“Virgin Galactic, Tesla, Hecla & Enphase Charge Forward As Markets Hit Records”

Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (SPCE) shot up another amazing +23.27% today to close at $37.35/share after hitting $38.72/share in intraday trading, a new all-time high yesterday. The 52-wk range is $6.90 – $38.72. Virgin Galactic, a vertically integrated aerospace company, announced last Thursday that it has successfully completed another vital step on its path to commercial service, relocating SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, to its commercial headquarters at Spaceport America’s Gateway to Space building. VSS Unity, attached to the carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, made the journey from Mojave, California, where the Company’s manufacturing facilities are based. The vehicle landed at 15:49 MT, where it was greeted by an enthusiastic group of teammates who will operate the spaceship in New Mexico.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) charged ahead as well closing at $917.42/share, +6.88% after hitting an intraday high of $944.77/share. The 52-week range is $176.99 – $968.99. On Feb. 13th Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”) announced that it intends to offer approximately $2 billion of common stock in an underwritten registered public offering. Tesla has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to approximately $300 million of additional common stock. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, will participate by purchasing up to $10 million of common stock in this offering. In addition, Larry Ellison, a member of Tesla’s Board of Directors, will purchase up to $1 million of common stock. The aggregate gross proceeds of the offering, assuming full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional securities, would be approximately $2.3 billion before discounts and expenses. Tesla intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to further strengthen its balance sheet, as well as for general corporate purposes. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley are acting as lead joint book-running managers for the offering, with Barclays, BofA Securities, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Wells Fargo Securities acting as additional book-running managers, and Societe Generale acting as co-manager.

Shares of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) today moved up another +2.79%, after yesterday’s +10% move, to close at $3.32/share. At the end of last week, Hecla announced that it had priced its previously announced public offering of senior notes (the “Offering”). The Company has agreed to sell $475.0 million aggregate principal amount of 7.250% Senior Notes due 2028 (the “Notes”). The Offering is expected to close on February 19, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. The Notes will pay interest semi-annually in arrears at a rate of 7.250% per year and will mature on February 15, 2028, unless earlier redeemed or repurchased. The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by certain of the Company’s subsidiaries. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering, together with cash on hand, to redeem all of its outstanding 6.875% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “2021 Notes”) totaling $506M and to pay fees and expenses in connection with the Offering and the redemption of the 2021 Notes. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as the book-running manager for the offering. The offering of the Notes is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained by calling J.P. Morgan Securities LLC collect at (866)-803-9204 or writing to J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717.  Hecla will be headed out to Florida next week to the Annual BMO Mining Conference in Ft. Lauderdale and also will be hosting Tribe Public Keynote Speaker Events in West Palm Beach on Feb. 25th, Miami on February 26th & Naples on February 27th. I will be attending all the events. Please let me know if you would like to join. The tribe website is www.tribepublic.com.

The broad markets also hit new records today. The S&P 500 closed at 3,386.15, +.47%,  The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at 9,817.18, +.87%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,348.03, +.4%. The Russell 2000 also moved higher by +.54% ending at 1,692.57.

The FAANG’s results were mixed today. Facebook (FB) closed at $217.49/share, -.14%, Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1526.69/share, +.46%, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $2,170.22/share, +.67%, Apple (AAPL) closed $323.62/share, +1.45% & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $386.19/share, -.41%.

The “fear gauge” Vix (TVIX) ended at $39.25/share dropping -2.73% and traded in $38.45 – $39.75 range.

Economic Reports

On Monday we did not receive any significant macroeconomic data as it was Presidents’ Day.

On Tuesday, we received the Empire State Manufacturing Survey for February moved up to 12.9. The NAHB Housing Market Index for February moved lower to 74.

On Wednesday, the Producer Price Index for January confirmed a move up by +.5% month/month and core PPI, which excludes food and energy, moved higher by +.5%. Building permits were confirmed to have moved up +9.2% month/month to 1.551M & were up 17.9% year/year. The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index dropped by -6.4%.

Investing & Inspiration

“The riskiest thing we can do is just maintain the status quo.
I get up at 4:30 in the morning, seven days a week, no matter where I am in the world.
I think it is important for people who are given leadership roles to assume that role immediately.
What I’ve really learned over time is that optimism is a very, very important part of leadership.” Bob Iger, Ceo of Disney

“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

Tomorrow

Tomorrow’s significant economic data report schedule will include the following:

• The Weekly Initial and Continuing Claims Report

• The Philadelphia Fed Index for February

• The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for January