Stellar Biotechnologies – The real deal or just more tulip bulbs?DISCLAIMER: I am long shares of SBOTF and may add to the position at any time.
”Even blind squirrels find an acorn every now and then”
OK, I know .. there is already plenty of discussion re Stellar Biotechnologies (SBOTF) on the site. Since Travis posted the tease from Nick Hodge in early July, the stock is up a hair over 100% (my Special Situation account sends many thanks for that one!). The reason I’m opening this thread is because the majority of comments from those of us interested or already invested in SBOTF are being posted under another wonderful – yet mostly unrelated – thread by Doc Gumshoe that talks about Alzheimers and possible causes/treatments/cures. Great stuff, but not fully germane to the topic of SBOTF. So, tho seperate the two discussions, I thought I’d try this so we can focus on each of the topics independantly.
That said, here’s some commentary about SBOTF that I have gleaned from the original tease, tracking the price action since July, reading member comments on this site, and studying anything and everything I can find about the Company and it’s product, Giant Keyhole Limpet Hemogobulin, a/k/a KLH.
First, a little peeve I’ve developed; the actual name of this animal that is the central focus of the business. I’ve noticed a trend of sorts by readers to refer to the Limpet as a ”snail”, ”escargot”, or something along those lines. While some may be using this as a light-hearted way of referring to the animal, it is not any of those. Please, use the proper name – as silly as it might sound. New readers could easily dismiss the entire idea and be misled otherwise. No disrespect meant to any who have done this, but I think it’s important we stay on track.
Now, some factoids for you.
If you haven’t done your due dilligence yet, the place to start is right here on this page. In the upper right you’ll see a box that says ”Teaser Tracking.” Click on that. The page that comes up is a list of the teases which Travis has posted over the past many months. Second from the top is the one re SBOTF. Some good tidbits of info right there. But what you want to do is look all the way over to the right and click on the link to the original tease posting. Open that and you’ll get the full story that Travis wrote when he first uncovered this tease (produced by Nick Hodge) and is a solid foundation of info about the company. Read it – two or three times to get an understanding of what SBOTF is all about.
Next, if you can find it, try and get a post that has the original video that Hodge did to tease the company with. In it, he (Hodge) interviews a couple of the company’s top executives and takes the cameras outside the room totalk with another employee about the ”farming” process that SBOTF has spent years and millions developing and patenting. You’ll get a pretty good visual inspection of the plant itself, the ”grow tanks”, and the Limpet. Good stuff. By the end you’ll have a fair overview of the company and what it does. FYI, the video tease runs about 40 minutes. It’s the first 25 minutes or so that will interest you. The remainder is what all teases consist of, overblown and repetitive pleas to get you to subscribe to the newsletter service that the promoter has to offer. Save yourself time and money by skipping that stuff.
A few takeaways from the video and additional research:
SBOTF has been around since the late 1990’s, working on how to extract the blood from the Limpet without killing them (they have done that and gotten patents on the process) and how to raise them in captivity in order to ensure a continuious supply of the animals to work with. This ”farming” process has, for the most part, been perfected and SBOTF can now raise them from fertilization of sperm and egg to maturity. They have a lifespan of some 30 years, and coupled with the patent-protected process they developed for extracting the blood without killing the Limpet, the company can now say with assurance that they can provide the Big Pharma with all the KLH they need to conduct clinical trials and produce the drugs they develop once FDA approval is granted. And – this is a big ”and” – they are the ONLY company in existence that can do this at the present time. The many patents they hold may ensure that to be the case for years to come.
Did I mention that KLH cannot be synthesized? So far nobody has been able to do that, so the supply of KLH from SBOTF seems to remain the only game in town.
Stellar Bio has yet to turn a profit. Sales and not much to write home about. That is mainly due to the small supply available and that SBOTF has focused on R&D in the past moreso than actual KLH production. That’s my best guess – I can’t verify that but seems to be the case. It is changing, however. The R&D is still in full swing, but the ability to produce and sell KLH is starting to ramp up as witnessed by increasing sales volume. It’ll take time but those increasing sales are coming.
In the wild (ocean floor), the Giant Keyhole Limpet has never been found ANYWHERE in the world other than in the small colony (estimated to be about 100,000 animals) which is just offshore from the Stellar Bio plant in Ventura County, CA. The enviromental community has been getting more and more concerned about the harvesting of the Limpets from this colony since there apparently aren’t any more around. Whisper talk about possible extinction have begun to surface, although no official governmental action regarding a ”protected specise” has yet been issued. This is why the farming of the animals has been crucial and why Stellar has such a leg up on any possible competition. If the Tree Huggers get hold of that idea, the ability to harvest the colony could – and probably would – be severely impacted.
Recent price and volume action has been fast and furious. As more and more people are becoming aware of the company by means of Hodges’ tease and thing such as this discussion, volume has had days that were near three times the average six months ago (175K shares average vs. some days now running around 500K). And most of this is upside volume indicating increasing demand for shares of a small float. This of course leads to highr prices as we are witnessing as I write.
For now, the gravy train is tearing down the track. The question is, when will demand for shares be curtailed as investor thirst for a bite of Limpet pie become satisfied? When will Nick Hodge back off this promotion, letting the press subside and therefore lessening investor awareness (the stock is not covered by any analyst, anywhere, that I can find, nor is it held by any mutual fund or investment management company). If and when this interest backs off, what effect will that have on the stock price? Trees don’t grow to the sky … or do they?
I can’t answer those questions. Just like you, I can only hold ’um and not fold ’um – yet. That day may come, and that is why I suggest anyone long the stock keep a DAILY eye on it. I’m making no prediction whatsoever about where the price will go over the next several weeks or months. In the interest of full disclosure, I have already taken some money off the table just to partially protect the quick profits I made since purchase. I sold about 30% of my initial position when that part became valued around 50% of my original investment. What remains is valued today right at the same $ amount I first put in. The amouunt I pulled out gives me full protection of some 50% of my original investment. Would I be better off today if I hadn’t done that? Yes. I would, because the price continues to rise. Will I be better of for having made thaat sale if the price stumbles and falls in the near future? Again, yes, I will – if the price falls. Some wise man once said ”you can’t go broke if you take profits” and I believe in that. Me, I don’t care for the idea of going broke, so I’m perfectly happy with this concept. No regrets about putting actual money in the bank, so to speak.
Comments? Concerns? Insights? Let the fun began!
Sincerely,
Your Resident Blind Squirrel
Jim Skelton
This is a discussion topic or guest posting submitted by a Stock Gumshoe reader. The content has not been edited or reviewed by Stock Gumshoe, and any opinions expressed are those of the author alone.
ATTENTION ALL GUMSHOERS: YOUR RESIDENT BLIND SQUIRREL, JIM SKELTON, HERE WITH A MESSAGE THAT MAKES ME LOOK NOT ONLY BLIND BUT CARELESS AS WELL. I HAD NO INTENTION OF WRITING ANOTHER WORD ABOUT THE SITUATION WITH NUTRANOMICS (NNRX)AFTER MY POST ON DEC. 9 (#139) BUT I MUST IN ORDER TO CORRECT AN ERROR I MADE THERE. PLEASE READ.
