Dow 30 Achieves New Record High As Apple’s Socket Mobile (SCKT) & Blockchain Stocks (SOS, MARA, RIOT) ‘Go Bananas’

The markets provided an overall positive welcome back from the long holiday weekend in this shortened trading week. In fact, Tuesday’s trading session saw all indices hit intraday record highs, however the Dow 30 was the only major index that managed to close in at a record close of 31,522.75 (+.2%) and end safely in the green.  To round out the indices’ results today, the S&P 500 closed at 3,932.59(-.06%), the Nasdaq closed at 14,047.50(-.34%) & the Russell 2000 closed at 2,272.89 (-.72%). The energy sector led all sectors with a 2.3% jump as oil prices closed moved up 1% to a close at $60.09/bbl but OPEC+ is now making another move to possibly ease their supply after the April time frame possibly curbing the rising pressures of the supply demand and reopening bids. On the downside of the coin, the utilities sector fell 1.1%, the real estate sector fell 1.1%, & the health care sector lost 1%.

MACRO & MONEY 

The macroeconomic schedule delivered one report of significance today as the Empire State Manufacturing Survey report confirmed a rise to 12.1 in February (January was 3.5). Tomorrow’s busy schedule will produce the Retail Sales report for January, the Producer Price Index report for January, the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report for January, the FOMC Minutes, the NAHB Housing Index report for February, the Business Inventories report for December, & the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index report.

The financials sector rose 1.8% as the yield curve rose in the face of reopening confidence as the distribution the COVID-19 vaccination is reportedly gaining traction and confidence is swelling. The 2-yr treasury yield rose 2 basis points to close at .12%, while the 10-yr treasury yield moved up 10 basis points to close at 1.30%. The U.S. Dollar ticked higher to end at 90.54.

Further US economic stimulus still lingering about, but is still in the tight & self promoting grips of politicians. 

FAANG’s, TSLA, & Apple’s Socket Mobile Skyrockets

The FAANG’s ended mixed today as follows: Apple (AAPL) shares closed at $133.19, -1.61%, Amazon (AMZN) ($3,268.95, -.27%), & Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $2,121.9,+.85%, Facebook (FB) closed at $273.97, +1.28%, & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $557.28/share, +.14%. 

Shares of Newark, CA-based Socket Mobile Inc. (SCKT), a leading provider of data capture and delivery solutions designed to enhance workplace productivity, jumped from a day low of $9.17 to a intraday high of $35 prior to closing at $20.68, +538.27%. 223 million shares traded for this ‘low float’ stock. Socket’s move came as it announced the arrival of the DuraSled™, the first enterprise-grade barcode scanner for the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Mini. They stated that with the sleek, high-performance DuraSled, users of all Apple iPhone 12 series devices can access professional-grade scanning solutions.

Shares of the leading EV maker Tesla (TSLA) closed at $796.22, -2.44%. Chinese EV producer NIO Limited (NIO) closed at $59.23/share, -1.04% and will report its Q4 and full year 2020 results on Monday, March 1, 2021. 

Shares of the leading provider of hydrogen engines and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility Plug Power (PLUG) ($59, -6.63%).  Today Madrid, Spain’s ACCIONA S.A. (BME: ANA), a global leading supplier of sustainable infrastructure solutions, and Plug Power announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to launch a 50-50 joint-venture (JV) headquartered in Madrid. This JV will be a leading green hydrogen platform serving clients in Spain and Portugal, providing cost-efficient and competitive green hydrogen to multiple end markets.

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) achieved a new all-time high of $614.90 prior to closing at $613.21, +2.47% amid the “global chip shortage” as their chips power the future of self-driving cars and cloud gaming. The FTC is investigating $40 billion acquisition of Arm Ltd. Arm’s tech reportedly is going into chips of billions of devices shipping this year including smartphones, video cameras, hard drives, washing machines, etc.

