Snipp Interactive [SNIPF: OTC] remains my favorite stock pick for 2015. Subscribers who bought the Canadian-listed shares (SPN:CN) when I first recommended them last January could have gotten aboard for as little as 10 cents. They’ve since traded as high as 0.82. I bought SNIPF myself after sitting in on a conference call a little more than a year ago with its CEO, Atul Sabharwal. I was impressed with his pitch but am even more impressed now that I’ve seen how very innovative and imaginative the company is. They continue to win new business with a growing list of blue chip clients, often by inventing appealing new ways for the clients to engage customers. The latest such offering features an “augmented reality” campaign designed for Honda’s exclusive licensee in Kuwait, Alghanim Motors. Click here to read more about this.

Some of Snipp’s clients are understandably skittish about revealing the marketing tactics the company has developed for them. Under the circumstances, Snipp’s business successes sometimes go untrumpeted or even unremarked. Take a look at Snipp’s home page, though, and you’ll see that the young company is gaining traction with a very impressive list of clients. What I like most about the firm, however, is that it makes money in ways that any investor can understand. Here’s how they describe themselves on their web site: ‘Snipp builds shopper marketing and promotions solutions for brands, agencies and marketers. We have a comprehensive suite of solutions including receipt processing, loyalty, rebates, mobile promotions and contests, mobile messaging, rewards and more.’  In the digital age, every investor should own at least one tech stock whose business methods and revenue model are as transparent as Snipp’s. From the client’s standpoint, the results Snipp achieves with mobile-phone-based marketing not only demonstrate the power of such promotions, they do so in real time. That is one of Snipp’s strongest selling points, as well as a perfect formula for winning repeat business.

Those who already own the stock would not have failed to notice that a “bought sale” underwritten by Canaccord and completed just days ago will significantly dilute shareholder equity. The deal originally sought to raise $8M, but the amount was increased to $12M ( @ 0.55 CDN per share) to accommodate unexpectedly strong demand. The sale appears to have slowed SNIPF’s steep rise on the charts (see inset), but my gut feeling is that this will be temporary and that the ultimate impact will be highly beneficial to shareholders. Give a lean, aggressive upstart and innovator like Snipp $12 million to grow, and they will do so — as efficiently as any investor could hope for. _______ UPDATE (February 17, 5:25 p.m. EST): The stock took a powerful leap today on Canadian volume of 2.1 million shares — most impressive. The percentage gain was 13.41% CDN, or 18% in U.S. dollars. From a technical standpoint, the OTC stock is due to meet daunting Hidden Pivot resistance at exactly 0.8065, equivalent to around 0.98 CDN (see inset, a fresh chart). I expect a sharp pullback from that price, but if SNIPF simply blows past it, that would imply there are still plenty of investors eager to jump aboard, even at these nosebleed heights. _______ UPDATE (February 18, 5:05 p.m.): The stock popped once again after taking a modest hit in the early going. The high on Canada’s Venture Exchange was 0.99, and although the O-T-C price in the U.S. seems to have remained at 0.77, the 0.8065 target should be considered filled. Now let’s see whether the target, clear and compelling as it is, marks at least a temporary top._______ UPDATE (March 6, 12:16 a.m.): The 0.8065 target has turned out to have been an important one, generating a correction so far of nearly 25%.  Now let’s see if the 0.5823 target of this correction contains the pullback.  _______ UPDATE (March 9, 10:51 p.m. EDT): The target was exceeded, so far by 4 cents, suggesting the correction has farther to go. Alternatively, a pop to 0.62 would be most encouraging.