On Monday morning I had been doing some research on a few Rare Earth companies and was using my favorite resource for good atricles and analysis on that topic. That resource is a website called “InvestorIntel”.
As I was doing this the sell off in NNRX hit like a tidal wave and totally distracted me as I am long NNRX. A half hour or so later, reeling form the shock of this debacle, I wrote that post. In it I said that the promoter of the stock which I had been getting daily e/m’s from was InvestorIntel. THAT IS INCORRECT. I contacted the owner of the site and made my sincere apologies that were graciously accepted. Talk about a heaping, steaming serving of egg-on-my-face for breakfast!
InvestorIntel is a reputable and informative site that focuses on just a few areas of the market: Rare Earths, Graphene/Graphite, Oil & Gas, Precious Metals, and a couple others. They do a fine job of presenting research articles on those topics that can be hard to find elsewhere. I recommend that site as a source of information to all.
The company I had been getting the puff pieces on NNRX from is called “Analysts Corner”. They re not a research organization of any kind, nor are they in any way objective. They are paid by the companies they promote (see the disclosure posting on their site for proof) to push and promote a stock. And “never is heard a discouraging word” is the mantra there. For example, yesterday I got the daily e/m that said in essence the decline of some 70% or so on Monday was actually A GOOD THING because it gives opportunity to buy more NNRX at lower prices. You believe that? Some cajones on those folks, whoever they may be.
Bottom line is this: InvestorIntel is in NO WAY connected to this ongoing Pump and Dump campaign with Nutranomics. The culprit here is Analysts Corner. Avoid ANYTHING they say or do like the plague – because in a way, that’s exactly what the product they spew is – a plague on the serious investment community.
My apologies to all. “Nuff said.
Now, I’m looking forward to the conference call at 11:00 AM with Stellar Biotech, a real company with real potential that needs no hype or puffery. I love my Limpets!
Sincerely,
Jim Skelton
The Blind Squirrel
DISCLOSURE: I am long NNRX and SBOTF. I may sell some or all of the position in NNRX at any time. I may add to my position in SBOTF at any time.
The market appears to be punishing Stellar after today’s presentation. I guess that some were expecting “big news” like a deal in the works. I remain very bullish as the demand for KLH continues to grow, the many trials using KLH continue to show very good news and the C Diff trial news is quite encouraging. I was predicting a sustained $2 price by year’s end, but it really doesn’t matter. I’m in this for the long run and quite a run it will be. The price spikes will come in fits and spurts until true profitabilty and/or news of deals or partnerships.
The presentation was nothing but positive. They have cash for about 30 months, all kinds of clinical trials utilizing their products, discussed lots of ways of maximizing their potential, discussed how they care about the shareholders…. near term catalysts, near future upgrade to nasdaq or amex, I’m thinking they’re caught up in the general downtrend of the market today, maybe one or 2 investors jumped ship expecting them to make a huge announcement, but as far as I can see, its all looking good. They even answered my question about them being a possible takeover target.
My original question sat there for a while:
What would be the companies feelings towards a buyout offer?
so I followed it up with:
I asked my original question about possible buyout offers due to the fact that there must be large pharmas with deep pockets that could view an early purchase of your company as the best way to ensure their KLH supply, while blocking their competition. Have any companys inquired and what would Stellars response possibly be?
The response was, if they were to get an amazing offer, they would bring it up for a stockholder vote, but deep down, since they’re involved with so many different companies in various stages of clinical trials, they would prefer to follow the trials thru to the end in an effort to give the companies using the product every chance of success while putting their minds at ease for the availability of KLH in case their trials succeeded.
Someone brought up the fact that another company could just catch the Limpet if one of the trials succeeded, but they eased that concern stating that not many companies would want to rely on ‘catching’ something they needed, and Stellar is the only company that is raising these Limets (multi-generationally).
All in all, I thought it was a very honest and positive conference, which only goes to show how strange this thing we call a market really is.
Keep the faith folks and good luck to all.
Hello fellow Limpet-Lovers! The Blind Squirrel back again to add my 2 cents worth – if indeed what I have to say is actually worth 2 cents – on todays conference call.
I wanted to sit back awhile and noodle over what I heard, what it might mean ,re-check my notes, then think it over before jumping back into the fray. For what it’s worth, here goes.
First I want to get a pet peeve of mine out of the way. That pet is jargonism vs. what I call plainspeak. Jargonism has taken over almost all aspects of our lives today. It is the free and unfettered use of technical and industry-specific terms when someone with a vast store of knowledge is speaking to others about their area of expertise. Or maybe they are just spouting off trying as best they can to impress someone else – you never can really tell which it is.
The investment community has gone the way of the technology folks, interspersing their conversations with terms like “strategetic imperatives” and “tactical deployment of imbedded advantages” and so on. Listen to the talking heads at Fox Business, CNBC, etc. You know what I mean. And all that jargon, for the majority of us, does little to clarify what is being presented. Instead it just makes the presenter sound sophisticated and intimidates folks from asking simple and direct questions for fear of bring viewed as simple minded. People like me for instance. And then there is the use of all the acronyms as substitute for a complete sentence. Makes my head spin. If I had wanted to live in a land where people spoke in that verbal currency I would have stayed in the Army – the Mother of all acronym-speak.
The best example in todays presentation was when some analyst asked Mr. Oakes if he could provide some “granularity” about something or the other. Say whaat? “Granularity”? That’s a new one to me. When he said that the image I got in my head was that he was asking about something like sandpaper, or salt. You know – granules. The term riccocheted around in my noggin for a trillionith of a nanosecond, was passed from neuron to neuron, each asking the other what the heck it meant, until finally hitting the eject chute neuron that, seeing that there were no answers, spit it out of my head so I could move on. Somebody ant to educate me and define “granularity” as it relates to subjects such as was under discussion?
I like plainspeak, as you may have noticed from my writings. I don’t feel the need to use words and terms that I know a lot of people won’t really understand. It’s not that I can’t – it’s that I have no ego-driven need to do so. I prefer to converse in a genuine, understandable manner so that all involved can get a sense of what is being explained and come away with a better understanding of the subject. I know that some level of high-minded and technical jargon is required. But can’t some of it be pared back to words that have meaning to folks without Phd’s in Bio or Techno whatever?
Anyway, I would have gotten more out of it if it had been presented in a manner a little less reminesicent of a masters-level college course in lingustics. Some once told me that, when making a presentation on any topic, always first think of who your audience is and prepare remarks in a manner that will carry maximum meaning to them. Not to a bunch of preening academics. Unless of course you are speaking to an audience of preening academics, in which case my mentors advise was to run as fast and as far from the auditorium as I could.
Now on to a few things that were addressed. Or in some cases were not addressed at all.
I don’t need to waste any more of your time than required, so first I’m going to assume you have read the previous two posts by David and Robert. They make great summary points that do not need repeating. So I’ll try not to. but I’d like to dig a little deeper into a couple of those points and ask some questions of my own
I was glad to hear the explanation of whether or not KLH can be synthesized. Turns out that, on a technical basis, it can. But on a practical basis, it can’t. Not economically feasible, unreliable, not traceable, impure. In other words, anything that might get cooked up in somebodies basement isn’t going to be of any useable quality. And it will cost far too much to make, so there is no profit to be had. That concern which has been floating around for a couple of years is now put to rest. KLH is sourced from the blood of living GKL’s, not test tubes. End of story.
