Posted by AGORACOM
at 7:38 AM on Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
First Class CBD and Nature’s Exclusive brands acquired over 6,000 new customers from April 1st through April 11th.
1,700 of the new customers purchased products from the Immune Support line.
MOTA experienced a record number of new customers enrolling in a monthly subscription, totaling 18,962.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 14, 2020 / Mota Ventures Corp. (CSE:MOTA FSE:1WZ:GR OTC PINK:PEMTF) (the “Company“) is excited to announce its First Class CBD and Nature’s Exclusive brands acquired over 6,000 new customers from April 1st through April 11th. Additionally, during this time period over 1,700 of the new customers purchased products from the Immune Support line. During the month of March, the Company experienced a record number of new customers enrolling in a monthly subscription, totaling 18,962.
The Immunity Blend is currently the Company’s top seller in the Immune Support line. The all-natural blend is made from 100% pure essential oils, including cinnamon leaf, lemon, clove bud, lime, eucalyptus globulus, rosemary, peppermint, spearmint and oregano. The line also features Immune CBD oil containing CBD, B3, B12, Vitamin C and Zinc and Immunity Gummy Bears contain 100% natural Elderberry extract.
First Class and Nature’s Exclusive offer a CBD hemp-oil formulation intended to provide users with the therapeutic benefits that hemp may offer. The hemp oil used in the products is derived from hemp grown and cultivated in the United States. The extraction process is designed to maintain all the beneficial qualities that hemp may offer. First Class and Nature’s Exclusive offers a range of products, which include CBD oil drops, CBD gummies, CBD pain relief cream, CBD skin serum and CBD coffee. The Company plans to continue its significant growth in U.S. operations over the balance of 2020, as well as an expansion into the European market.
“I am pleased at the incredible number of monthly subscriptions acquired during the month of March. We continue to see overwhelming interest in our Immune Support products and higher CBD content oils. We operate a very responsive and agile business, which allows us to identify consumer trends and execute upon the demand we are seeing in the marketplace,” stated Ryan Hoggan, CEO of the Company.
About Mota Ventures Corp.
Mota Ventures is an established eCommerce direct to consumer provider of a wide range of CBD products in the United States and Europe. In the United States, the company sells a CBD hemp-oil formulation derived from hemp grown and formulated in the US through its First Class CBD and Nature’s Exclusive brands. Within Europe, its Sativida brand of award winning 100% organic CBD oils and cosmetics are sold throughout Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Mota Ventures is also seeking to acquire additional revenue producing CBD brands and operations in both Europe and North America, with the goal of establishing an international distribution network for CBD products. Low cost production, coupled with international, direct to customer, sales channels will provide the foundation for the success of Mota Ventures.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MOTA VENTURES CORP.
Ryan Hoggan
Chief Executive Officer
For further information, readers are encouraged to contact Joel Shacker, President at +604.423.4733 or by email at [email protected] or www.motaventuresco.com
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 6:55 AM on Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
Shipped over 400 Binovi Touch units into the marketplace. With over 1500 practices in 20 countries using the Company’s products (Wayne Saccadic Fixator & Binovi Touch),
The Company continues to grow its base of monthly recurring revenue through the development of strategic alliances with neurovision training facilities, including world classsports teams, athletic training organizations, vision training clinics, and concussion recovery centers
Toronto, ON, Canada – Tuesday April 14th, 2020 –Eyecarrot Innovations Corp., (Eyecarrot) (TSXV:EYC) | (OTC:EYCCF) is pleased to announce that it has shipped over 400 Binovi Touch units into the marketplace. With over 1500 practices in 20 countries using the Company’s products (Wayne Saccadic Fixator & Binovi Touch), the Company continues to grow its base of monthly recurring revenue through the development of strategic alliances with neurovision training facilities, including world classsports teams, athletic training organizations, vision training clinics, and concussion recovery centers. It is the company’s goal to exit 2020 with an installed base of 2500 Binovi Touch Units.
To meet this objective, the company has been actively pursuing strategic alliances with sports training organizations to gain further market exposure, with more to come in the near. These alliances will expose the Company to tens of thousands of athletes globally. Sports teams and high performance athletic training organizations are realizing the benefit of neurovision training to augment their physical training regimen. With the current COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation measures being taken to minimize exposure to coronavirus, athletes are looking to hone their skill set, including the gained performance advantages of neurovision training. This has led to a heightened level of interest in the Binovi Touch Platform. The company is not constrained by distribution problems due to COVID-19 and does not anticipate delivery problems of the product.
“Working with our suppliers, we have streamlined our manufacturing process to improve the reliability and performance of Binovi Touch. This latest generation of devices has brighter and more consistent light, improving stimulus recognition when combining multiple devices together for a larger field of view. This continuous innovation is a core tenet of everything we do at Eyecarrot,” commented Sam Mithani, CTO.
This achievement marks another major milestone in the continued evolution of the Company’s product fulfillment and distribution goals.
“As we seek to strengthen our global footprint, continuous innovation and timely order fulfillment represents a key milestone in our overall growth,” said Adam Cegielski, Eyecarrot Founder + CEO. “Product demand within sustainable markets outside of Canada demonstrates our commitment to deliver world-class human performance products across all of the markets we serve.”
