The Pump On Virtus Oil and Gas Corp. f/k/a Curry Gold Corp. (OTCBB:VOIL) Continues Still
After knocking off 12% in two consecutive sessions, yesterday Virtus Oil and Gas Corp. f/k/a Curry Gold Corp. (OTCBB:VOIL) managed to gain some of it back. VOIL added 6.83% on a volume of 919.7 thousand shares, and closed at $1.72.
These past couple of months VOIL has been one of the most heavily traded OTC stocks, which aren’t marijuana-related. Since the start of September the dollar value for each trading session has been hovering around $1 million or more, and has barely dropped below that line. What could be the cause for this sustained interest in VOIL?
VOIL is a development stage oil company, which hasn’t started to drill yet and is very far from turning profitable. It has issued only one PR in October and one in September, so it is unlikely that the heavy trading is caused by PR hype. Their company website doesn’t give out any information that isn’t already disclosed in their press releases, so that’s not it either. Maybe even though VOIL is still in development stage, their reports show the company to be in a superb financial state, causing investor interest.
No such luck. For their latest quarter ended Aug 31, the company reported rather grim numbers. But if the financials are poor, and there are no PRs to cause a hype around the stock, then what is the reason it has been registering such heavy trading?
Once you’ve exhausted all the other options, the answer becomes very obvious – a pump. That’s right, VOIL has undergone quite the glorious promotional campaign using a full arsenal. There were email alerts, landing pages (this one and this one), a hard mailer, articles, and even phone calls, but don’t be misled by the past tense, the pump has yet to end.
The latest email alert came on Oct 26, and it was carried out by the promoter Mister X for a compensation of $6 thousand. But what’s more remarkable than the promotion itself, is that the SEC has done nothing to stop the ongoing pump campaign, which began in July, right after VOIL began active trading.
Even though some of the promoters are calling VOIL “the NEXT hot stock” and giving them a mind-blowing estimated prospective of “$44.05 Per Share”, the company’s latest quarterly report paints an entirely different picture. VOIL reported working capital deficit and an increased net loss. Their cash supply is no longer just $632, but is still far from where it needs to be, keeping in mind that the company has to pay $2.5 million in the near future.
Other than the unimpressive financials, the 10-Q also disclosed that VOIL and Fieldstone Industries have entered into a great deal of Securities Purchase Agreements. The shares that were printed to Fieldstone were issued at mind-boggling discounts. There were shares priced as low as $0.40 each, and others at $0.74, $0.97 and $1.07.
As for the $2.5 million payment VOIL has to make, it is for the completion and drilling of the test well in Iron County. The cash is supposed to be transferred thirty days prior to the spud date, so the drilling could commence on time. „February 03, 2015” was originally planned to be the spud date, but the quarterly announced that the date was pushed to “September 01, 2015”. For shareholders and potential investors that means that VOIL has moved further away from starting its operations and even further from generating revenues and making profits.
It is always a gamble to put money on a pump stock. Do your own due diligence before deciding whether or not to make an investment, and never invest money you cannot afford to lose.