Now, as to getting hold of the Limpets living in the little colony in the wild for the purpose of extracting blood and making KLH. Robert touched on that. The “news” I heard was that the State of CA has recently been on a mission in the coastal fisheries arena, restricting the ability of fishermen, individual or especially commercial, from going into large, specified areas of the ocean and fishing for anything that lives there. That would include GKL’s. So, another question is at least partially answered; can just anyone go in and scoop up a few thousand Limpets and take them off for processing? Perhaps not – that part of the inquiry wasn’t specifically answered. Has California put restrictions on the little stretch of coastline where the Limpets breed and live, or is that still open for fishing? There was one comment that seemed to indicate that whatever State regulatory authority is in charge of these kind of things has finally began to look at the situation in terms of the Limpet population and whether or not it is so small that regulation and protection is something to consider. Oakes didn’t state specifically that this was true, that the issue of the GKH’s in particular was under study, but he somewhat implied it either was or could become so.
Good thing our Limpets aren’t situated just off the coastline of my home state. Because if they were, I can promise you that a lot of people would have long ago pulled a croaker sack full of them from the ocean, toeed ‘um in a deep fat fryer, then removed and doused in Tabasco sauce. Like extra-huge oysters or soemthing. Those good ole coastal dwellin’ country boys and gals will eat most anything if you can deep fry it or cover it in sugar. So we can be thankful for that accident of location of the colony.
Whatever, these statements about the availability of Limpets to harvest and process clearly shows the strategic advantage Stellar has over all other companies that may be thinking of entering the business. It is part of a mighty wide “moat” of protection from competition that will be in place for many, many years to come.
Which leads into a question I posed several months ago and got no response to. I think most people who noticed it probably thought I was just off on another of my Quixoitic adventures, asking questions that were so far-fetched as to be silly. Whatever. It appears from what Oakes said today that the board was pondering this same issue and coming up with plans to quiet the concerns I raised. Not that they told me about it, of course. Imagine that – they don’t seem to want my input about anything they are doing :0). In much the same way my ex-wives treated me.
My concern back then was what would happen if and when a natural disaster might strike at the production plant – an earthquake, a Tsunami, etc. This is California, remember. Home of earthquakes and fires and people who think burning SUV’s in dealers lots will,solve the world energy problems. They might turn to burning the plant that houses the Limpets in the name of animal cruelty or something. You just never know with those wierdo’s. Hell, Kristie Alley might lead the charge! If the physical plant were damaged or destroyed, and along with it the entire population of the Limpets, where would we be then? Done and gone, I suspect. And sure enough, I wasn’t all that crazy in this thought. Oakes said the board had been considering exactly that potential situation and was in process of establishing additional facuilities away from the Port to preserve a community of land-based snails in the event the original plant was destroyed. Ah, sweet vindication. I may not be as nuts as a lot of people sometimes think.
Third, I was amazed at the lack of curiosity on the part of the analysts on the call about the mysterious “biotech investor” that had provided the $5 million in funding. We all know who that is – Charlie Yin. over in Taiwan. Why wasn’t he named, and what’s the big secret? And no mention of his warrants that will be coming up sometime in the next three years. Not a soul asked for clarification. Now, I can understand that maybe Mr. Yin asked for them not be up front by using his name right off the bat, but everyone concerned knows that if it was brought up it would have to be openly discussed. So why not? I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that – I’m asking why this very important piece of information as it relates to the financial situation at Stellar was so easily glossed over and left undiscussed? And linked to that was the absence of any mention of the appointment of Dr./Ms. Tessie Che to the board. Having someone with her credentials, expertise, and experience come on board would be a big deal at most companies and very worthy of mention. Yet not a whisper of it – and again, no analyst bringing it up. Maybe I’m missing something here. Any ideas?
And last, we all now have a better grasp of the time frames within which we have to adjust our thinking regarding some issues. We know the board is working hard to get SBOTF listed on an American exchange (please, God, let it be NASDAQ, not AMEX!), and that could happen by mid-2014 (no promises, though). We know that any signifigant revenues from the sale of KLH to big Pharmas cannot realistically be expectd for perhaps another 2 years, and that sales to sustain a successful new drug in production which use it in the formulation are as much as five years out. And as for a c. diff. vaccine of our own, who knows? Five years, seven years, ten years? Getting the science right and the various trials completed and approved could take ages. But we’re workin’ on it and have a big lead over any others as far as anyone can tell.
And as you know, all this good news and high expectation did nothing at all for the stock price. We closed around $1.70, down some $0.20 per share, or (-10.5%) on the day. Go figure. The general market was off, true, but Stellar marches mostly to it’s own drum. I said it before and will repeat for a final time – the “easy money” has been made already. Seeing day after day after day of 5% – 10%- 20% gains are, by and large, over. Now it’s time to start showing the investment community at large with the numbers produced what all this can do. Not just the hope and hype of the past year. Hard and fast results are now becoming the currency by which Stellar will be assesed and priced.. A really big pop in price will now depend more on a really big news release about sales, some actual earnings, or a breakthrough in drug approvals and development. I have no idea whatsoever what the price will be at year-end 2013 or 2014, or 20-you call it. I am convinced that the trend over time will be onwards and upwards barring some unforseeable and unpredictable event at the company. I’m happy to hold and wait out what Mr. Market throws at us stakeholders. I have a feeling we will all come out with big ole silly grins on our faces someday. Just not today.
Regards to the residents of Limpetland. May your Christmas stockings be stuffed with nothing but profits and promises of good times ahead!
Jim Skelton
You Resident Blind Squirrel
DISCLOSURE: I am long SBOTF and may add to or sell shares at any time. I’m going to hang my stocking over my fake fireplace now and wait for Christmas morning.
Jim; in this context granularity means detail . I think some make a habit of obfuscation so you cannot pin them down later?
Stellar Biotechnologies Announces Collaboration with Amaran Biotechnology, Inc.
PORT HUENEME, CA, (December 12, 2013) — Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. (“Stellar” or “the Company”) (OTCQB: SBOTF) (TSX-V: KLH), announced today that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Amaran Biotechnology, Inc., a privately-held Taiwan biopharmaceuticals manufacturer (“Amaran”) to develop and evaluate methods for the manufacture of OBI-822 active immunotherapy using Stellar’s GMP grade Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (“KLH”).
Amaran designs, develops, and manufactures active immunotherapies such as OBI-822, the lead immunotherapy product of OBI Pharma, Inc. The primary purpose of the alliance is to develop and evaluate methods for the manufacture of the OBI-822 active immunotherapy using Stellar’s GMP grade KLH.
OBI-822 is a new generation of active immunotherapy combining Globo-H, a carbohydrate antigen frequently expressed by cancer cells, together with KLH as the immune-stimulating carrier molecule. An active immunotherapy uses a patient’s own immune system to recognize and mount an attack against the targeted tumor cells. OBI-822 is currently being evaluated for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in International Phase 2/3 clinical trials* in the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, India and Hong Kong. It is also being evaluated for the treatment of ovarian cancer in an investigator-initiated Phase 1/2 clinical trial in Taiwan.