Eyecarrot is a human performance technology company that has developed Binovi , a hardware and software-centered platform. Binovi combines hardware, software, specialized expert knowledge, and unique big data insights in order to deliver customized one-on-one training and treatment. Binovi is designed for vision optimization and the enhancement of cognitive skills related to human performance. We are working together under a common banner to help neuro-optometry, vision rehabilitation, and vision performance professionals gain measurable results in less time, and with less effort.
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute “forward-looking information” as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is based on plans, expectations and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and is subject to certain factors and assumptions, including, that the Company’s financial condition and development plans do not change as a result of unforeseen events and that the Company obtains regulatory approval. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions referred to prove not to be valid or reliable, that occurrences such as those referred to above are realized and result in delays, or cessation in planned work, that the Company’s financial condition and development plans change, and delays in regulatory approval, as well as the other risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company as set forth in the Company’s continuous disclosure filings filed under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com . The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Palladium is the main payable metal accounting for 65% of revenue stream based on 2019 PEA.
1:0.4 (Pd:Pt).
Excellent infrastructure and within 100 kilometers of the Sudbury Metallurgical Complex.
NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimation (Q1 2019)
PEA done Q3 2019.
2020 plan to follow up on PEA recommendations.
Preliminary Economic Assessment demonstrates positive economics for a large-scale open pit mining operation.
PEA Highlights (CDN$):
Life of mine (LOM) of 14 years, with 6 million tonnes annually of potential process plant feed at an average grade of 0.88 g/t Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) and process recovery rate of 80%, resulting in an annual average payable PdEq production of 119,000 ounces.
Pre-Production capital requirements: $495 M.
Undiscounted cash flow before income and mining taxes of $586M.
Undiscounted cash flow after income and mining taxes of $384M.
Average unit operating cost of $19.50/tonne over the life-of-mine.
Potential for up to 325 jobs at the peak of production.
Using March 11, 2020 spot Palladium price (US$2,275/oz) River Valley Project After-tax IRR is 30% and After-tax NPV (5%) is $C858M.
New Age Metals Inc. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 4:04 PM on Monday, April 13th, 2020
Sponsor: Affinity Metals Corp. (TSX-V: AFF) is a Canadian mineral exploration company building a strong portfolio of mineral projects in North America. The Corporation’s flagship property is the drill ready Regal Property near Revelstoke, BC where Affinity Metals is making preparations for a spring drill program to test two large Z-TEM anomalies. Click Here for More Info
The gaping price differential between spot gold and gold futures that has been plaguing the paper gold markets in London and New York for the last three weeks shows no signs of abating and is continuing to flare up.
In essence, the contango phenomenon we are seeing is one of gold futures prices trading far above spot gold prices, a sign of liquidity problems in the London gold market and a signal that something is completely broken between the world‘s two predominant “gold price discovery” trading venues – which both, by the way, trade paper gold. As a reminder, London LBMA trades unallocated gold over the counter (OTC), a form of synthetic fractional gold derivative. The vast quantities of unallocated gold which are traded in London are then netted and cleared in an electronic clearing engine called Aurum by 5 LBMA bullion banks that comprices London Precious Metals Clearing Limited (LPMCL), namely JP Morgan, HSBC, UBS, Scotia, and ICBC Standard Bank). Allocation of physical gold is a totally separate process beyond clearing in Aurum
COMEX trades predominantly cash-settled gold futures contracts on exchange and facilitates the trading of these contracts bilaterally. COMEX futures are 99.9% cash-settled and even those that result in delivery really result in warehouse warrants changing hands but the gold staying in the New York vaults of JP Morgan, HSBC and Scotia.
That the wide-open spread continues to persist is even more remarkable, despite the best efforts of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), CME Group (operator of COMEX) and the powerful London-New York bullion bank syndicate to throw all they have at the problem.
At the time of writing, spot gold was trading at US$ 1696 against US$ 1753 for the front-month (most actively traded) COMEX gold futures contract, a $36 spread with futures over 3.44% over spot. The spread we‘re referring to can be seen in the below 3-day chart, which plots June 2020 gold futures (red and green line) against spot XAUUSD (blue line) from 6 April to 8 April. Notice that over this time the futures price has stayed far above spot, and more importantly, it has persistently done so.
3 day chart of COMEX gold futures price (June 2020) versus LBMA spot gold price, 6 – 9 April 2020. Source:Â www.barchart.com
The spot-futures spread blow out that has been running into its third week now can vividly be seen by zooming out and looking at a similar chart but this time from 24 March until 9 April, the first day that the price spread between London and New York gaped open. Notice the big gaps between futures and spot over 24-25 March, the persistence of the gap over the remainder of the week, and the subsequent re-explosion of the divergence since early April, particularly over the last few days.
Its instructive to review a short timeline of some of the events which have contributed to this ongoing saga over the last three weeks, because it shows that no matter what the LBMA and CME do, the spread between London and COMEX continues to stay out there.
Week 1
23 March – COMEX gold futures (April contract) begin trading noticeably above LBMA bullion bank spot gold prices.
24 March – Spreads between COMEX futures and London spot blew out to $100 at one point during the day, while bid – ask spreads within London spot widened substantially.
24 March – Rumors in the gold market suggested that bullion banks that were required to deliver physical gold for COMEX Exchange for Physical (EFP) transactions failed to do so, suffered losses and exited the market, and that this caused the Spread between COMEX and London to widen substantially.
The bullion bank controlled LBMA releases its first control statement, deflecting attention away from London, saying it will help (essentially collude with) the CME-COMEX in the gold market – The official language is that the LBMA “is working closely with COMEX and other key stakeholders to ensure the efficient running of the global gold market.”
