On Fire: ALQA, CUR, SVV, BCRX, Gold & More

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David

We send this update from Active Trading Partner's David Banister, whose analysis thus far is superb.

We have been tracking the 48-year-old New England writer’s work on ALQA for about four weeks. Also, CUR. Plus: metals equities, including Almaden Minerals (AAU in USA) and McEwen Mining (MUX in USA).

Alliqua (ALQA in USA), a pain-salve developer, is seeing yet another rise in what looks like a red-hot biotech climate. One only wonders, as we do here in northern California, when the hotty-landscape will get some rain.

Neuralstem (CUR in USA) is booming, too. Regrets? Sure, nearly everything -- I take that back -- everything David has indicated via both technical and fundamental analysis to me, for our TCR audience, is 40 percent to 60 percent higher in three weeks.

Mr. Banister is what you call a strategist with a sense of humor, and, when things go wrong, a certain practicality that probably endears him to subscribers.

“Everyone is a genius in a bull market,” he refrains.

He writes for Seeking Alpha at times, a duty that benefits the companies and stocks/commodities he covers – in hot markets, anyway.

Neuralstem is David Banister's current biotech favorite. “I wrote it up at 2.27 back in late October...now 3.08...I have it getting to 7.50. ALS phase 2 along with brain trauma depression and spinal cord studies using neuralstem cells.,” he says.

David says he uses sentiment, crowd behavioral patterns, Fibonacci retracements, cycles, "and other ephemeral catalysts.”

He also makes an effort to look into insider transactions, executive biographies, new product launches and so on. An ephemeral catalyst, for ALQA for instance, probably is the company’s bulletin-board up-listing to a better exchange.

He continues, “CUR now up 55 percent from our Oct. 30 report at 2.27 (3.45 and going, still long).”

David is printing money. He is good enough to acknowledge that his skills excel in frothy markets. On the down side, he is one of those investment types who might own the uncanny ability to “sit it out.” Personally, I find this trait as rare as a hello from our 17-year-old high school senior.

He says today, “I am not a day trader, contrary to your comments by the way.... we often hold stocks quite a while, but we do also swing trade as well.”

I used to do swing step with my wife at a little dance hall in SF’s Sunset District, before we got married (20 years ago today, January 8). We don’t swing to country anymore, but we did watch the Arctic Monkeys bring down the house in Oakland recently.

David says his swinging and stepping and waving have helped him to “beat the market 3 to 1 since September with that combination, and clients like it.”

ALQA, he notes, “is looking good here at 8.30.... should be a $11-$12 stock this quarter if they get the up listing.”

I also asked David, selfishly, about BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX in USA), a 5-year-plus holding here at home and for about a dozen TCR members. I followed the company and covered its influenza and other new-drug applications for a few years.

BCRX shares are up about eightfold in less than a year and today were

rising another 8 percent.  (We own about 16,000 shares of BCRX.)

“Technically very strong, at worst a pullback to 7.50 possible, but doubt that even,” says Mr. Banister.

As for our bread and butter at TCR -- On gold, silver and metals: this from David a couple of days ago. It comes with waves, charts and technical indications.

This is a very recent metals report, right off the Banister rail this week:

GOLD- 1233 as of this report 1/7/2014

We had discussed a final washout low in December

possible with a re-test of 1181, if not 1160 and then

1090, Mr. Banister writes.

So far we did in fact re-test 1181, then bounced out to

the 1240 areas. Unfortunately, we still have major

resistance for Bulls as 1278 spot pricing and GOLD

will need to take that out to confirm that the ABC

correction Bear cycle is over from the 1923 highs of

2011.

In either event, we have espoused buying into gold

miner stocks during this 4-8 week window and

mentioned MUX at 1.85 and AAU at 1.10 as

candidates. Honestly though, they are all so cheap

that throwing darts will probably work well as we

come out of this Bear cycle.

With that said, there remains maybe a 30-35% risk

that we drop one more time to 1090 area to complete

the cycle into early February. We would advise that

being long GOLD is fine, but prepare to add if you see

another washout at much lower levels. If we take out

1278 then you can add again and we should see the

1550′s this spring-summer either way.

Thanks David in New England. (He likes to keep the exact state behind a wall as well.)

Dave Banister and his work via several venues can be seen at www.ActiveTradingPartners.com and www.TheMarkettrendforecast.com.

TCR Notes: I chatted briefly with the Solvista Gold team in Medellin, Colombia, regarding our TCR 8 stock’s 83 percent gain in a day on 400,000-plus shares. I believe the company is takeover bait for the value of its Caramanta porphyry, with another property, veined deposit Guadalupe, also in Colombia, as a spinoff. No comment from CEO Miller O’Prey, who says he just hopes the stock gain is something indicative of a positive 2014 for Solvista (SVV in Canada). I own close to 200,000 shares of SVV. ... Finally, those looking for January fireworks, here is what we at home have been adding to this week (or shall be): among the TCR 8, Angkor Gold (ANK in Canada), whose properties and community efforts I shall be viewing for a third time at the close of January; outside the preferred 8 – Sysorex Global (SYRX in USA) and also another up-list candidate for the bulletin-boarder stock that is lightly traded; in uranium, adding to hardly ever traded Virginia Energy Resources (VUI in Canada and VEGYF in USA) – dead money until the state of Virginia allows the company to move ahead with its development.

Avoiding for now: Barkerville Gold Mines, whose recently relisted shares in Canada are only for those, not I, who can withstand the possible disappointment of its British Columbia gold-pour efforts, expected later this winter or spring. Steer clear of BGM, in Canada, until Barkerville shows it can deliver pure gold of the highest quality at all-in operating costs well below $1,000 an ounce and at a quarterly pace that will satisfy lender requirements for delivery.

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