* OBI-822 is in Phase III in Taiwan and Phase II in the U.S., South Korea, India and Hong Kong
“This is an important, multinational clinical project and Stellar is very pleased to collaborate with Amaran on the manufacture of Immunotherapies such as OBI-822” said Frank Oakes, President and CEO of Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. “This is an excellent example of Stellar KLH™ technology serving as a platform for partnerships with long-term product development and commercial potential.”
Catherine Brisson, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer for Stellar said, “KLH is a key active ingredient in immunotherapy drugs. Our goal is to ensure that partners such as Amaran have future supply of the highest-quality KLH to meet the specifications of each particular immunotherapy drug.”
“We are pleased to have Stellar Biotechnologies’ key technical advances in KLH applied to this important cancer active immunotherapy program,” said Tessie Che, General Manager and Chair of Amaran’s Board of Directors. “We look forward to working closely with the Stellar team on this development project.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Stellar will be responsible for the production and delivery of GMP grade KLH for evaluation as a carrier molecule in OBI-822 immunotherapy. Stellar will also be responsible for method development, product formulation, and process qualification for certain KLH reference standards. Amaran will be responsible for development objectives and product specifications.
The agreement provides for Amaran to pay to Stellar fees for certain expenses and costs associated with the development program. Subject to certain conditions and timing, the collaboration also provides for the companies to negotiate a commercial supply agreement for Stellar KLH™ in the future.
About Amaran Biotechnology, Inc.
Amaran Biotechnology, Inc. is a privately-held Taiwan biopharmaceuticals manufacturer. Amaran is engaged in the business of designing, developing and manufacturing pharmaceuticals and biotechnology products, including KLH-conjugated active immunotherapies such as OBI-822, the lead immunotherapy product of OBI Pharma, Inc. OBI-822 is a Globo-H-KLH conjugate active immunotherapy under Phase 2/3 clinical evaluation for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.
The Obi-822 partnership with Amaran and their Obi subsidiary is certainly no surprise, but further evidence of a solid and growing future for SBOTF. KLH continues to be a key component in immunotherapy compounds and Amaran wants to lock in the best and purest form of KLH in the world–very smart. I wish Amaran was publicly traded! Once some of these compounds become marketable and past the phase trials–then we’re really talking solid revenues. The pipeline of KLH based products is becoming increasingly diverse, large and solid. This bodes very well for our favorite biotech microcap. Today is another illustration of the fact that one day stock swings are virtually meaningless. Hang in there patient investors. Q1 2014 will be another excellent one for SBOTF.
Stellar seems to have settled into a trading range of 1.65 to about 1.95 in recent weeks and is showing a pretty nice, slow steady rise after the price took a big dip following the company presentation (guess some were expecting big news). The recent article by The Behavioral Economist on Seeking Alpha is well worth reading. He (or she) is becoming my favorite new author on SA and has pointed me toward two other tiny biotechs with big upsides and limited downsides: Xencor and Medifocus. Xencor, like Stellar, focuses on immunology (and I’m a huge fan of this field, hence my belief in Stellar). Xencor also has a large pipeline of compounds for a small company and several partnerships with larger companies. Medifocus is a nanotech company–sort of at the stage Stellar was at a couple years ago, but they already have a revenue producing product and another product in Phase 3 trials–rather unbelievable for such a tiny company. The articles are certainly worth reading.
One of my two favorite green energy microcaps, ClearSign Combustion (CLIR) has been soaring lately after another plug by Lou Basenese and a positive article on Seeking Alpha by another author. I expect this company to soar in 2014 as I think several deals will be announced soon. My other green energy pick in solar: Natcore (NTCXF) has been going down in the past several weeks, perhaps because the skeptics believe that, despite very encouraging real world test results recently, the company still has no revenue and no deal with a larger company. NTCXF may be a bit further away from revenue production than is CLIR as CLIR has multiple paths to revenue while Natcore has more limited choices for a partnership. I expect both to eventually be huge winners. As with Stellar–patience remains a virtue. With small biotech companies that have to await the tedious FDA approval process, patience is a must. Multiple paths to success and positive test results certainly help one maintain patience and stomach stock volatility.
Jana B. (and all others on this blog/stock) I had mentioned PLUG a few months back and suggested that you all take a look at it. I would suggest that you look at it again now if you were not interested then.
Hope to see you on the high side.
(and a happy and prosperous New Year to all of us)
By the way, I prefer a slow move rather than a fast one – it helps keep the shorts out.
Greetings to all Limpet Lovers, and best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year!
This is your resident Blind Squirrel, Jim Skelton, with some news and updates I have to share.
Since I began this blog in mid-August of last year, much has transpired with Stellar Biotech. We’ve gone through some fast and furious times in rapid succession with events surrounding Stellar and its progress. Not to mention the wild price swings that left some in doubt of the companys future at times, others just using pullbacks to add to a portfolio. And some, like me, having made a very nice profit in a very short time frame, starting to trade at least a part of ones holdings in order to capture and bank actual, spendable profits. Whatever route you took to get from there to here was, I trust, worth it.
Things on the blog have tapered off in the past month or so as Stellar has begun to consolidate and become something a little different from what it was just one short year ago. What was then a huge high risk speculation has morphed into something tht is more of a pure speculation now, leaving behind the “huge risk” component as I define it. With the financing deal done, the entry of Mr. Yin and his deep pockets, the addition of a few new people to the board and management, additional exposure through participation in investment conferences, the deals being struck with pharmaceuticals to provide top grade KLH for their trials and containing components for creating royalty streams if a drug makes it to market – and these are just a few of my favorite things. What I’m saying is that I believe Stellar Biotech has now entered a new phase of growth, one which will be more dependant on demonstrating actual growth top line and eventually becoming bottom line positive results. We now understand what Limpets are, what KLH is, how it can be produced, and it’s critical role in developing new drugs. We can see the business smarts demonstrated by the board in getting the financing in place, and the wisdom of choosing a quasi-partner (Mr. Yin) to sit alongside us, the investors, and provide guidance and assistance when needed. And all that without even considering the potential of an eventual positive result regarding the c,diff research.
It’s been quite a ride, doncha think?
Now, with all that considered, I’ve moved Stellar up a notch on my list of companies, from that highest risk category and into a speculative but with proven possibilities one. I’m now content to see it as that kind of company for now and hold a more sane level of ownership than I first did. And be patient. And wait to see where this goes over the next 3 years or so. I have high hopes that by then I can reclassify Stellar once again as a pure Growth stock, then someday maybe a Growth and Income stock. Imagine that. That’s a LONG way out there, but possible. Remember, there was a day when companies with names like Apple and Microsoft were where Stellar is today, and just look at them now. These things can and do happen.
But with that change in category comes a change in my way of thinking about the company and what I should do now. And since I believe the big and easy money has been made, and Stellar Biotech isn’t likely to rise five-fold in 2014, I’ve decided it’s time for me to move on and find the next one that looks like Stellar did in June of 2013 and focus on that.
So, yes, this is a farewell of sorts for me on this Blog. But with a catch.