Note – Who are these other key stakeholders, what do they mean by efficient running, and what gives them the right to think they can “run“ the global gold market?
24 March – LBMA and its bullion banks pressure CME to launch a gold futures contract with a deliverable clause in London 400 oz gold bars.
24 March – At end of day, CME announces the launch of a new gold futures contract that can theoretically deliver 400 oz bars, 100 oz bars and kg bars but that uses a fractional paper concept called Accumulated Certificates of Exchange (ACEs) to divide 400 oz deliverable bars into 100 oz bars, and that critically includes all refiner brands on the LBMA Good Delivery List (current and former Good Delivery refiners). This contract will be called 4GC (See here and here).
30 March – CME published its daily gold vault stocks report (for Friday 27 March) with a new category for “400 oz AND eligible brands”, but with all vaults showing zero stocks of 400 oz gold bars. And notably, that the JP Morgan vault in New York had zero holdings.
30 March – When Bullionstar draws attention to this new CME vault report, in “COMEX can’t find a 400 oz bar for its new 400 oz gold futures contract“, the CME then deletes the new report from its website on the morning of 31 March, and replaces it intra-day with a report which reverted to the original version.
1 April – LBMA and CME publish an unprecedented second control statement titled “LBMA and CME group comment on healthy gold stocks in New York and Londonâ€, saying that “CME Group and LBMA..will continue to coordinate efforts as market circumstances evolveâ€. See “LBMA and COMEX try to Reassure the Market – Twice in One Week“ for background.
Note – If LBMA and CME are trading gold bars, why would they need to coordinate efforts, and more importantly, coordinate efforts to what end?
LBMA disingenuously refers to 8326 tonnes of gold in London, a figure that is from 3 months ago, and nearly all of this total tonnage is central bank gold, gold held in ETFs, and allocated gold held by other investors. The real float of physical gold in the london LBMA gold vaults controlled by the LBMA bullion banks is less than 1000 tonnes and some estimates from sources in the bullion banks say it could be between 300 and 500 tonnes.
In the same statement, CME refers to 9.2 million ozs ( 287 tonnes) of gold held in its approved vaults, with irrelevant claims that 5.6 million ozs of this is eligible gold. Eligible gold is gold which just happens to be in the form that satisfies the deliverable unit of the contracts (1 kg bars or 100 oz bars). The rest of this figure is registered gold, which already has warehouse warrants attached.
2 April – The spread between COMEX gold futures prices and London spot gold prices starts to gap up strongly again.
Rest of week – CME Group releases publicly a PowerPoint slide presentation titled “Precious Metals Physical Delivery Processâ€, which includes the new 4GC contract and explains how to get an electronic warrant if standing for delivery of COMEX gold futures contracts, but that explains nothing about withdrawing gold from the COMEX vaults.
The COMEX presentation also features a slide discussing the COMEX New York approved vaults but unbelievably instead of showing photos of one of its approved New York vaults, this slide contains photos of a HSBC gold vault in London showing gold bars belonging to the exchange traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD). This GLD gold has nothing to do with COMEX gold vaults in New York (or does it?).
COMEX presentation slide uses photos of a HSBC gold vault in London featuring SPDR Gold Trust gold bars
6 April – The spread between the COMEX June gold futures contract and the LBMA spot gold price blows out again very widely to over $80 at one point in the day.
6 April – CME adds back the category “Enhanced Delivery (400 oz AND eligible brands)” to its New York daily vault report. Of the 9 vaults on the report, 5 have 0 holdings in this 400 oz category, 2 (Brinks & Loomis) have a combined 2 tonnes, HSBC claims 21.5 tonnes, JP Morgan appears for the second time, claiming 126.8 tonnes. The first time being 30 January when JP Morgan was listed as having zero tonnes of 400 oz bars.
Note – “400 oz AND Eligible Brands” will be the subject of another article soon, but for now it means as follows. For the new 4GC contract, CME added all LBMA Good Delivery gold bar Brands (Current and Former) as Eligible brands. That’s 68 brands from the existing GC100 contract + 71 brands from the LBMA current Good Delivery List + another 113 LBMA former Good Delivery List As another aside, where did the JP Morgan New York vault suddenly get 126.8 tonnes of gold suddenly to add to Eligible category for the COMEX 4 GC contract? Was this 126.8 tonnes of gold suddenly shipped in to the JP Morgan vault from London? Hardly. Were 126.8 of London Good Delivery gold bars already sitting in its New York vault. Probably not as its London and not New York which is the center of 400 oz gold bar storage. Was there some type of gold swap involved between London and New York. Possibly.
Another intriguing possibility is that now that former LBMA Good Delivery List gold bars are eligible for the new 400 oz contract, that JP Morgan borrowed Old US Assay Office gold bars from the New York Fed (their two gold vaults are beside each other), and then added these to the Eligible category for the new 4GC gold contract.
Root Cause of Spot vs Futures Gold Price Discrepancy
So what is the cause of this dislocation in pricing between the lower ‘spot’ price and the higher ‘futures’ price, i.e. between the London LBMA gold spot market and the New York COMEX gold futures market? The answer in general is that the problem is with the spot price. And where is the spot price? London.
