What is Frank Curzio’s latest Phase One gold reco?It is teased in the e-mail ”Warning – Pls. read BEFORE you buy gold” which goes on to give Frank’s 5 rules for buying gold stocks. ”In this month’s issue of Phase 1 Investor Frank revealed his newest junior gold pick. This tiny company meets all 5 criteria and Frank thinks it can soar.
It has one of the best management teams in the business and enough cash to operate for almost two years.
Its flagship project is in Nevada and has infrastructure in place.
The management team is invested, owning about 3 million shares.
What’s more, two titans of the resource sector own another 20% of outstanding shares.
It’s almost unheard of for large mining companies to take such a large position in a stock this small. They must know that this company is going places… soon.
In fact, Frank’s convinced you could see gains of at least 100% in the next 12 months…
And if gold keeps going up, he believes you could see gains of more than 300%… ”
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.
I haven’t been able to solve this one definitively yet, but the early “best guess” is Gold Standard Ventures (GSV). Curzio has recommended that one before, they have some potentially large Carlin Trend projects in Nevada, and they have substantial ownership from Albert Friedberg as well as insider executives who own several million shares.
It’s not a perfect match, though, because they don’t have two years of cash on hand and I think it’s a stretch to say they’re 20% owned by “major miners” — Friedberg’s investment firm owns about 13%, I believe.
Another possibility is Pilot Gold (PLG.TO), which also does not match perfectly. And there are probably plenty more that I haven’t gone over with a fine toothed comb yet — anyone else want to dig into this one for a bit and see if you have some good suggestions?
I believe it is Alacer Gold Corp (ALIAF)
Alacer’s projects are in Turkey, not Nevada. Kind of interesting looking company, though.
It might be Rimrock (RMRK). You can read about its potential in an article published on 321gold (http://www.321gold.com/editorials/moriarty/moriarty070314.html),
I’m going to throw out a WAG, better known as a “willd a**sed guess”. No, I didn’t try to ferret out the company based on what Curzio says but I think the company in question is PZG, Paramount Gold and Silver. The reason I think it’s them is because they’ve been teased by Phase one before. I own some of the shares now from a temporary ( very temporary ) glitch by the Stansberry group that gave me a week’s access to Phase one. I saw the stock being touted and picked up 1000 shares in both my rollover and Roth IRAs. It did run up to $4.00 and some change but alas, I hung on hoping for bigger gains and it’s now fallen to unde r $1.00. I paid $1.35 so I’m hoping a resugence of interest in gold and silver will bring the shares up enough that I can sell them at a profit. Even if it’s a small one.
Otherwise known as pump n dump??
Paramount fits the clues about as precisely as GSV, which is to say it’s sort of close but not very convincing (no big insider ownership from major mining investors or miners that I know of). I do remember the Stansberry tout on that one a while back, too, it was several years ago if I remember correctly.
I believe it is Canamex…. CNMXF HL and GORO have about 20% i believe
YOU ARE DEFINITELY RIGHT!
They tell a good story and are in Nevada, but way, way too tiny for even Phase 1 to be able to talk about them without blowing up the stock. Market cap is $3 million, I’d expect no big miners or investors or even insiders to own any shares unless they’re paying employees in shares. Always enticing to see such a teensy weensy one, but a $3 million company shouldn’t be publicly traded — don’t know the company at all other than a quick look at the ticker page on Yahoo Finance, but it looks like they might have had some accounting issues as well.
I go with Pilot Gold. What do you think doesn’t match?
I think it is Allied Nevada Gold
Allied Nevada has been producing for a while — they’re growing production this year, which looks promising, but I think the pitch was for a stock that’s got infrastructure nearby or in place but, by implication, isn’t actually producing ore yet.
SANDSTORM
I would be delighted if they touted this one a few more times, but no, it’s not Sandstorm this time around — they’re talking up an actual (prospective, I guess) mine builder.
Why would anyone buy a penny stock or for that matter a $4.00 stock?
why not
Because they like to take larger risks for larger potential rewards, usually. Or sometimes just because they like to gamble or develop expertise in companies that happen to have low share prices. It’s not a great foundation for a portfolio, to be sure, but it can add some spice.