There have been many of you who have been so kind in your comments about my little contribution here and I appreciate those greatly. All I can say is I try to add clarity and insight as I find it, and do so in a manner that is not difficult to grasp. And try to keep hype and hope apart from the hard facts. Sometimes I’ve been successful, sometimes not so much. But I do try.
In addition to those kind comments, a couple of you have stepped up and contributed as much if not more than I in following the saga of Stellar and making some insightful comments of your own. You know who you are. My hope is that one or all of you will pick up the reins here and take responsibility for keeping all others informed and involved. I know I’ll be watching and reading to help myself stay abreast of developments at the Company. So, who is it to be? Time to man – or woman – up, folks! There will be a lot more to tell about SBOTF in the coming months and years and somebody needs to be driving the plane and riding herd.
It’s been an interesting time for me and I thank all who have participated here. Keep it going if you can. This is a story writ large, and the ending is far from complete.
But you know what? Ive got a strange feeling that even though I may not appear here again, it’s possible our paths will cross yet again somewhere down the line. Stranger things have happened, and we all continue to enjoy the benefits of reading the works of Travis & Company. One helluva unique website, for sure. That won’t change So, The Blind Squirrel may not be so easy to get rid of. after all. We’ll have to see ..
Best wishes and good fortune to all,
Jim Skelton
The Blind Squirrel
“Even a Blind Squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.”
Stellar Biotech followers say: Thanks so much Jim and a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2014 to you and all in Limpet Land. I’m sure that several of us will keep posting re. our favorite biotech microcap and include news flashes when we become aware of them. Thanks for being the catalyst to a most interesting thread on a stock with a huge upside and what seems to be a quite limited downside (besides the volatility of the stock price). May we all have patience so that we may reap large rewards in the next three years.
Why is SBOTF Falling today (Jan 30th)?
Anybody, any insight?
Hi AH,
perhaps the market has already given you the answer. Just checked before I was replying to your question. Wow…had no idea that Stellar came back that strong yesterday. Lucky me, i bought a couple of thousand more of stock around 1.25 and than again at 1.29. Then I left the market up to itself. Stellar hung around 1.30 for some time and let it be. Now at 1.53 I feel a lot better.
Anyway, really not so easy to answer your question.
My first response would have been that there was the possibility that this January some of the outstanding warrants were being traded. So suddenly a lot more shares available on the market. But that is just one possibility.
Whatever it was we won’t exactly know. But I was kind of prepared for it. I was almost expecting it. And it did not just happen yesterday. Stellar was kind of on a slope down for about one month now. I just did not know how long it would continue.
Expect some up and downs again and again…hopefully lots more ups soon.
Good luck and all the Best of you and fellow ‘limpetiers’!!!
Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. (“Stellar” or “the Company”) (OTCQB: SBOTF) (TSX-V: KLH), announced today that the Company has been named to the 2014 TSX Venture 50®, an exclusive ranking of the top performing companies on the TSX Venture Exchange.
Stellar Biotechnologies is the top ranked company across all five industry sectors of the 2014 TSX Venture 50® list.
The TSX Venture 50® is an annual ranking conducted by the TMX Group of the fifty strongest-performing companies on the Canadian TSX Venture Exchange, categorized by industry sector. The list is chosen based on four equally weighted criteria; market capitalization growth, share price, trading volume, and analyst coverage. The TMX Group, which owns the Toronto Stock Exchange and Toronto Venture Exchange, describes the winning companies as those having “shown impressive results in key measures of market performance.”
“We are pleased to have this public market acknowledgement of Stellar’s accomplishments and growth potential,” said Frank Oakes, President and CEO. “We have a solid foundation and we continue to work diligently to deliver strong future returns to our shareholders and partners.”
Just found this article on Seeking Alpha:
Stellar Biotechnologies: Low Risk Biotech Provider With Significant Upside
Mar. 28, 2014 5:00 AM ET | 18 comments | About: SBOTF
Disclosure: I am long SBOTF. (More…)
Summary
Stellar’s main product (KLH) is involved in 20 active clinical trials.
Studies include cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s, arthritis and AIDS.
Stellar’s valuation is only $125 mm vs. peers valued in the billions.
(Editors’ Note: Stellar Biotechnologies trades on the TSX Venture Exchange, symbol KLH.V, with average daily volume of C$350,000.)
Stellar Biotechnologies (OTCQB:SBOTF) (KLH.V) is the world leader in sustainable manufacturing of Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH). Although KLH has been known as an important immune-stimulating protein (a substance that naturally induces an immune response) for over 40 years, its role as an ideal carrier molecule for vaccine antigens (substances that promote the generation of antibody and cell-mediated immune responses) against cancers and infectious agents is the basis for the fastest growing new class of drugs known as active immunotherapies.
KLH is currently involved in a mind-bending 20 active human clinical trials where many of the world’s finest drug developers are seeking to cure dozens of serious diseases. These include Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Cancer (over 20 different types, including a late stage 3 clinical trial for breast cancer), Lupus, HIV, MS, Asthma, hypertension, etc.
If even one of these new drugs go into production, the world’s only sustainable KLH supply is from Stellar; they have revolutionized the KLH industry, turning this vital, natural protein into a renewable, quality resource.
KLH
Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH) is a potent immunogenic high-molecular-weight protein; i.e. a substance that naturally induces an immune response. KLH is a highly effective T-dependent carrier protein that induces MHC Class I and Class II-restricted immune responses via antigen presenting cells.
Sources: company unless otherwise noted
Active Immunotherapy uses a patient’s own immune system by first activating then training it to recognize and kill tumor cells. This treatment may provide a viable alternative to chemotherapy or other therapies, dramatically improving quality of life.
Please review the selected list of active clinical trials below; note that these are not all present Stellar KLH users, but we believe they will become customers upon drug approval given Stellar’s unique position.
Potent yet safe in humans, KLH is highly prized as a critical component of certain therapeutic vaccines including ones for lymphoma, bladder, breast, colon and other cancers.
In essence, the KLH-based drug alerts the immune system to something it doesn’t see – like with cancer (such as the sugars on the surface of cells not normally seen) or a tumor. In this way, the body’s own immune response is triggered.
KLH-based drugs seem to work best with smaller cancers or tumors, thus would be most applicable either in early stages or, for example, after a tumor was removed, thus effecting a final cure or prevent recurrence.
While it is still a long way away, and we recognize it would be virtually impossible to develop a clinical study, the scientific theory seems valid that a KLH-based drug could act as a vaccine and prevent cancers in high-risk potential patients avoiding the horrors associated with diseases such as breast cancer, ovarian or cervical. We are certainly hoping for such. In this regard the Asian markets offer more promise in that users are not so restricted and are willing to try preventative medicine. For example, those determined as pre-disposed to certain cancers may opt for a KLH-vaccine – recent news regarding actress Angelina Jolie’s preventative double mastectomy have brought this issue to attention.
The growing advancement of KLH-conjugated therapeutic vaccines and KLH-based diagnostic products is rapidly increasing the demand for GMP (pharmaceutical grade) KLH.