Ironically, the LBMA bullion banks are trying to shift the attention away from London, when London is exactly where the problem is. The spot price problem appears to be due to liquidity problems of the LBMA market makers in London where they are suspicious of trading with each other. This is despite the fact that these LBMA market makers are obliged to constantly make a market and offer two way price quotations to each other. These market makers are BNP Paribas, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ICBC Standard, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered, Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto-Dominion and UBS.
The spot price problem has nothing to do with air travel cancellations or shipments of 100 oz gold bars from London to New York. These market makers do not make markets in physical gold. The unit of trading in London is not real gold anyway, its unallocated gold or gold credit which is issued by a bullion bank and which has counterparty risk.
Something has spooked these market makers and caused a drop in liquidity in the London market. These banks, which normally trade with each other, now do not want to trade with each other due to heightened counterparty risk. Unallocated trading volumes in the London gold market have fallen over the last three weeks. See chart below.LBMA – Unallocated gold trading volumes, week-to-week, last 4 weeks to 5th April. Source: www.lbma-i.com
Likewise, according to Bloomberg, COMEX gold futures trading volume last week was 80.6 million ounces, a 72% drop compared to the end of February. From the same Bloomberg article, there is an intriguing and obviously dramatic quote from commodities broker Marex Spectron, saying:
“You have a bunch of shell-shocked market makers who are literally hiding under their desks and do not and possibly can not make markets in any size, shape or form,†said David Govett, head of precious metals trading at Marex Spectron. “Hence we have the lack of liquidity, the small volumes and the wide spreads.â€
Marex is a broker for EFPs, so maybe the LBMA market makers are not answering calls. Then they are failing in their duty and obligations as market makers. But why would market makers not want to trade and how does this relate to EFP spreads? If banks suffered EFP problems and then the EFP spread between London and New York blew up, and then they use the excuse that the EFP spread is too large for them to make a market in spot because they don’t want to take on risk, then that’s just circular logic and a pathetic excuse. But what causes LBMA market makers to become shell shocked and literally hide under their desks?
Could it be that the gold trading activities of some of these LBMA bullion banks have blown up and they have ceased their market making activities, but have not publicly stated this, and covered it up? Stranger things have happened. All the while, as trading volumes continue to fall in the paper gold markets of London and New York, the opposite is the case in physical gold markets, where BullionStar and other bullion dealers – those that continue to have inventory – see unprecedented demand and increasing trading volumes.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:55 PM on Monday, April 13th, 2020
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.
PALL has rebounded by nearly 50% since it crashed to its lowest since last August at $137.51 on March 16, taking bears by surprise.
The rebound in palladium prices has been driven by a broad-based recovery in the precious metals space following the COVID-19 panic last month.
Palladium’s outperformance since late March confirms our view that palladium enjoys the relatively tightest fundamental backdrop.
Financial flows are absent, with speculators and ETF investors reducing further exposure to palladium. This confirms that there is no bubble in the palladium market for now.
For Q2, we see PALL trading between $135 and $285 per share.
Welcome to Orchid’s Palladium Weekly report, in which we discuss palladium prices through the lenses of the Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL).
PALL has rebounded by nearly 50% since it crashed to its lowest since last August at $137.51 on March 16, taking bears by surprise.
The rebound in palladium prices has been driven by a broad-based recovery in the precious metals space following the wave of ugly deleveraging caused by the COVID-19 panic last month.
That said, palladium is the clear winner, which we attribute to its relatively stronger fundamental backdrop. Before COVID-19, the palladium market was expected to register a deficit exceeding 1 million ounces this year. Although the deficit is likely to be much smaller than initially envisaged due to the likely contraction in automotive demand for palladium, the market is forward-looking and therefore, rises on expectations for a large deficit in 2021.
Source: Bloomberg, Orchid Research
Against this, we express the view that the long-term uptrend in PALL remains intact.
For Q2, we see PALL trading between $135 and $285 per share.
Source: Trading View, Orchid Research
About PALL
For investors seeking exposure to the fluctuations of palladium prices, PALL is an interesting investment vehicle because it seeks to track spot palladium prices by physically holding palladium bars, which are located in JPM vaults in London and Zurich. The vaults are inspected twice a year, including once randomly.
PALL seeks to reflect the performance of the price of physical palladium, less the Trust’s expenses.
Its expense ratio is 0.60%. In other words, a long position in PALL of $10,000 held over 12 months would cost the investor $60.
Liquidity conditions are poorer than that for platinum. PALL shows an average daily volume of $3 million and an average spread (over the past two months) of 0.33%.
Speculative positioning
Source: CFTC, Orchid Research
Non-commercials cut marginally by the equivalent of ~19 koz and their net long position in NYMEX palladium in the week to April 7, according to the CFTC. This was the 12th week of decline in palladium’s net spec length over the past 13.
Over March 31-April 7, the NYMEX palladium price tumbled 6.1%. This suggests the presence of additional OTC selling activity.
Non-commercials have slashed by the equivalent of around 1 million oz their net long positions in NYMEX palladium since the start of the year, which represents 15% of annual supply. Yet, the NYMEX palladium price remains up 14% on the year, even outperforming gold (which is up 11% YTD), a clear confirmation of fundamental strength.
Implications for PALL: The absence of speculative participation in the palladium market in spite of 1)the strong uptrend in prices since 2016 and 2)the tight fundamentals of the market makes us even more bullish on PALL. We would turn cautious on PALL once palladium’s spec positioning becomes too bullish.
Investment positioning
Source: Orchid Research
ETF investors sold 4 koz of palladium in the week to April 10, marking a 6th straight week of selling.