This is just a side issue (why buy penny stocks), but several recent ones that I lucked into come to mind: GGP (U.S. 2nd largest mall owner) was selling in 2008 @46cents while Einhorn and even Stansberry were recommending shorting it. The stock had descended from $60 in 2008 due to lack of refinancing credit for big mortgages coming due, but GGP was grossing about $2bil. at the time, so a ch.7 bankruptcy made no sense. I bought some @61cents and up. After a ch.11 rescue by Ackman and Berkowitz it ended @$15, and then Ackman (by now in control) spun off the grossly undervalued Howard Hughes properties as a $3 dividend. GGP is now @$23 and HHC is now at $150+! The ch. 7 bankruptcy predicted by Einhorn et al turned into a Ch.11 where the bondholders were paid off in cash, the judge ordered the mortgages extended, and shareholders remained in control. It was a wild ride for a while, but I figured Ackman and friends weren’t risking $8billion cash for no reason.
When housing began to recover in about 2011, I bought FNMA @85cents but chickened out after reading two ill-informed Seeking Alpha blogs. Shocked to see the common @$4 last year I bought back in (unfortunately fewer shares). The Treasury has been taking 100% of FNMA’s massive profits, even after the bailout was paid off, although it only owns 79% of the common. This is now the subject of a big lawsuit against the govt. for unconstitutional seizure of private property and has been ruled in plaintiff’s favor by a Fed. judge, and is well on its way to Supreme Court. Berkowitz, Ackman, and even Icahn have jumped in and bought significant amounts of the common. Meanwhile FNMA has been given more operational leeway, its rates are rising, and it makes more money daily even as the housing market recovers more slowly. Efforts by some Senators and the administration to disband it are futile as the House would never pass the bill. Estimates of future price (if lawsuit is won) are $14 to $47/share. Of course if the lawsuit loses all bets are off, but the big players are playing for high stakes and they have a record of net wins.
My point is not every penny stock is pump and dump. The odor of a true p&d is easily recognized from the tone of the brochure (“newsletter”) or blog that hypes it. Of course the situations I described are rare, require skeptical investigation and a strong stomach to wait them out, and require constant vigilance plus a quick finger on the eject button, but the rewards can be huge.
A more recent example is MONIF, the U.S. version of the stock of the British software company Monitise, in which VISA owns a big stake, which is selling at about 75cents. They sell to banks, telecoms, and merchants worldwide and collect a fee for each smartphone transaction in a scheme to replace the more vulnerable credit cards. Leon Cooperman (billionaire, Omega Advisors fund) is a big fan. My suspicion is the share price is so low due to previous dilution; they need a reverse split. The company is financially solid and has big prospects thanks to identity theft.
I like your handle….rarely meet a dog that isn’t loyal. Thanks for the pump n dump explanation. I’d have thought better of it if u didn’t try your own P n D on Monif.
This is a tough game and I’m graciously skeptical and sit on the sidelines watching moves up n down. If I acted on even 1%, I’d be even on all the ones up and all the ones down!!
It is an interesting game……..tougher for the short term trader little guy that has to work in costs of trade in his Penny stock move hopefuls.
Thanks for the “rotweiler” compliment, although that was an unintended accident (apparently stuck in a cookie still on my PC) leftover from a previous subscription to Gumshoe.
I didn’t mean to pump MONIF, just wanted to illustrate that not all penny stocks are dogs or even very risky. What first caught my attention was Kiplinger Magazine listing it as one of their recommended stocks for 2014 (I believe in their Dec. or Jan. issue). Looking over their very conservative list (as you would expect from Kiplinger) with most stocks of medium-to-high price I did a double-take on what was then a $1.20 stock, completely out of range, and intended to research further. My only serious look at a penny stocks is if some really big money has bought in, and in this case VISA (US) and VISA (EU) are both major investors, along with Cooperman, who is reported to be still spending untold hours personally investigating companies he buys into (google him) and has been extremely successful, starting out as a poor boy from the Bronx. (I follow successful “gurus” for the same reason many people follow Buffett – they know what they’re doing.) I was into MONIF for a short while but got out when it hit my trailing stop and am just watching it now. Apparently what caused it to dump was a previously unannounced major change in their revenue strategy, from mostly licensing to the firms that buy the software to a “user fee per transaction” model which has yet to prove itself. There were also rumors they were ready to float another big stock sale with consequent more dilution. As I wrote before, they need to reverse split to make the equity sound more respectable.
The downside risk is that large users of this new smartphone credit technology may produce their own software, but Monetise does have a good technology headstart and has numerous big customers signed up around the world already (but not in the US).