Source: biosearch
Source: piercenet
Source: Scripts.edu
Background
Founded in 1999, Stellar was initially funded through grants totaling $7 million from both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Stellar has generated KLH-related revenues since 2001; its customers and partners include multi-national pharmaceutical companies, world-renowned laboratories and research centers, as well as biotechnology companies and vaccine developers.
The Giant Keyhole Limpet can only be found on the coast between Central California and Northern Baja California. Source: klhsite.org
Stellar specializes in the production of KLH which is refined from the hemocyanin of the rare ocean mollusk, Megathura crenulata (the California giant keyhole limpet). The extreme complexity and very large size of KLH glycoprotein make it unsuitable for synthetic production; therefore it must be purified from its natural source, which is rare and diminishing in population.
Stellar has developed important intellectual property which relates to aquaculture technologies, spawning, selection and maintenance of the limited natural source, as well as processing, purification and engineering of specific GMP-grade stabilized formulations.
In a fortunate stroke, Stellar acquired faculties at the Port Hueneme Naval base as part of a base closure process, which gives them direct aquaculture access to the Pacific Ocean. The Company believes this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to obtain a facility on the coast of California having direct access to the Pacific Ocean, smack in the middle of the limpets natural breeding grounds. With all permits in place, Stellar can now provide clean, traceable KLH from native source to finished product – a world-wide exclusive.
In 2012, Stellar Biotechnologies achieved an industry milestone in aquaculture science by successfully controlling the complete life cycle of multiple generations of the Giant Keyhole Limpet.
This section is very important:
We are aware of only two other companies in the world that provide KLH in GMP form. One, a Fortune 1000 company, Sigma-Aldrich, already uses Stellar’s KLH… the other literally sends divers into the ocean to capture the limpets.
They extract the KLH – then the limpet dies.
Source: Stellar
Since GMP KLH (in clinical trial volume) sells for between $20,000 and $50,000 per gram, that is one valuable limpet. However, we do not believe ocean harvesting is a sustainable model and will most likely quickly exterminate the limpet population if even one new drug goes into production, especially since there is no batch control and harvesting is subject to natural events. In fact, we would expect the State of California to ban or restrict wild limpet harvesting before such a tragedy, as with the abalone or sea cucumber.
For this reason, Stellar’s approach, although still perhaps a year or two away before the major demand appears, is unique in that 1) their patented process removes the KLH without killing the limpet and 2) they already have patent-pending re-production process and multi-generation breeding success at the aquaculture facility. It would take 5 to 10 years to replicate this facility, given the difficulty of permitting in California, and probably $20 million, giving Stellar a considerable advantage.
C. Diff Immunotherapies
Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is a major and growing cause of mortality and morbidity in hospital patients. It’s a bacteria which is normally present in the intestine, but which can overgrow as a result of antibiotic use. It causes severe diarrhea and life-threatening intestinal conditions such as colitis.
C. diff related treatments in the U.S. and Europe are estimated to cost a total of over $7 billion. Effective treatment would not only provide a substantial revenue stream for Stellar, but also bring relief to the 300,000 new cases that hospitals are seeing annually, up three-fold from just a decade ago.
The patented technology allows Stellar exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell human vaccines to treat C. diff infections, from the Stellar technology.
The potential market size of this application alone would most likely be worth 5x Stellar’s current $128 mm valuation.
Amaran Biotechnology Partnership
Taiwan-based Amaran invested $5 million in Stellar’s September 2013 financing. KLH is a key ingredient in OBI Pharma’s OBI-822 Active Immunotherapy drugs:
Metastaic Breast Cancer: Phase II/III trials in U.S., Taiwan, South Korea, India, Hong Kong.
Ovarian Cancer: Phase I/II for ovarian cancer in Taiwan
From the OBI website: “OBI is also devoted to developing next generation active immunotherapies for difficult to treat cancers, including lung, prostate, pancreatic, stomach, and ovarian.”
We will have more on this specific trial in a further update, however, this could be the 1st “blockbuster” for Stellar, and we suspect this is the reason Amaran invested – a smart move to keep themselves ‘close’ to the only supply for such a critical ingredient.
Near-term catalysts and valuation objective
In addition to news from over 20 active clinical trials, from our conversations with management, we believe Stellar is active in seeking additional corporate partners. As the new class of therapeutic vaccines moves towards market, we would expect increased sourcing interest. Certainly, Stellar is getting close to achieving a “critical mass.” As you can see in the chart below, the commercial potential is understandably enormous.
Given Stellar’s current 78 million shares issued equates to a valuation of $125 million, and that the potential revenues from even one new drug could be over $100 million…and given that biotech companies routinely sell for 10 X sales, our estimate of “billion dollar potential” may turn out ultimately as very, very low.
Even one drug showing evidence of an impending move from clinical trial to manufacture would be enough, in our opinion, to raise the valuation to the $300-$500 million range. This could occur even if a smaller drug, such as Celldex’s compound targeting glioblastoma (an aggressive form of brain tumor), currently in phase 3 trials, were to be approved. Although the KLH-related revenues to Stellar may be only $10-$20 million per annum, we believe it adds to the overall creditability and encourages additional development.
In the chart, please note the market size for some of the KLH-based drugs under clinical trial and the estimated revenues for Stellar. Our point being, only one or two of these is needed to be a “company maker.”
For some reason, Stellar’s IPO was via entry into the Canadian markets and the stock languished mostly unknown until 2013, when it finally started moving. In 2014, we expect Stellar to list their shares on a US exchange – basically as soon as the stock trades over $2. We would encourage investors to buy ahead of this event as most biotech funds and investors do not buy shares listed on the Canadian venture exchange. We suspect Stellar could really pick up some traction and the shares move to the $3 level in short order.
Indeed, we saw Stellar present to a full house at a recent institutional investor conference and suspect they will have an increasing professional audience.
The early bird gets the worms
Many years ago one of our clients funded a start-up called Cheniere Energy (LNG). Although Cheniere is worth $12 billion today, we will vouch that, in the early days, there was no “blessing” from CNBC’s Jim Cramer and nary an “analyst” in sight.
Cheniere shares have gone from $1 to $54 since the ’08 crash, primarily because they locked up the best-located properties for a new, unknown industry – the manufacture and transport of liquefied natural gas . By the time the market and competitors caught on, Cheniere owned the best property; the majors (like Chevron) had to come and grovel for a deal.
Sure, natural gas is a world apart from curing cancer, Alzheimer’s, or AIDS, but Stellar is similar in that they have obtained a prime physical location and an early-mover advantage, which puts them at least 5 years ahead of any sustainable competitor. Stellar thus could become the “go to” source for an entire new class of drugs, in addition to a “play the field” approach for investors.
Risk Factors
Because it’s too complex to be synthetically created, KLH must be harvested. Stellar has the sole aquaculture facility for the GMP production of KLH; however, it is possible that a synthetic method to produce KLH will be created which could dramatically affect Stellar’s future sales and earnings. In addition, other competitive aquaculture facilities may be developed, and even though Stellar’s limpets are raised in a safe, out of ocean environment, they still are living creatures and may be subject to disease.
Probably the biggest risk to Stellar could come from an Asian or other competitor who steal some limpets and try to raise them in Asia. However, Stellar’s proprietary production process tracks every gram from every limpet and provides a detailed record for GMP standards, and we do not think legitimate KLH users or Big Pharma will be buying black market bootleg supplies.