In March, ETF investors liquidated 106 koz, representing the largest monthly net outflow since October 2018.
ETF holdings are now below 500 koz, which represents an extremely low level of visible inventories when remembering that the palladium market was supposed to post a 1+ moz deficit this year.
Implications for PALL: The palladium ETF activity has had a muted impact on the NYMEX palladium price because volumes exchanged are impactless on the global palladium market. Low visible inventories are bullish for PALL over the long term.
Seasonal patterns
Source: Bloomberg, Orchid Research
As the chart above shows, the volatility in palladium prices tends to be extreme in March. 2020 did not disappoint in this regard. Lower volatility in the months ahead should be expected based on palladium’s seasonal patterns.
For April, the seasonality is slightly friendly, with palladium prices recording a median performance of +2.7% (over 2002-2019).
Implications for PALL: The high volatility regime is behind us, in our view. The seasonality is positive for the NYMEX palladium price and thus PALL in April.
Closing thoughts
The recent outperformance of palladium over the rest of its complex confirms our view that palladium enjoys the relatively strongest fundamental backdrop.
The absence of financial flows in palladium despite its price uptrend since 2016 leads us to believe that 1)there is no bubble in the palladium market yet and 2)prices are essentially driven by their fundamental dynamics.
The sudden sell-off in PALL in March was exacerbated by the COVID-19 panic. Although palladium’s fundamentals will prove weaker than expected in 2020 due to a likely contraction in automotive demand, the market seems increasingly focused on 2021 when a large deficit is likely to re-emerge as global economic growth bounces back and automotive demand rebounds.
We maintain that PALL is in a clear long-term uptrend and even though volatility cannot be ruled out, we would only turn cautious when investor sentiment reaches an extreme high. We are far from it.
For Q2, we see PALL trading between $135 and $285 per share.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:00 PM on Sunday, April 12th, 2020
Dear AGORACOM Members, we hope this message finds your families well. We also want to wish Happy Easter and Happy Passover to those that are celebrating.
During this turbulent time, our job now more than ever is to bring you the small cap companies that are actually thriving in order to help you discover your next great company. Thanks to our focus on quality over quantity, AGORACOM clients have been operating exceedingly well and we are very happy to provide you with the following highlights over the last 10 days (in reverse chronological order):
* Empower Clinics (CBDT:CSE) Up 55% On 4.5M Shares Traded – Clinic Patient Visits Up 478% In Q1 (NEWS + VIDEO)
* BetterU Education (BTRU:TSXV) UP 37% On 1M Shares Traded – Closes Deal With USA Paramount For Enterprise Skills Development (NEWS + VIDEO)
* Hollister Biosciences (HOLL:CSE) Up 60% on 4M Shares – Acquisition Adds $16.4M Rev / $2.5M EBITDA (NEWS + VIDEO)
* New Age Metals (NAM:TSXV) 2.9M Ounces Of Palladium Equivalent Is Why Eric Sprott Owns 18.5% (VIDEO)
* Mota Ventures (MOTA:CSE) Acquires Over 20,000 Customers in March, Launches New Immune Support Product Line (NEWSÂ + VIDEO)
* Primo Nutraceuticals (PRMO:CSE) Up 100% On 2.6M Shares – Signs Acquisition LOI with Celebrity brand Beauty Kitchen (NEWS)
* Datametrex A.I. (DM:TSXV) Hired By US Government Agencies On COVID-19 / Coronavirus Fake News and Disinformation (NEWSÂ + VIDEO)
* PyroGenesis (PYR:TSXV) Receives $550K Under an Exclusive Agreement with a US Tunneling Company (NEWS)
We know that most of you have seen most of these headlines on our front page – but make sure to never miss a timely piece of news by also adding us into your social media streams on Twitter and Facebook.
Finally, look for some big news and changes coming to AGORACOM in the next 60 days. We are going to be bigger and better than ever!
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 5:52 PM on Thursday, April 9th, 2020
SPONSOR: Hollister Biosciences Inc. (HOLL:CSE) A vertically integrated cannabis company with products in 220 California dispensaries and joint ventures, licensing agreement & partnerships with global brands. The company recently closed $20 MILLION deal with Venom Extracts adding $CDN 16.4 million in revenue and $CDN 2.48 million in EBITDA. Learn More
Where is the CBD Market Headed?
After hemp was legalized for growth and cultivation with the passing of new legislation in 2018, the CBD market erupted with new products and companies looking to take advantage of the new space
As of 2019, CBD sales increased by around 133%, to the tune of over $1 billion. That’s right; one billion. The market has plenty of consumer demand to back it up, and Americans are loving their CBD
With the last few years’ success in the CBD industry, new investors, everyday people, and seasoned investors alike are working to get their hands into one of the fastest-growing markets in the US. The CBD space is full of new providers and products, and new ones are arising each year.
As the research receives more and more funding, we’re learning all kinds of new information about CBD and its effects on the body and mind; and not much of that information is negative.
With so much demand for CBD oil and other products, it’s no surprise that people are looking to get rich by investing in the industry. But there’s still the question of whether or not it’s a good idea to invest in CBD. Let’s take a closer look at the industry, so you can decide whether or not investing in it is the right move for you.
CBD’s Benefits and Popularity
For decades, the Cannabis plant, from which CBD is derived, was outlawed, shamed, and viewed as an addictive and dangerous drug. This is mostly because THC is also derived from Cannabis, which causes the “high†that comes with smoking marijuana or ingesting THC-infused oils and edibles.
