Snipp Interactive

I've been using a 0.0764 target as a potential bear-market bottom, but the newly drawn chart shown (see inset) supports a less pessimistic outcome -- i.e., a bullish reversal from 0.1086, a 'secondary' Hidden Pivot support. I continue to hold a third of an original 150,000-share position, most of it acquired between 0.10 and 0.15 in 2014, having passed up an opportunity to take some profits on last year's sensational run-up to 78 cents. Now, I'm enthused about the prospect of rebuilding the position, especially if the stock comes down to the 0.1086 pivot -- or better yet, to 0.0764.  Besides the potentially bullish implications of the chart, I am impressed with the way Snipp CEO Atul Sabharwal handled some tough questions posed by shareholders who have been understandably disappointed by the stock's horrific slide over the last 15 months. To access this Q&A, which has been presented on Snipp's web site as a FAQ, click here. _______ UPDATE (August 4, 12:46 a.m. EDT): The rally begun on July 11 targets 0.1572 on the hourly chart (a=0.1210 on 7/13), but if buyers can push the stock just a bit higher, surpassing mid-June's 0.1673 peak, it would be the most bullish thing SNIPF has done in a long while. _______ UPDATE (August 13. 1:02 p.m.) The stock appears to be basing, having spent the last month-and-a-half in heavy chop between 0.12 and 0.15. An upthrust exceeding 0.1680 would imply that bulls are finally getting the upper hand, but I'll stick with my sub-0.11 bid for now, since the stock's dismal performance since peaking in February 2015 argues against paying up. _______ UPDATE (August 21, 1:20 p.m.): The stock has been rangebound between 0.12 and 0.15 for two months, but it looks like it will have to go at least somewhat lower

Snipp shares dove anew Tuesday on news of disappointing earnings for the first quarter of 2016. It is most perplexing to me that a company that has been winning new business with so many blue-chip clients cannot turn a profit. The inescapable conclusion is that Snipp Inc. has been poorly managed.  Talk with the CEO, Atul Sabharwal, however, and you will come away convinced that he knows what he is doing and that he will eventually bring Snipp’s bloated operating costs under control. On the other hand, it is hardly reassuring that Snipp put so many shares in the hands of Canaccord via a "bought sale" arranged last year. One might surmise that, ever since, the Canadian investment firm and its close friends have been unloading Snipp shares into every rally. I continue to hold a third of my original position nonetheless, since, at least from a marketing standpoint, Mr. Sabharwal seems to me like a highly capable innovator.  If it were otherwise, the company would not be winning new business with so many blue-chip multinational firms. From a technical perspective, the stock's slippage beneath a key 'midpoint Hidden pivot' at 0.1832 leaves it vulnerable to a fall to 0.1298 over the near term (i.e., within 3-4 weeks). Worst case if that 'secondary' pivot should fail would be 0.0764. As noted above, I will continue to hold Snipp shares speculatively because I am unable to imagine the company going belly-up. If it doesn't, Snipp appears to have laid the groundwork for solid growth and strong profitability somewhere down the road.  Snipp itself is optimistic this will happen, for reasons that are spelled out in the latest earnings report. Click here to access it. _______ UPDATE (July 4): SNIPF has performed exactly as forecast, falling last week to a 0.1287 low

I had enthusiastically recommended this stock when it was selling for a little more than a dime a share in 2014, but it has turned into a major disappointment. To be sure, the company continues to grow its roster of A-list clients with such household names as Pfizer, Sunoco, Heineken, AT&T, Pepsi, Honda, Clorox, Kellogg's, Walmart, L'Oreal, Nestle, Kraft and quite a few others; however, its share price has fallen steeply nonetheless (see chart inset). Two possible reasons stand out. One is that Snipp expanded its payroll in 2015, mainly through acquisitions, far faster than its revenues. The firm's CEO, Atul Sabharwal, says the acquisitions were sound and that they will begin to pay off in 2016. In the meantime, though, he admits that Snipp is likely to experience digestion pains until the employees, many of them software engineers rather than salespeople, are assimilated and duplicate positions are eliminated. Snipp's other obvious problem is a financial relationship with Canaccord that, as far as one can tell, has caused nothing but trouble for the stock. Canaccord was the lead underwriter for a $12.27 million 'bought sale'  early in 2015. Although one might have expected this private-placement deal to put Snipp shares in strong hands, the opposite appears to have occurred. Canaccord in retrospect seems to have been more interested in flipping the stock for a quick profit than in helping the company solidify its financial position. The apparent result is that the shares and warrants they and their cronies acquired for a unit price of 55 cents became a supply overhang that continues to weigh heavily on Snipp stock to this day. As such, I can no longer recommend purchasing or holding Snipp shares. Although I continue to hold stock in the company myself, my patience is wearing thin. If and

SNIPF took a 15% leap Monday after languishing between 0.30 and 0.35 since early August. There was a surge in volume to around 300,000 shares accompanying the move, suggesting bullish interest that has been lacking since spring may be returning. From a technical standpoint, the stock still needs to hurdle the two 'external' peaks shown in order to turn the intraday charts decisively bullish. The first lies at 0.3950 and was recorded on July 13; the second, at 0.4600, was recorded on June 25.  If a rally exceeding those two resistance points were to occur without a visually distinctive pullback after the lower number has been surpassed, it would be quite bullish. A visit to Snipp's web site suggests they're having a very productive quarter. Full disclosure: I own shares in this company.