The biotech industry has had a remarkable run for some time and all bull markets end. This could be disruptive to Stellar’s share price. However, our thesis for investing is that Stellar’s valuation, compared to any peers, is so low it should do well regardless over the next several years as more clinical trials morph into drugs. In this regard we think it highly unlikely that all 20 clinical trials fail, but it could happen and also some sort of controversy could arise as part of these clinical trials.
(click to enlarge)
Stellar’s shares have been consolidating and trade with good volume in the U.S. – source: StockCharts
Conclusion
Stellar is an entirely different company than when we first looked at them 3 years ago; progress has been enormous and we see no reason for that to not continue.
Stellar has a unique, proprietary niche within the biotech industry – as the world’s sole sustainable KLH provider, an essential ingredient in a whole new class of drugs.
With nearly $17 million in cash, Stellar is in a fine shape as the monthly burn rate is only $400K-$500K – they are not a cash guzzler. Stellar does not pay for the clinical studies involving the KLH-based therapies, which we believe offers investors significantly less risk than peer biotech companies.
In the near term we expect these drugs to move forward. We also believe investors have a natural bridge ahead, in that at $2 USD the shares should qualify for a full US listing, thus opening Stellar to a whole new world of professional investors. We could envision a rather rapid ascent (upon US listing) to $3 – given comparable biotech valuations – and given that Stellar is the world’s exclusive key supplier in a whole new class of drugs.
With only 78 million shares outstanding, our $7 target price is a market valuation just over $500 mm, which is a price where we ultimately believe one of the dozens of cash rich biotechs – with inflated shares – would seek to own such a valuable supply; a likely exit, in our opinion.
Biotech investors may wish to take some profits in the more richly-valued names and allocate the capital into Stellar. The next two years look promising, whichever way the market goes.
The new guru of biotech on GumShoe does not think SBOTF is a good investment as he is not a KLH fan and sees it mostly failing in trials as a catalyst. I held out for a while and argued all the “long” points but he continued to research and does not like the long term prospects for Stellar. He knows a lot more about microbiology and medicine than I do so I got out several months ago and invested in BNIKF as my main microcap.
Here’s another tip–if you can get in DRTX tomorrow morn–do so. It should go way up with a positive AdCom for its antibiotic Dalvance. I see the odds of Dalvance getting a positive vote north of 90%.
I’m still long SBOTF. It is already proven highly successful as a catalyst. Will one of the 20 trials it’s now involved with be successful. I dunno! But if it proves efficacious Dr. KSS believes someone will learn how to synthesize KLH. That might concern me if I was Stellar’s CEO, but not as an investor. No one will spend the time and money to try to develop it until KLH proves to have a large market. When KLH proves to have a big market, SBOTF will skyrocket. Also if KLH is used as a catalyst in a successful trial, is approved, then the company decides they don’t want to use KLH — maybe because of the price. They go to the FDA and say I want to use this cheaper catalyst — OK? Will the FDA say — sure no problem change it any way you like!. Not sure, but I don’t think so.
Additionally California was concerned about biotechs ravaging their coastal aquaculture. That’s why Cal. and NIH gave grants to Stellar to develop a sustainable way to extract KLH. They have the facilities. They have patents. They appear to have a pretty good moat.
Lastly even with the run up in Sept. there have been no insider sales. Always a good sign.
Even though I work for a physician, I have limited scientific knowledge. And my investing record is spotty at best. This is a risky investment, and I’m probably totally wrong. But I’m sticking with it for a while.
Although I appreciate all the guru says, if it only took brains to pick stocks, all smart people would be rich.
Will look into those other ideas of yours.
following
Well, well, well, the last three days have seen a 41% jump, from $0.92 to $1.40, and on huge…35X average daily volume. I suspect this huge jump has something to do with Michael Robinson releasing a promotion to sell his Money Morning Prospectus, with a reference to “Living Metal”, which calls KLH something else and calls the Keyhole Limpet something else. Travis has that covered. here:
http://www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/radical-technology-profits/liquid-metal-tiny-company-has-monopoly-141478-for-a-thimbleful/
But there is also other news: Stellar to be listed on the major exchanges, several Big Pharma companies lining up to ink a deal with Stellar. A lot of this may be hype, or it may be true; I’ve been hearing it for quite some time. But what is an absolute fact is that our volume was 1.75 million shares traded yesterday, 1.25 million shares traded today, and another 0.5 million shares sold Monday. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow. I’m astonished at this Lazarus-like performance.
Looks like Stellar is still on the way up. Is now a good time to buy in?
Dayo22: I would be rather cautious at this point in time. I got out of Stellar a few months ago, just before it went down so badly. IMHO this one might go up a little while longer( how long I don’t know) but then it is time to come back down again. It has been heavily promoted again and after such promotions it does quite well.
If there is real value to Stellar only time will tell, but it would take a couple of years to really find out. If you have this kind of time frame and determination to stay with it, perhaps it could work for you. I did not have that kind of conviction into their product nor into the company.
I would also recommend that you do read anything you get your hands on that deals with Stellar and KHL. Then decide for yourself! Good luck with your investments!
Dayo22, we have been fighting through old resistance in the $1.50 area; it seemed that every time we approached $1.50, we would get hit with massive selling, due, I suppose to overhead supply. Now, it certainly appears that all the people who needed to sell have sold, and we’ve broken through that resistance and are in the process of making a run at the previous high, about $2.30. I keep thinking: Holy cow! It can’t keep this up, and every day it keeps it up. I’ve rarely seen this kind of huge buy pressure. Last Friday, we hit $1.82, then Fed Yellen spoke, and we fell back to close at $1.72. Now, today, again, we have jumped back and handily taken out that $1.82 figure, with some force, and HUGE volume. Before this rally started, we were trading 35,000 shares a day; immediately we jumped to 1.5 million shares per day. That kind of volume screams: Institutions, or insiders. I don’t know exactly why this is happening, but we are clearly trending, and the trend, as you might have heard, is your friend. I wouldn’t sell, if you pointed a gun at me.
I stayed when others were jumping ship. I will be watching. And if it levels out with decreasing volume, I will take profits and sell half.
Brad, Fred, Herbalix et al:
Brad & Fred, glad to see you both had the fortitude to stick with this situation and are now reaping the gain – once again.
And Herbalix, you acted in mostly the same way I did. Except I sold in April(?) around $0.93, bought back in on July 28th for $1.11, then sold August 18 for $1.57. I am currently out. I thought the effect of the newsletter promos had run their course. Not! It closed at $1.94 today!
I urge caution at tis point. Will it run to the old highs around $2.30 (or more?) before reality sets in and the retreat starts? Lordy, that’s one question I wish I had an answer to. That said, anyone who has been on the sidelines watching and is now feeling that old familiar feeling of having missed out, wanting so badly to get in and get some of this before it’s all gone, I suggest that if you do so be ready to act fast when it turns. Because it WILL turn at some point just as in the past. My opinion only, of course. There have been no announced corporate developments of a fundamental nature to support this run up. The Q3 report showed good progress, yes – but nothing so good as to warrant this sort of move. This is being fueled, I believe, mainly by the promotions underway, and this time there are at least three publisher/writers that have focused on SBOTF at the same time, not just one. Their readers are piling on, driving the price up.