CBD is an entirely different cannabinoid, and both CBD and THC are just two of many cannabinoids found in the Cannabis plant. Each cannabinoid interacts with the body’s cannabinoid receptors in a different way, but it would take another article entirely to explain them all.
The bottom line? CBD doesn’t get you high, and industrial hemp must contain less than 0.3% THC to even be legally grown or cultivated.
CBD has been found to offer many benefits to humans and pets alike; among these are:
Pain relief
Anti-inflammatory properties
Counteracts the effects of THC
Useful in addiction recovery
Managing anxiety disorders and stress
Calming effects on the brain
Increase focus and concentration
The benefits of CBD products far outweigh the minor side effects, and preliminary research has yielded promising results for the future of CBD. If you want to buy CBD to give it a try, you’ve chosen the right time to start! There are hundreds of varieties available, but not all CBD is created equal. Quality Matters in CBD
If you’re thinking of investing in the CBD space, you’ll want to put your money towards a product that exceeds others in terms of quality. The higher the quality of the CBD extract, the more potent it is.
Lower-quality extracts aren’t as effective, and if the producer is using imported hemp, you run the risk of contaminating your CBD with pesticides and other chemicals from foreign countries. The US has some strict guidelines on growing hemp, and the top providers in the industry use only organically-grown domestic hemp to extract their CBD.
The Market So Far
After hemp was legalized for growth and cultivation with the passing of new legislation in 2018, the CBD market erupted with new products and companies looking to take advantage of the new space. As of 2019, CBD sales increased by around 133%, to the tune of over $1 billion. That’s right; one billion. The market has plenty of consumer demand to back it up, and Americans are loving their CBD.
Some estimates put the market at around $20 billion by 2022, but more conservative estimates put it somewhere around half that. It’s estimated that by 2024, the market will be worth $10 billion, and that’s not something investors can ignore.
The demand for CBD products only continues to increase as the years go by, so at this point, the only way to know for sure where CBD is headed is to wait and see.
That being said, the market shows potential for growth and continues to gain traction as more and more people try and love CBD products. This makes for an excellent investment opportunity if you know what you’re doing and where to put your money.
Among specialized dispensaries, even general retailers are starting to carry CBD. You may have noticed your local grocery stores, department stores, and even convenience stores carrying CBD oil and other CBD products.
This surge in CBD availability does present an issue, however; the producers are struggling to keep up.
The Quick-Buck Types
As with any industry, there are those looking to make a quick buck by ignoring quality standards and putting out a sub-par product just to get it on the shelves and into the hands of paying customers.
With little regulation on CBD products from government agencies, the standards in the industry are generally set by the top providers, and can’t exactly be enforced.
This leads to general flooding of the market with sub-par products, and many of those “off brands†end up on store shelves as retailers try to get their hand in the CBD market. Many CBD providers are working very hard to ensure their products meet certain standards, and those are the companies you’ll want to keep your eye on.
Where To Next?
The market seems to only be headed upward as time passes. With more money for research and much less stigma surrounding CBD and cannabis, there is the potential for massive growth as the public slowly shifts its opinion on the plant itself. With projections in the billions of dollars for the future, it’s safe to say that this market has a bright future ahead of it.
Not to mention, the better we understand CBD, the better it can be marketed. We’ve already found dozens of incredible benefits for the human body, and we’re sure to find more as our understanding of CBD evolves. We just have to be patient and wait for the research!
In the meantime, the market is flourishing and is expected to flourish well into the 2020 decade. If you’re looking to invest your money in a market that can offer significant ROI and stability, CBD might just be it. Always consult with an expert first, though. You wouldn’t want to put your money into the wrong startup!
Posted by AGORACOM
at 10:19 AM on Thursday, April 9th, 2020
Sponsor: Loncor, a Canadian gold explorer controlling over 2,400,000 high grade ounces outside of a Barrick JV. The Ngayu JV property is 200km southwest of the Kibali gold mine, operated by Barrick, which produced 800,000 ounces of gold in 2018. Barrick manages and funds exploration at the Ngayu project until the completion of a pre-feasibility study on any gold discovery meeting their Tier One investment criteria. Newmont $NGT$NEM owns 7.8%, Resolute $RSG owns 27% Click Here for More Info
285 stimulus measures have been announced around the world in the past eight months
Japan, which only this week declared a state of emergency, approved a $1 trillion relief package
The $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package that President Donald Trump signed into law on March 27 is just the beginning. The Treasury Department is now seeking some $250 billion more to replenish small business loans, and there’s hope that the president and House Democrats can agree on a “Phase Four†spending deal, one that may target infrastructure. Trump has asked for $2 trillion.
And that’s just the U.S.
According to Evercore ISI’s Ed Hyman, as many as 285 stimulus measures have been announced around the world in the past eight months, “the most ever by a wide margin.†Japan, which only this week declared a state of emergency, approved a $1 trillion relief package on Tuesday.
Last month I predicted that at least $10 trillion would be spent to mitigate the economic impact of this virus, and it appears as though we’re already there, with much more to go. And this is all before considering monetary stimulus in the form of near-zero rates and quantitative easing (QE).
The U.S. economy is being flooded with excess money and liquidity right now. Compared to the same period a year ago, M2 money supply––which includes not just cash but also savings deposits, money market funds and other “near†money––has increased some 12 percent, the most in more than 10 years.