The stock demolished the Hidden Pivot support I'd flagged at 0.4062 (USD), implying the decline begun in February is likely to continue to at least 0.3586, or perhaps even to 0.3248 in the weeks ahead. I spoke yesterday with the company's CEO, Atul Sabharwal, and he remains confident about Snipp's prospects, even if the stock has come down hard after topping at 0.7780 earlier this year.  SNIPF (the company's U.S. symbol; it trades as SPN in Canada) has lost slightly more than half of its value since then, a pretty stiff correction. Sabharwal points out that many stocks listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange, which is heavily weighted with energy and natural resource companies, have gotten pummeled this year, weighing down the shares of even strong performers like Snipp.  He notes that Snipp's balance sheet is in "great shape," with a $10 million cash reserve, and that "business is as good as ever." That said, 22 million Snipp shares issued at 0.55 (CDN) became tradable in June, glutting the market at a time when Canadian Venture Exchange stocks were getting trounced. This created a "perfect storm" to rock SNIPF's boat, Sabharwal said.  "I don't know what's ailing the exchange. Maybe there's fear of a tech-bubble blow-up. But it's put a lot of pressure on us."  Click here for an upbeat assessment of Snipp prepared by analysts at EuroPacific Canada and published a month ago.  (Note: Your editor still holds a position in the stock.) _______ UPDATE (July 8, 2:18 p.m. EDT): The ultimate bottom may lie still lower, since the stock failed today to hold above the absolutely clear and authoritative Hidden Pivot support at 0.3248 (USD) noted above. What this implies is that SNIPF could now fall to 0.2701 before finding a bottom, or perhaps even to 0.2068, my

Trading in Snipp was briefly halted Monday on news that the company had agreed to acquire a competitor, Hip Digital Media, of Menlo Park, CA. SNIPF shares were off a nickel on volume of more than two million shares, but I wouldn't read too much into it. "The acquisition of Hip is advantageous across many dimensions," said Snipp CEO Atul Sabharwal. "Its robust rewards solution and technology is very complementary and can easily be bolted onto our receipt-processing and loyalty platforms. Hip's strengths in sales and marketing complement our own, and instead of two companies chasing down the same set of shopper marketing clients, we now have one company targeting twice as many clients. We also have the benefit of bringing on an experienced team with many years of collective experience in the shopper marketing and promotions space." SNIPF will pay up to 12,878,788 shares for the acquisition, for a target price of $8.5 million, but two thirds of that will be doled out quarterly, based on Hip's meeting certain financial targets over the next 12 months. Hip will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, and its employes could reap generous stock bonuses if they perform well following the merger. From a technical standpoint, even after yesterday's decline the stock remains on track to hit the 0.8320 (U.S.) target shown.  That would push SPN (Snipp Interactive's symbol on the Canadian Venture Exchange) above $1 for the first time.  More immediately, however, SNIPF will need to vault a 0.6550 midpoint "Hidden Pivot" that has stymied bulls since April. A two-day close above that price, or an intraday move exceeding it by two to three cents, would greatly shorten the odds of a finishing stroke to at least 0.8320. Rick's Picks first recommended the stock in January 2014, when it was trading

Snipp Interactive is my top stock pick for 2015 -- not for technical reasons, but because the company has been steadily building an impressive list of blue-chip clients by doing so many things exceptionally well.  Snipp designs interactive marketing campaigns that involve receipt processing, customer loyalty programs, rebates, mobile promotions and contests, mobile messaging and reward incentives. Snipp is such an imaginative and aggressive player that they are literally growing their own niche.  Click here to see the company's rapidly expanding list of clients. Numerous times, I have sent what I considered "hot" marketing ideas to Snipp's CEO, Atul Sabharwal, only to learn that Snipp was already three steps ahead of me. One such idea came to me after I attended a Bollywood film that listed 'Marketing Partners' in the credits. Shouldn't SNIPP be trying to woo major U.S. exhibitors and their partners? Turns out they already are, in a big way. From a technical standpoint, Snipp shares look poised for a run-up to new highs. At the moment, the stock seems to be taking the measure of a midpoint Hidden Pivot resistance at 0.66 (USD). If and when SNIPF gets past it, a related target at 0.83 would be in play. (Full disclosure: I own shares in the company.)

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

I first recommended this stock in early September after being very impressed with a presentation by its CEO, Atul Sabharwal. Rick's Picks subscribers were subsequently able to by shares for as little as 0.10 (CDN) before SNIPF took off. The company provides mobile marketing solutions to a growing list of clients that includes Wal-Mart, ESPN, Lexus, Taco Bell, Target, Johnson & Johnson and Minute Maid.  Snipp's shares are listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX: SPN) and on the OTC in the U.S. (symbol: SNIPF), but yesterday it filed with the SEC for an exchange listing in the U.S.  From a technical standpoint, SNIPF looks to be basing for a move to as high as 0.4385. First, though, it would need to trip a buy signal at 0.2878, then to clear the 0.3380 midpoint pivot (see inset).  The company continues to win new business at a rapid clip, and that's why I expect the earnings report due out November 15 to be strong. Full disclosure: I hold shares and warrants in this company. _______ UPDATE (November 13, 10:49 a.m. EST): Two days ahead of the earnings report, the stock has taken quite a leap, with an opening bar high today at 0.38 that was 36% above yesterday's close. This means the 0.4385 target flagged above is well in play.  _______ UPDATE (6:49 p.m.): The stock took a leap Thursday back up to the midpoint pivot at 0.3380 associated with the 0.4385 target. Regarding earnings, they will be out later than expected, in line with the Canadian deadline for filing. Stay tuned.  _______ UPDATE (November 17):  Snipp has reported 252% earnings growth for Q3. Click here for the company's latest filing. _______ UPDATE (December 5, 10:13 a.m.): Zounds!  The stock has popped to 0.40, quadrupling in the eight months since I