After a gruelling final week, the February 2020 Stock Challenge has come to an end. Despite widespread carnage in the global markets, our newest Stock Challenge Champion, member ‘mike,’ emerged unscathed with an impressive return of 80.87%! In runner up, we have member ‘Wreak Havoc’ in second place with a return of 60.92% and member ‘uniword’ in third place with a return of 57.61%. Though each and every Stock Challenge comes with its own set of challenges, market volatility made February’s Stock Challenge especially unpredictable. You all displayed incredible market foresight by each picking at least one viral/volatility related security (i.e. Vaxart or VIX).
Congratulations mike, Wreak Havoc, and uniword, your prizes will be sent out shortly! Now, let’s dissect how our newest Stock Challenge Champion rose to the top of the leaderboards…
Champion’s Corner: Vaxart Inc.
While US Lithium Corp. (+32.13% for the month of February) was certainly a strong pick for mike, it was Vaxart Inc. that sealed his victory in stone.
Vaxart Inc. rose approximately 129.60% from C$1.25 to C$2.87 between January 31 and February 29. Although the company’s stock price rose steadily throughout the month after announcing the initiation of a coronavirus vaccine program on January 31, Vaxart’s share price had its biggest spike on February 27, 2020 – soaring as high as C$3.40.
Coincidentally, Vaxart announced a $10.0 million registered direct offering priced at-the-market on this very same day.
“Vaxart, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection, today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with several institutional investors for the issuance and sale of 4,000,000 shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase up to 2,000,000 shares of its common stock, at a combined purchase price of $2.50 per share and associated warrant, for aggregate gross proceeds of $10.0 million, in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules.”
An impressive pick, mike! We can’t wait to see what you come up with for next month’s contest.
Honorable Mention of the Month: WreakHavoc
Given his consistent, strong performances (Wreak Havoc is now #3 on the All-time Stock Challenge Champions Leaderboards), we believe WreakHavoc is more than deserving of this month’s Honorable Mention of the Month. WreakHavoc’s rise to second place is largely thanks to the fact that he picked the TVIX Index, an ETN for the VIX Index (an index that investors often use to gauge malaise on Wall Street).
“The VIX rose as far as 49.48 on Friday, its highest level since the market turmoil that followed the August 2015 devaluation of the Chinese yuan.”
WreakHavoc, your ability to constantly spot opportunities in the marketplace – regardless of underlying economic conditions – is an inspiration! Keep up the good work.
Are You Prepared for the March 2020 Stock Challenge?
March 2020 is shaping up to be another difficult month for the global economy. Industry conferences and supply chains around the world are likely to continue to be disrupted by coronavirus, increasing the risk of recession. That said, even bear markets come with their fair share of opportunities – it just requires a greater degree of risk-tolerance to find them.