Money Supply Flowing Into Physical Gold
All this excess liquidity has to go somewhere, and historically it’s acted as Miracle-Gro for gold prices. Look at the chart below. There’s a clear correlation between the annual growth rate in M2 money supply and the price of the yellow metal. In the times when money supply surged from the same period a year earlier, gold prices followed.
Gold touched its all-time high of $1,900 an ounce in 2011 when M2 money supply growth soared above 10 percent year-over-year. With supply growth now at 12 percent––and likely headed higher––liquidity has flowed into physical gold as well as paper gold. On Monday, spot gold traded above $1,700 for the first time since December 2012. The next test, I believe, is $2,000, and as I’ve said before, $10,000 gold isn’t crazy.
Gold ETF Inflows Smash Records
Global exchange-traded funds (ETFs) backed by physical gold notched a new all-time record in the first quarter of 2020, attracting 298 metric tons, or net inflows of $23 billion, for a total of more than $164 billion, according to a report by the World Gold Council (WGC). That’s the highest ever in U.S. dollar terms for a quarter and the most in tonnage terms since the first quarter of 2016, after the start of the current
U.S. Global Investors
The WGC expects the recent drivers of gold to persist, including “widespread market uncertainty and the improved opportunity cost of holding gold as yields move lower.â€
“With the Fed taking interest rates to zero for the foreseeable future, gold could do well as it tends to outperform during easing cycles,†the group writes. “Additionally, multi-trillion dollar fiscal stimulus policies to combat the economic impact of COVID-19 could prove inflationary––a development that could support gold prices in the long run.â€
So far inflation in the U.S. has been moderate, despite earlier expectations that Trump’s tariffs and the U.S.-China trade war would push up consumer prices. But I agree that the global $10 trillion+ stimulus effort will have a noticeable impact on the prices of goods and services, which could be constructive for gold.
Precious Metal Royalty and Streaming Companies Have the Cushion to Weather the Coronavirus
There are other ways to get exposure to gold and precious metals, of course. I believe the best way is with royalty and streaming companies, led by heavyweights Franco-Nevada, Wheaton Precious Metals and Royal Gold, with a combined market cap of close to $40 billion as of April 7.
These companies, as I’ve shared with you many times before, are not the ones spending money to develop a project. They simply put up the capital, and in exchange, they enjoy either a royalty on whatever the miner produces or rights to a stream of metal supply at a fixed, lower-than-average cost.
While they enjoy a lot of the upside potential when gold prices are rising, royalty companies share very little of the downside potential with producers and explorers when the metal is in decline. Royalty companies are better insulated from bear markets because they have a diversity of high-quality active mines in their portfolio.
The superiority of their business model can be seen in the chart below. Whereas the universe of publicly traded precious metal miners had an average gross profit margin of 20.7 percent as of December 2019, the three top royalty and streaming companies had one of 45.7 percent, or more than twice the amount. This, I believe, gives them an adequate cushion to weather the coronavirus downturn.
U.S. Global Investors
For full disclosures pertaining to this post click here.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, April 8th, 2020
SPONSOR: Hollister Biosciences Inc. (HOLL:CSE) A vertically integrated cannabis company with products in 220 California dispensaries and joint ventures, licensing agreement & partnerships with global brands. The company recently closed $20 MILLION deal with Venom Extracts adding $CDN 16.4 million In revenue and $CDN 2.48 million in EBITDA. FIND OUT MORE
CBD Edibles Market to Exhibit an Astonishing CAGR of 24.30%
Data Bridge Market Research analyses the market to account to USD 5160 million by 2027 growing at a CAGR of 24.30% in the forecast period
Rising global healthcare spending is expected to enhance the market growth
By Data Bridge Market Research
The CBD Edibles Market report comprehensively studies market definition, market segmentation, competitive analysis and key developments in the market. It comprises of fundamental, secondary and advanced information related to the global status and trend, market size, sales volume, market share, growth, future trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2020 – 2027. It includes an extensive research on the current conditions of the industry, potential of the market in the present and the future prospects from various angles. Thus, the transparent, reliable and extensive market information of this CBD Edibles report will definitely develop business and improve return on investment (ROI).
Data Bridge Market Research analyses the market to account to USD 5160 million by 2027 growing at a CAGR of 24.30% in the forecast period. Rising global healthcare spending is expected to enhance the market growth.
An Overview of the Impact of COVID-19 on Particular Market:
The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. We understand that this health crisis has brought an unprecedented impact on businesses across industries. However, this too shall pass. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly contagious disease. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. Overall, almost every sector is anticipated to be impacted by the pandemic.
We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future.
CBD Edibles Market Overview 2020-2027: Some of the factors such as rising production of hemp, increasing awareness about the health advantages of cannabis, rising demand from the healthcare industry, and legalization of cannabis in the various industries is expected to enhance the CBD edibles market in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. High cost of the CBD products and presence of stringent regulations is expected to hamper the market growth in the mentioned forecast period.
Global CBD Edibles Market Scope and Market Size
CBD edibles market is segmented of the basis of source type and application. The growth amongst these segments will help you analyse meagre growth segments in the industries, and provide the users with valuable market overview and market insights to help them in making strategic decisions for identification of core market applications.
o Based on source type, the CBD edibles market is bifurcated into hemp and marijuana.
o The application segment of the CBD edibles market is segmented into personal care & cosmetics, pharmaceutical, food & beverage and others.
