The combined average returns of members in April’s Stock Challenge have been well below the average over the past six months. It appears this TSX Venture rally is finally running out of steam. After an epic 2016 that saw the markets rally higher month after month, 2017 has been flat.
TSX Venture – 5 Year Chart
The Venture has lost about 35 points from its high of 838.21 on April 17th to its low of 803.39 today. Canada’s junior exchange often struggles at this time of year and it is dragging down returns in our monthly Challenge. The GDXJ, or Canada’s favourite Junior Mining ETF, has also suffered a massive decline this month. It seems the ‘sell in May and go away’ mantra has moved up a month as investors bail on gold deals.
GDXJ – 1 Month Chart
Looking at the broader markets, particularly in the US, the S&P 500 tells an interesting story. Akin Oyedele, published An old stock market adage is broken, this morning, explaining,
“It also inspired me to dig into the data a bit, and while the average return during May-September for the S&P 500 going back to 1990 has only been 0.01%, 17 of those years ended up with a positive return and the average gain at some point during those months was 7% above where the S&P 500 began May 1st.”
source: http://www.businessinsider.com/sell-in-may-and-go-away-2017-4
PyroGenesis Canada Pumps up April Stock Challenge Returns
PyroGenesis Canada (PYR: TSXV) exploded 18% Wednesday on huge volume of 3.1 million shares traded. The company describes itself as a world leader in the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced plasma processes.
After a huge month in March for PryoGenesis, three Pinnacle members selected the company for April’s Stock Challenge, including our leader ‘b1llybob‘. PyroGenesis has been on a roll for weeks now and pushed b1llybob into 1st with a 33.54% return Wednesday.
PryoGenesis – 3 Month Chart
PyroGenesis announced on April 25th that it had signed its first contract, and received the down payment, for an order of titanium powder (Ti-6Al-4V) and Inconel from a multinational conglomerate. Like so many deals of this nature, the name and origin of the conglomerate has not been disclosed for competitive reasons.
The company reported,
“Note, this order was placed during the ramp-up phase of the Company’s powder production system (the “System”).”
Peter Pascali, President and CEO of PyroGenesis, commented,
“These events seem to further validate our decision to enter the additive manufacturing industry, and although noteworthy, we caution concluding that anything of significance will happen quickly. Discussions take time and we are still in the early phases.”
Click here to read the entire press release.
Pinnacle member ‘quantumx‘ finds himself in 2nd place with only two days remaining. Don’t wait to enter your selections for May’s Stock Challenge. Click here to enter now!