My point again is don’t prejudge a stock by its price or the company it keeps. Each circumstance is different.
How do you know that’s not his real name ????
Monitise has a market cap of $1.17 billion, not a penny stock. Foreign stocks that are not listed on any American exchange often trade on the OTC. Nestle – NSRGY is an example.
Alan L, it’s the name he chooses to use so it’s his/her name.
For my 2 cents I’d have to say Midway Gold(MDW) ,their cash position (58 mil) would last just over 2 years at their present burn rate and the have several upcoming events( permiting ,etc) to fuel the price advancement.Seems like a good buy here at $US .89
Interesting, haven’t looked at Midway in a while — are they still going to start production at Pan this year?
I agree. Hale Capital has 2 seats on the board, and Barrick is listed as an investor.
Could the company be Pershing Gold (PGLC) which has Dr. Frost of TEVA fame as its principal backer, very large proportion of insider ownership, large investment by Coeur Mining, strictly a Nevada operation, very experienced management from the big miners, a developed existing mine with developed production resources (it was an operating, productive mine purchased out of bankruptcy by the present owners), etc. There are numerous articles and analyses about PGLC on Seeking Alpha, and its stock has held rock steady for at least a year while others like PZG were bouncing, mostly downward. Apparently this company has plans to begin producing in the future but has not done much yet except some successful exploration and purchase of a great deal of acreage surrounding the original mine (“Relief Canyon”). Judging by the steadiness of the stock price I would conclude that none of the insiders are selling. In fact, there has been fairly frequent insider buying. Could you take a look at this company and give your opinion?
Alex I think you may have it right , If CDE is involved & gold price warrants operation start I think this one may live up to billing. As I understand it, Frost is a billionaire & does not make many investments that do not payoff well.
Being a ” novice, I looked at the insider trading report”, it’s shows Frost & Co ” exercising”.
How does one learn as to the significance of insider purchasing, exercising or expiring of…..etc. Many thank you’s !!,
Travis, You are right with Pilot Gold. Insider ownership is 3.1% and shares outstanding are 103M. That’s a pretty good fit to your statement about insiders owning 3M shares.
I agree, I’ve gotten more confident that it’s Pilot Gold, which is run by the folks who built Fronteer Gold and has an experienced management team, decent insider ownership, and does indeed have two major miners as shareholders (Newmont and Tech combined own about 21%). They have a project in Nevada, Kinsley Mountain, and a couple potential big projects in Turkey, there’s an overview of the company in their latest investor presentation here if you’re curious: http://www.pilotgold.com/sites/default/files/PilotGold_CorporatePresentationJune.pdf
There are enough little guys in Nevada (one of the world’s largest gold producing areas) that I can’t be 100% certain, but I’d bet on Pilot being the match over any others I’ve sifted through yet.
My guess; Pershing Gold Corporation (PGLC) is engaged in the exploration and development of gold and precious metal properties primarily in Nevada. It focuses on the exploration of Relief Canyon properties covering an area of approximately 25,000 acres located in Pershing County in northwestern Nevada. The Relief Canyon properties include approximately 940 owned unpatented mining claims, 120 owned millsite claims, 170 leased unpatented mining claims, and leased and subleased private lands. The company is based in Lakewood, Colorado.
TRAVIS it’s CANAMEX CNMXF HL and GORO own about 20% I think!
If so, Curzio was recommending a $15-20 million company. Which is pretty wild even for Phase 1. Don’t know that one, but they do have those strategic investors and the stock did pop earlier this month, could have been because of a
Newsletter recco.
Jason Reid CEO of
GORO and Dean Mcdonald SVP exploration for HL are on the board of canamex
GORO owns 18.4%, HL 11.7% & board/management 6.2%
I have a question on a small company that converts natural gas to gasoline as a liquid Perry Scott
I like the idea of Pershing Gold (PGLC ) – as per Alex and Pokerface – simply because it was an existing producing mine bought as a bankrupt property. But , if involvement by larger company involved, it could be Pilot Gold which is in a Joint Venture arrangement withs Sunrise Nevada (NEV.V). Wouldn’t mind having a “go” at both.
What’s stopping you?
Think Antibiotic’s are in need in our world today.Check this article out for a 17.1 million prize.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/828309#1
Cheers,Glenn
Sorry,wrong board but interesting article.
Cheers,Glenn