Anyway, a note if you have missed this:
When Travis unteased the promo from Michael Robinson about “Living Metal” and showed it to be none other than reference to Stellar Biotech, I wrote a commentary that was posted under that thread. Since then I have posted three or four other thoughts on SBOTF and this recent turn of events there. It wasn’t until yesterday I realized I had made something of a dual blog here, posting on two sites info that could be on either one. So, if you are interested, go to the SG homepage, click on the comments section, and open the thread about Stellar under the ” Living Metal: $147,000 for a Thimblefull (or something to that effect)” to see commentary from what is mostly an entire new group of “Stellar” Gummies and their thoughts. Many are new to the Stellar story and could benefit from the past experiences of those such as you. I will be posting future musings on SBOTF on that site. Sorry for the confusion here. But if you are to see everything that is being passed around on the site you have to look at both threads.
I’m having such a deja vu moment. It was July 2013 when Stellar was brought to our attention by Nick Hodge and the price was ~$0.63. Rose to ~$2,30 in August then began the gyrations all the way back to $0.60 this July (2014). And now, late August, looks to be headed back to that $2.00+ mark once again. What a ride this company has taken us on.
Se ya on the other thread, gentlemen. And ladies – where are you?
Jim Skelton
The Blind Squirrel
Hi Jim;
I’m pretty sure this volume is the partly result of Michael Robinson’s Living Metal promo, and I’ve suspected for some time that some big owner, perhaps that Ernesto fellow, and his private placement shares and warrants, but Stellar is trading HUGE volume…far too much for this to be simply a couple insiders manipulating the stock. the last couple weeks have seen like 2 million shares–35X average volume, when compared to that of the week preceding this run, when we were trading 35,000 shares per day. I’m really wondering if Stellar has news that they haven’t released; there are dozens of trials going on; all you’d need is for one to show good results, and away we go. Then, there are the rumors of an uplisting; there are a lot of logs on the fire. I’ve always thought that it was only a matter of time before this baby flies.
Jim’s right! Those promos are from Money Map. They go out to millions. It only takes a small percentage of followers to buy in to move this small stock. I’m keeping a close eye out.
Hello would you hold klh until is hit the USexchange as it is thought to easily jump to 3 or any other thoughts please
First. We’ve had some discussions on SG about following other’s advice. If its your money — its your call. Me. I’m sure this surge in price is the result of advertising from Money Map Press et al. Without the pumping or some other catalyst I don’t think the stock can hold $2.30. Of course if the stock is uplisted to the Nasdaq, that might provide a boost. They’ve been talking about that for quite a while.
I like this company. Long term it MIGHT do well. It has a lot of irons in the fire and if it hits on just one — the price could soar. But short term IMHO I think it will peak and then begin a slow decline till some event in the future will decide its fate. So when the price levels and volume decreases I think I might sell at least half my holdings — or more, Then I cam think about buying back in at a lower price. Good Luck!
OK, it’s time for us 17-year Stellar Locusts to wake up and start chirping again: If you’ll remember, last year about this time, Michael Robinson, of Money Map, released a promo about Stellar (calling KLH “Living Metal” and claiming that it was worth $150,000 for a thimbleful). Among the several things he was beating the drum about was Stellar’s imminent upgrade to the NASDAQ Index. I think we all kind of knew that wasn’t realistic, but (sigh!) hope springs eternal. Well, now Stellar IS making application to the NASDAQ! See: the Stellar website (http://www.stellarbiotechnologies.com), click on “Media”, then on “Press Releases”. Pursuant to that application, they have announced a 1:10 Reverse Split; actually, they referred to it as a “Consolidation”, which is corporate for Reverse Split, which is usually a negative. But in this case, with the NASDAQ application already filed, it is seen for what it actually is: preparation for a move to NASDAQ! We were up today over $0.34 at one point, and closed up $0.28, on 5 X volume. I can’t even remember when we last traded that kind of volume. I’m probably a little premature, but this certainly feels like another rocket ride, just like the ones last year and the year before, except now there is substance behind the claims. There remain lots of questions to answer: Getting listed on NASDAQ is one thing, being able to maintain the level of performance necessary to stay listed is another matter. I’d like to see the government step in and outlaw the taking of Keyhole Limpets from the wild, which I think is under pressure from over harvesting, if not an endangered species. Such a move would certainly put Stellar in the Cat Bird Seat.
I’ve cashed in on this baby a couple of times, in the past, and am holding another–smaller–position, now. Starting June 14, 2016, it has put up a nice string of ten consecutive candles, establishing a clear uptrend. I found it especially interesting that on Friday, June 24, the day after Great Britain’s ‘Brexit’ vote, we jumped $0.61, a 16% jump, while worldwide markets swooned…the DOW fell 611 points.
Although I was in favor of England leaving the European Union, and reclaiming its sovereignty from the over-reaching Eurocrats, I did read–and believed–that the move would involve some short term volatility. The ‘Remain’ side was painting a dire picture of the consequences of a ‘Leave’ vote, which I took to be ‘scare tactics’: I believe their ‘Leave’ vote will turn out to be a good decision, and the short term volatility will die down. How can reclaiming your country’s sovereignty NOT be a good idea? I think the ‘Trump Phenomenon’, in this country, is a similar move.
Yesterday, the 10th candle in the current uptrend, was black–the close was less than the open–but still $0.12 above Friday’s close. Today, we got another black candle and closed down $0.02, still up $0.13 from Friday’s close. This is not the first time I’ve seen a strong uptrend roll over and ‘take a breather’. We are trading on rising volume, in a Bear phase of a Secular Bull Market. Bottom line: I think the uptrend will continue, that Stellar remains a ‘Buy’, and will hold my shares, for now.
Here we go, again: For the last couple days, we’re trading on 14X Volume, and as usual, I have no idea why; there is no particularly good news, recent earnings haven’t been…well, stellar. But we have posted a 30% gain, over the two days. Friday’s volume spike–going back to last Monday’s low–blasted us right through the Fibonacci Retracement zone, and in one fell swoop, snapped a long downtrend, and made Stellar a stock to Hold (Not Buy, not Sell…Hold). Monday’s follow through, on volume, made Stellar a Buy, with a bright short term, future.
If this breakout proceeds as previous breakouts have–and bear the often repeated caveat in mind: ‘Past performance does not guarantee, etc…’–we are in for a few more strong up days, followed by a sharp decline. Previous cycles have given us nice pops in the 150% range. Locating the takeoff point at $2.28, that would give us an apogee of about $3.50, then…look out below. But who ever knows?
I’ve always thought this baby would one day just take off and not fall back. Is this that day? If I knew, I would tell you, but I just don’t know. I went into the last cycle with 50,000 shares; the reverse split, to get us onto the NASDAQ, left me with 5,000 shares. I thought, then, that another run ($2.30 X 10 = $23) would put me at $115,000, but it scared me out at just under $9. As we fell back, I took another position…a little over 1,000 shares, and picked up a few more, as we have scraped the bottom, over the last while. Let’s see what happens over the next few days.