% to 3.5p were further TR1s from tech stock investing dynamic duo John Mahtani and Ashok Patel.
Speaking of the Mahtani / Patel duo, and another company they are invested in was in the news, Pires (PIRI). Pires said that its investee company Sure Valley Ventures had completed an initial investment in Virtex to accelerate the company’s strategy to build a platform for the next-generation of live, immersive entertainment within the VR gaming and e-sports industries.
Aside from the “buy signals” of stocks trading well above placing prices, and withstanding cooling RNSs, one of the classic bull flags is director share dealing. In the case of mining development group Oracle Power (ORCP), it was nothing less than a TR1 from CEP Naheed Memon, as she took her stake up by 49m shares to reach 65m in total, amounting to a 3% stake. The move will most likely cause investors to regard re-evaluate positively the timeline on Oracle’s flagship Thar Coal Project, as well as speculate regarding the company’s positive foray into the Australian mining space. Shares of Oracle rallied 4% to 0.55p.
While copper-gold specialist Xtract Resources (XTR) missed making an announcement in the main stock market session, it did manage to squeeze out news just after the close. This came in the form of Xtract saying that it was pleased with the initial outcome from the first hole of the Phase One Programme at the Racecourse Mineral Resource. It added that Hole BRDD-20-001 has extended the copper mineralisation 330m beyond the current boundary of the Inferred Mineral Resource, potentially significantly increasing the Racecourse Mineral Resource. Shares of Xtract were already up nearly 5% ahead of the news.
Another company rising ahead of likely imminent news was CBD specialist Zoetic International (ZOE) where an update is said to be on tap by the end of January – in the form of the interim results. Expectations are as high as the share price, if not the effects of the company’s Chill products. Given the way that on the stock market it is very often better to travel than arrive, the 8% rally in Zoetic shares was understandable, although arguably more than justified in the wake of the landmark distribution agreement in the US across tens of thousands of retails stores announced at the end of November.
Equally high in terms of speculation was Genedrive (GDR) as investors looked forward to fresh newsflow – with tension built upon the recent probe below 40p, as well as a rebound helped by the very tight free float off less only around 60m shares in issue. This helped the shares rise by 23%. But even the bulls seemed to be caught wondering whether it would be product approval, a forthcoming contract, never ending lockdown /pandemic hell, or simply the exit of a seller in the stock, which could be the catalyst for an extended gain for the shares.
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