CRYPTO & BLOCKCHAIN STOCKS STAY WHITE HOT

Everything crypto/blockchain related seemed to be moving upward again today as Bitcoin eye’d a $50,000 price tag.

Shares of Qingdao, China-based SOS Limited (NYSE: SOS) fly to new all-time high of $13.69 prior to closing at $11.84 up a more than health +59.14% today after trading 172.19 milling shares. SOA is an emerging blockchain-based and big data-driven marketing and solution provider, with a nationwide membership base of approximately 20 million in China. Recently, SOS has outlined its strategy in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, which include a series of initiatives to expand its business into cryptocurrency mining as well as cryptocurrency security and insurance. On Feb. 9, it was reported that it has received 5000 PCS of mining rigs ahead of schedule on Feb. 9, 2021, five days earlier than the delivery date set by the purchase agreement with the seller. The first batch of delivery is composed of a pool of 5000 PCS of mining rigs, which can generate about BTC Hash Power 175P and ETH Hash Power 350G.

Riot Blockchain (RIOT) closed at $59.50 up 20.74% today after reaching $61.27 and new all-time high. The 52-week low is $.51 share. 

Marathon Patent Group (MARA) rose to a new all-time high of $45.26 prior to closing at $43.56, +13.26%. The 52-week low is $.35.

BIOTECH & HEALTHCARE

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) closed at 167.01, -2.17% while the NYSE ARCA Biotech Index(^BTK) closed at 6,068.60, -2.63%. 

Today, Cytovia Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing allogeneic “off-the-shelf” gene-edited Natural Killer (NK) and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-NK cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and Cellectis (Euronext Growth: ALCLS – Nasdaq: CLLS) ($27.33, +.59%), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunotherapies based on gene-edited allogeneic CAR T-cells (UCART), announced that they have entered into a strategic research and development collaboration to develop TALEN® gene-edited iPSC NK and CAR-NK cells. The financial terms of the partnership include up to $760 million of development, regulatory, and sales milestones from Cytovia to Cellectis for the first 5 TALEN® gene-edited iPSC-derived NK products (“partnership products”). Cellectis will also receive single-digit royalty payments on the net sales of all partnered products commercialized by Cytovia. Cellectis will receive an equity stake of $15 million in Cytovia stock or an upfront cash payment of $15 million if certain conditions are not met by December 31, 2021, as well as an option to invest in future financing rounds. Cellectis will develop custom TALEN®, which Cytovia will use to edit iPSCs. Cytovia will be responsible for the differentiation and expansion of the gene-edited iPSC master cell bank into NK cells and will conduct the pre-clinical evaluation, clinical development, and commercialization of the mutually-agreed-upon selected therapeutic candidates. Cellectis is granting Cytovia a worldwide license to its TALEN® gene-editing technology, enabling Cytovia to modify NK cells addressing multiple gene targets for therapeutic use in several cancer indications. Cytovia is seeking to go public in the early summer time frame. We invested in Cytovia in December, 2020. 

GOLD, SILVER, HL

The iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) closed at $25.26, -.2%. Silver prices closed at $27.24/oz, -$48. Gold prices closed at 1,792, -$29.

North American Silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) closed at $6.13/share, -.65 on the day after recently establishing a new 52-week high of $8.45 this week. HL’s 52-week range is $1.4 – $8.45.  I recently hosted a Tribe Public Webinar Presentation and Q&A Event last week with Phillips S. Baker, Jr., President, and CEO of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) where we discussed “The Silver Squeeze” while addressing questions from the Tribe and offering valuable insights on silver prices throughout history and the recent volatility that helped move silver related stocks and the ETF SLV. Please view it by clicking here.  Hecla will issue a news release reporting its fourth quarter and year-end 2020 financial results before market open on Thursday, February 18, 2021, and announces future management changes. A conference call and webcast will be held Thursday, February 18, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss fourth quarter and year-end 2020 financial results. You may join the conference call by dialing toll-free 1-833-350-1380 or for international by dialing 1-647-689-6934. The Conference ID is 7412488

VP WATCHLIST HIGHLIGHTS

Economic Reports

• On Monday, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey report confirmed a rise to 12.1 in February (January was 3.5).