The Global CBD Edibles Market 2020 research provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The market Report also calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of This Report and technologies by various application segments. The data and the information regarding the CBD Edibles industry are taken from reliable sources such as websites, annual reports of the companies, journals, and others and were checked and validated by the market experts.
Global CBD Edibles Industry 2020 Market Research Report is spread across 350 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and competitive landscape details in this niche sector.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 12:29 PM on Wednesday, April 8th, 2020
SPONSOR: Lomiko Metals is focused on the exploration and development of minerals for the new green economy such as lithium and graphite. Lomiko owns 80% of the high-grade La Loutre graphite Property, Lac Des Iles Graphite Property and the 100% owned Quatre Milles Graphite Property. Lomiko is uniquely poised to supply the growing EV battery market. Click Here For More Information
The transportation sector is one of the biggest reasons why the average temperature on our planet is climbing, a phenomenon you probably know as climate change. In the United States, transportation contributes about a third of the carbon dioxide, or CO2, that the country releases into the atmosphere where it traps heat and causes temperatures to rise. Every year, Americans produce about 1.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from driving cars, flying in planes, and shipping things by road, sea, rail, and air all over the country. That’s the weight of more than 20,000 Washington Monuments.
We want to get that 1.9 billion number closer to zero as soon as possible. But we still need ways to get people and products from one part of the country to another. How do we change the way we move ourselves and our things so that we create fewer planet-warming emissions?
Grist has put together some introductory videos and activities to help you understand some of the ways the transportation sector might go green.
Electric Cars
Electric vehicles are an exciting alternative to the traditional, gas-guzzling, combustion-powered cars. Instead of filling up at the gas station, you simply plug your car into an electric socket and charge the car’s battery. In the past decade, electric cars have gotten better, cheaper, and more popular.
So is an electric car right for your family? It all depends on where you live, how you gets around, and what your family can afford.
Activities:
Research: Look up and see if there are electric vehicle charging stations in your area. If you live in an area where there are very few charging stations, it might be difficult to imagine owning an electric car. Think about all the car trips you normally make: school, work, grocery shopping, even weekend trips and vacations. If your electric car could go 100 miles on a charge, could you still easily make most of these trips?
Do: The “greenness†of your electric vehicle depends on how your region generates electricity. You can find out by typing your ZIP code into the “power profiler†sidebar on this Environmental Protection Agency web page. It will tell you how many pounds of carbon dioxide it takes to produce a megawatt-hour of electricity — the energy equivalent of about 28 gallons of gasoline. We can use this number to compare whether an electric car is better than a gas car in your city.
For our comparison, we’re going to use a 2020 Honda Civic as our gas-powered car, and a 2020 Nissan Leaf as our electric car.
So … which car produces more CO2 in your city? Discuss: Would an electric car work with your family’s budget and driving habits? Why or why not?
Walkable Cities
Have you ever gotten in the car only to drive a few blocks away? You’re not alone. Americans take a lot of unnecessary car trips. If we could get more people to take the bus, hop on a bike, or simply walk more, we could shave off a big chunk of the U.S.’s transportation-related emissions.
Some neighborhoods are less walkable than others. If you live near a busy road or in a neighborhood far from your favorite hangouts, it can be inconvenient or even dangerous to walk. To get more people out of their cars and walking, we need to think about how our neighborhoods are designed.
Activities:
Research: Look up your address on the Walk Score website. This will give you a ranking based on how easy it is to walk to nearby stores, schools, or parks. If you click “About your score,†you can see which categories your home scores low and high on.
What’s your score? Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?
Discuss: Think about all the places you go on a regular basis. Where do you shop for groceries, eat food, or watch movies? What parks do you like to visit? Can you find any alternate places to do these activities that are within walking distance?
Bikes
Bikes are fun, healthy, and climate-friendly forms of transportation. But not everyone owns a bike — or it can be impractical to lug one along for certain types of trips. In some cities, companies offer bikes on the sidewalk that you can just hop on and ride.
Activities:
Research: How does the built environment make people more or less likely to bike? Look up your neighborhood’s Bike Score. This tool grades each neighborhood’s bike-ability based on four factors: safe infrastructure (like bike lanes), hills, the number of gathering places within biking distance, and how many of your neighbors also ride bikes.
Observe: Does your neighborhood have bike lanes? Would you feel safe riding a bike in your neighborhood? How many of your favorite destinations — like parks, restaurants, stores, or museums — are within biking distance? Does your neighborhood have a lot of hills? If it does, would a rentable e-bike make you more likely to ride? The Bike Score website believes that it’s safer to ride on streets that have a lot of bike traffic already. Do you see people riding bikes in your neighborhood?
Discuss: Does your city have a bikeshare or short-term rental program? What are some trips you would take using a bike you own or could rent?
Do: Plan a fun fantasy trip you could take on a bike. Where would you want to go? What would you need to bring? How much time would you need?
Trains
Trains have been around for nearly two centuries, and they’re a promising solution for cutting the country’s transportation emissions. They’re also pretty efficient — meaning they only use a little bit of fuel to carry each rider. Some trains even run on electricity.
But in the United States, our trains are pretty slow and outdated. Can we fix them?
Activities:
Research: Think about the most recent plane trips you have taken. Would it have been possible to take the train instead? How much time would it take? How much would it cost?
Discuss: What might make you want to take a train over a plane? How would you make a train trip a more desirable option compared to an airplane flight?
