Member ‘thinker70’ had it… he was all alone. His picks performed just as they were supposed to. And then, as it so often does in Pinnacle’s Stock Challenge, something unexpected happened.
Gold bull market leads gold stocks higher
The price of gold has finally started to move and is now up approximately 23% from its low of $1,045 an ounce. It soared over $25 an ounce Friday, flirting with $1,300. This was enough to push gold bulls into their favorite stocks as key ETFs rallied to new highs on the move.
And then you have the TSX Venture. The sentiment for this exchange can change from day to day, but the degree and speed from which it has changed from absolute bearish, depressed sentiment to full-on bull has been astonishing. While some are claiming gold stocks are climbing a wall of worry – this is not what we’ve witnessed in recent sessions.
Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF | GDXJ
Back to the stock picking action in April’s Stock Challenge…
Long-time member ‘thinker70‘ had waited patiently for the move that Excellon Resources delivered in April. Honestly, he hardly could have timed it better.
Selecting Mexico’s highest grade silver producer, in a rising silver price environment is never a bad idea; especially when that company announced, on April 18th, first quarter 2016 production results from its La Platosa Mine in Durango, Mexico:
“Silver equivalent (“AgEq”) production of 363,552 ounces (Q1 2015 – 408,095 AgEq oz), up 40% from Q4 2015″
Click here to read more.
Excellon also boasts that its La Platosa Mine is “historically one of the lowest cash cost silver mines in the country”.
Note: had the competition begun on March 29th, thinker70 would have won as Excellon moved more than 25% higher in the final 3 days of March!
Incredible move, great work thinker70!
Unfortunately, and you knew this moment was coming, you could feel it down the stretch as Excellon gave up its early gains of the day and faded into the dying moments of Friday’s trading action…
Check out the standings at 11 AM PST:
By 12 noon, thinker70 knew he probably couldn’t hold webpanther off much longer…
In the end, thinker70’s 116.28% combined average return for April, was good enough for second as he has been awarded the People’s Champ award.
The People’s Champ is a selective award associated with Pinnacle’s Stock Challenge, and is given to the participant who failed to win, but nonetheless made a name for himself. It comes with no prizes and unfortunately, no glory.
Always remember how close you came to the sweet, sweet sensation of victory. Let it motivate you to rise from the ashes in future Challenges!
And now, onto our winner. The man who topped the field with his selection of two gold ETFs. The man who came from behind in the dying minutes of trading action Friday to claim victory in April’s Stock Challenge…
For the first time, in Pinnacle Stock Challenge history, long-time member for 7 long years and 47 long weeks, ‘webpanther‘ has been crowned a Champion!
His selection of ‘JNUG’ and ‘NUGT’ combined to return him a whopping 123.26% in April. What a performance.
There is not much to say, other than the fact gold stocks have been on a roll unlike anything we have seen in years. His selection of the leveraged JNUG ETF has been on fire since late-January and gave a hint to many technical traders when its 50 day moving average rocketed past its 200 day moving average in what some have dubbed a ‘golden cross’.
Gold driving TSX Venture Bull Market
Gold has been at the heart of this TSX Venture bull market, which began after the exchange hit a painful low of 466 on January 20th.
The TSX Venture is nearly up 50% from its low and has risen in 19 of the past 22 trading sessions. What should be most interesting to investors is that volume has returned to the forgotten exchange. The Venture has traded more than 100 million total shares in 5 of the past 9 trading days. This has not happened, to our knowledge, in well over half a decade.
Pinnacle member for less than a year, ‘samwin‘s earth-shattering 111.15% return on the month earned him the runner up to this month’s People’s Champ award!
His triple digit combined average return would have been enough to win the Challenge in many recent months.
Another new member, of less than 2 years, ‘atlevan‘ got a nice taste of glory in the final weeks leading up to today. He led for some time, by as much as 20% over the nearest competitor, but eventually ended the month with a 109.74% return. To have 4 members in triple digit territory is unprecedented and indicative of the TSX Venture bull market we are in.
Despite jumping 6% on the final day of trading Friday, atlevan’s top selection of Brixton Metals finished the month 10 cents below its 52-week high of $0.45 – which it hit on April 19th… what could have been atlevan! Brixton is a junior up about 700% from its 52-week low of just 5 cents.
April’s Stock Challenge Top 10
Our champion receives the winner’s only Pinnacle Package – which includes the finest of garments fit for a champion: The Stock Challenge Champ Hoodie and a Pinnacle Digest dri-fit golf shirt (for those afternoons on the links). Wear them with pride webpanther!
Member webpanther will also receive a Northwest Territorial Mint 10 ounce Silver Bar.
Congratulations to our new champion and welcome to the Stock Stars Hall of Fame! We look forward to watching you compete in future contests!
Good luck to everyone in May’s Stock Challenge, which begins on Monday.
April’s Stock Challenge Statistics:
Challengers: 247
Highest Return: 123.26%
Lowest Return: – 12.18%
Average Return: 8.49%
Previous Champs in the Top Twenty: 2
