Member ‘tjfeld‘ topped all Challengers in June with a 48.95% return. His first ever win, came on the heels of a breakout performance by Mogo Finance. Gold stocks and other metal-based issuers are enduring their normal period of seasonal weakness; therefore, the door has been opened for some tech stocks which have been outperforming. Mogo Finance is a perfect example and is dominating from a performance standpoint on the TSX. We wrote about the digital banking company earlier this month in Mogo Finance Leading Canada’s Mobile Cashless Society.

“Mogo Finance Technology (TSX: MOGO) is the latest ‘Fintech’ company to break out on the TSX. While, focused on building the best digital banking experience in Canada, Mogo delivers innovative mobile products.”

We have been writing about the shift to digital transactions for years at Pinnacle. We published Cashless Society Coming to Canada in February of 2016 and Canada’s March to Cashless Society Quickens on March 24th, 2016.

Below is an excerpt from Canada’s March to Cashless Society Quickens,

“…the rate as which we are moving to a cashless society, facilitated by government bodies and central banks, is alarming.

    Economists in the U.S. and bankers in the EU went public in the idea of abolishing $100 bills and €500 notes in February of 2016. This would hasten the rise of digital payments and plastic transactions in those countries. It appears Canada doesn’t need the boost:

    “Nowhere do people pay with plastic more than in Canada. An RBS report from 2011 found that paying by plastic — credit, debit and bank cards — amounts to 40 per cent of transactions, on average, across world economies. But the rate in Canada was 68 per cent, making the country the world leader in plastic payment.”

    source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/14/percentage-of-cash-transa_n_7283946.html

Click here to read the full article.

 

Canada is the perfect breeding ground for a new digital banking player. tjfeld was right when he bet the market would continue to embrace this new fintech player. Mogo’s stock chart has been moving up and to the right since October of last year. This stock always seems to break out to yet another high.

Mogo Finance – 6 Month Stock Chart

Mogo Finance

 

Mogo gave him a scare towards the end of the month, falling to $3.84 on June 21st. However; a rebound was in the cards. Mogo surged 8% the next trading day and 10.8% three trading days later. Finally, its shares would top out at $5 on June 30th – a new 52-week high. Well timed, tjfeld.

While, mountaineer78 hung around, he never got much closer than 5% to the crown today.

 

Mogo Too Hot in June Stock Challenge at 2:30 PM EST

Stock Challenge Top 5 Update

 

Long-time member ‘mountaineer78‘ was a step away and even led for most of June’s Stock Challenge.

In the end, mountaineer78’s return fell short. As recent as June 26th, we published an article titled mountaineer78 Regains Lead in June Stock Challenge,

“One long-time member and past Stock Challenge Champ is mounting one heck of a comeback in June. Last week the faithful member and always competitive ‘mountaineer78’ rocketed into the lead after his selection of Sphere 3D jumped 58% in one day. As is often the case with small-cap tech stocks, its shares declined precipitously soon after.”

 

mountaineer78’s 42.01% combined average return for June, was good enough for second as he has been awarded the People’s Champ award.

The People’s Champ is a selective award associated with Pinnacle’s Stock Challenge; and is awarded to the participant who failed to win, but nonetheless made a name for himself.  It comes with no prizes and unfortunately, no glory.

People's Champ Award

 

We are fully confident you will be back on top of this Challenge before long. For now, continue to search for the difficult, but attainable repeat championship performance.

Member ‘DoingtheDeal‘ who is continually popping up in the Top 20, rounded out the Top 3. The member of over three years, put up a solid 38.35% return.

Gold stocks remained quiet in the month of June; yet, inched higher despite a sell-off in the precious metal. The VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ) gapped up in early June, but just added a few dollars, closing at $33.38 Friday.

Gold Stalls as Cryptocurrency Buzz Explodes

 

Lithium, gold and more recently zinc stocks have been at the heart of this TSX Venture bull market; the rally began way back on January 20th, a day the exchange hit a painful low of 466. Digital currencies continue to grab the headlines; most noteworthy, Bitcoin and more recently, Ethereum. We wrote about Ethereum and its ether, the virtual currency based on the ethereum Blockchain in Bitcoin Miner MGT Capital Shoots Up 27%.

Long-time Pinnacle member ‘funtime‘ selected MGI Capital for June; as a result, he finished the month with a 26.26% return, good enough for 7th overall. Solid performance. With headlines from just today including, This Is the Cryptocurrency Mark Cuban Is Backing and 10 Rich Families Are Paying Their $30000 Preschool Tuition in Bitcoin, its no wonder average investors are pouring into the space.

 

June’s Stock Challenge Top 10

June Stock Challenge

Our champion receives the winner’s only Pinnacle Package – which includes the finest of garments fit for a champion: The Stock Challenge Champ Hoodie and a Pinnacle Digest dri-fit golf shirt (for those afternoons on the links). Wear them with pride tjfeld!

silver prize package

 

Member tjfeld will also receive a Northwest Territorial Mint 10 ounce Silver Bar.

silver bars

 

Congratulations to our new champion and welcome to the Stock Stars Hall of Fame! We look forward to watching you compete in future contests!

Good luck to everyone in July’s Stock Challenge, which begins on Tuesday.

Pinnacle Digest

June’s Stock Challenge Statistics:
 

Challengers: 237
Highest Return: 123.26%
Lowest Return: – 22.18%
Average Return: 1.09%
Previous Champs in the Top Twenty: 5