Investing & Inspiration

“It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.” – George Soros

“No Price is too low for a bear or too high for a bull.” — Anonymous

“Investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.” Anonymous

“Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.” — Peter Lynch

“Wise spending is part of wise investing. And it’s never too late to start.” –Rhonda Katz

“It amazes me how people are often more willing to act based on little or no data than to use data that is a challenge to assemble.” ― Robert Shiller

“A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends.” — Barton Biggs

“The investor’s chief problem — even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself.” — Benjamin Graham

“No profession requires more hard work, intelligence, patience, and mental discipline than successful speculation.” – Robert Rhea

“Money is like a sixth sense – and you can’t make use of the other five without it.” – William Somerset Maugham

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein

“Never count on making a good sale. Have the purchase price be so attractive that even a mediocre sale gives good results” — Warren Buffett

“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” – Warren Buffett

“Thousands of experts study overbought indicators, head-and-shoulder patterns, put-call ratios, the Fed’s policy on money supply…and they can’t predict markets with any useful consistency, any more than the gizzard squeezers could tell the Roman emperors when the Huns would attack.” – Peter Lynch

“Investing puts money to work. The only reason to save money is to invest it.” – Grant Cardone

“You cannot save time for your future use however you can invest time for your future.” – John F. Heerdink, Jr. 

“Know what you own, and know why you own it.” – Peter Lynch

“Liquidity is only there when you don’t need it.” -Old Proverb

“If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.” – Richard Branson

“Fear incites human action far more urgently than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.” – Jeremy Siegel

“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” – Charlie Munger

“The entrance strategy is actually more important than the exit strategy.” – Edward Lampert

“The rivers don’t drink their own water; Trees don’t eat their own fruits. The sun does not shine for itself, And flowers do not spread their fragrance For themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature” – Pope Francis

“It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different from the majority.” – John Templeton

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin.

“I believe the returns on investment in the poor are just as exciting as successes achieved in the business arena, and they are even more meaningful!” -Bill Gates

“Every portfolio benefits from bonds; they provide a cushion when the stock market hits a rough patch. But avoiding stocks completely could mean your investment won’t grow any faster than the rate of inflation.” – Suze Orman

“The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility, and flow of risk capital… the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.” – John F. Kennedy

“If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion. -George Bernard Shaw

“There are old traders and there are bold traders, but there are very few old, bold traders.”-Ed Seykota

“Let this scenario play out on its own, in its own fashion. As you watch it unfold, you will soon be grateful that you choose the peaceful path. Remember — those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”

“As long as you enjoy investing, you’ll be willing to do the homework and stay in the game.” -Jim Cramer

“I rarely think the market is right. I believe non-dividend stocks aren’t much more than baseball cards. They are worth what you can convince someone to pay for it.” -Mark Cuban

“Michael Marcus taught me one other thing that is absolutely critical: You have to be willing to make mistakes regularly; there is nothing wrong with it. Michael taught me about making your best judgment, being wrong, making your next best judgment, being wrong, making your third best judgment, and then doubling your money.” -Bruce Kovner

“The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.” -Jawaharlal Nehru

“The only true test of whether a stock is “cheap” or “high” is not its current price in relation to some former price, no matter how accustomed we may have become to that former price, but whether the company’s fundamentals are significantly more or less favorable than the current financial-community appraisal of that stock.” -Philip Fisher

“I learned to avoid trying to catch up or double up to recoup losses. I also learned that a certain amount of loss will affect your judgment, so you have to put some time between that loss and the next trade.” -Richard Dennis

“The four most dangerous words in investing are: ‘this time it’s different.” -Sir John Templeton

“Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.” -Arnold Schwarzenegger