Early in my brokerage career (1977) I literally sat ten feet from a 68-year old broker, who, on news that a company he knew well, declared bankruptcy. He immediately liquidated everything he owned (which amounted to around $4 million dollars) and bought the stock and bonds of the bankrupt company. His logic in doing so was the railroad which he was buying into was a company he knew well and had traded for 30 years. The $3.00 stock and nickel on the dollar priced bonds he bought, had in his estimation, $150 per share in land value. Bankruptcy would free up the land value. Three-years later, his $4 million was many multiples higher. The company did not liquidate but because of the land value, reorganized. The $3.00 stock was trading at $150 per share and the bonds returned to full value and he was owed the back interest on the bonds. As 27 year-old new broker, it made an impression on me. That is how you make money in the market. Know your company. Trade the stock so you are ready for anything! It’s not a perfect world, however. You will still lose money on some deals. But over time … you will do well and occasionally get very “lucky.”
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to us all! It is going to be a wild ride in 2025 so buckle up.
Tom
News From Here & There:
- DJ Neptune Digital Assets Corp. Price Target Raised to C$2.00/Share From C$1.00 by H C Wainwright 11:47 AM ET 12/23/24 Dow Jones
- DJ Hard to See What’s Pushing Down Mining Stocks — Market Talk
9:31 PM ET 12/22/24 | Dow Jones
Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina questions what’s behind the selloff in mining stocks since Donald Trump’s election victory. “It could be that the sector is pricing in a serious economic slowdown, although this is not really consistent with recent leading economic indicators,” LaFemina says. “Perhaps the China hard landing scenario is finally here? Again, this is not clear from the data.” He reckons a recovery in mining stocks is around the corner. “We would buy our preferred names on this weakness,” LaFemina says.
- Sol Strategies Signs Definitive Agreement for the Acquisition of Validators and Leadership from Orangefin Ventures 4:38 PM ET 12/20/24 | Dow Jones
Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – December 20, 2024) – Sol Strategies Inc. (CSE: HODL) (OTC Pink: CYFRF) (“Sol Strategies” or the “Company”), a publicly traded Canadian company actively investing in, supporting, and providing infrastructure for the Solana blockchain and ecosystem, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement dated December 20, 2024 to acquire three validators (the “Acquisition”) from Orangefin Ventures, a leader in high-performance blockchain infrastructure solutions. In addition to the validators, Max Kaplan, founder of Orangefin Ventures, will join as the Company’s new Head of Staking. Link to press release
- B. Riley Adjusts MARA Holdings’ Price Target to $23 From $21, Keeps Neutral Rating – 8:44 AM ET 12/19/24 | MT Newswires
- Galaxy Digital Holdings Brief: Affiliate, Galaxy Asset Management, Reporting preliminary assets under management of $6.1 billion as of November 30, 2024
5:03 PM ET 12/18/24 | News link
- Neptune Digital Assets: Stocks Overvalued by Analyst Consensus on TSX-V (NDA)
Globe Investor – AI-generated – The Globe and Mail – Sat Dec 21, 8:18AM CST –
LOTM really likes the business model at Neptune. It’s not a quick trade opportunity for us. It qualifies as a small but professionally run organization with strong insider ownership. As such, LOTM has taken an long term accumulate on price weakness with a DCA (dollar-cost-averaging) basis.
- DeFi Technologies rated new Buy at B. Riley on growth potential
B. Riley Securities started coverage on DeFi Technologies (DEFTF) with a Buy rating in a recent note as analyst Hal Goetsch thinks the provider of cryptocurrency-focused exchange-traded products is “an early mover in the shift to the wider adoption of ETFs and ETPs, which simplify access, liquidity, and cost for investors to own digital currencies.”
Given the “nascent nature” of DeFi’s (DEFTF) expansion plans for its ETP offering, as well as the volatility of crypto prices that underpin the assets under management in the products, the company “has a strong but volatile outlook for growth,” Goetsch wrote in a note. That said, the stock would be suitable for investors with a high risk tolerance, he added.
The Canada-based company has been rolling out crypto-based ETPs on stock exchanges since 2020. The next leg of growth, the analyst contended, will come from an expansion on exchanges in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and potentially the U.S.
On a broader note, Goetsch said,
“we believe we are experiencing a once-in-a-generation global shift in the market from fiat money controlled by government central banks to network-based money, more commonly called ‘cryptocurrency,’ with this transition still in the early stages,” .
LOTM NOTE:
- Three companies have applied for trading in the USA on up-graded stock exchanges than where they are now trading – on the OTC pink sheets. Many US institutional investors are prohibited from trading shares of companies that are listed on the OTC pink sheets. Becoming listed on a major USA stock exchange increases the number of institutional buyers that are allowed to buy shares. This restriction is usually stated in the by-laws of the institutional money managers company charter.
The three companies we believe will get listed in the USA in 2025 are Galaxy Digital (BRPHF*) – DeFi Technologies (DEFTF*) – and Sol Strategies (CYFRF*).
