Stocks closed out the first month of 2023 no worse for wear after getting pummeled last year. A sign of better things on the horizon? Last month, indexes on Bay Street and Wall Street rose, with tech-heavy indices seeing the most benefit.

Investors are likely feeling positive about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s announcement this week about its 25 basis-point interest rate hike, which is a slight step back from the series of larger hikes in 2022.

Emerging opportunities and major swings alike often interest Bullboard users, so tapping into this community can show us what’s captivating value-seeking investors. This week, we highlight three plays in three sectors that drew a lot of attention.

Speaking of tech standouts, data intelligence company Fobi AI Inc. (TSXV:FOBIForum) has launched its wholly-owned subsidiary, PulseIR, with the signing of its first customer, PanGenomic Health Inc.

PanGenomic offers a self-care digital platform to deliver information about natural and plant-based health treatments. PulseIR is a platform as a service (PaaS) and will generate revenue through an annual license and initial setup fee.

PulseIR supports Fobi’s IR platform Investor Pass and delivers real-time mobile lock screen communication. PulseIR delivers a data-driven and digital approach to IR right into the palms of today’s new-age investors providing shareholders with a direct understanding of price action, volume alerts, company news and events.

PulseIR’s go-to-market launch with PanGenomic Health Inc. signifies a milestone growth opportunity as companies across industries look to connect and enhance their existing marketing infrastructure through automation.

The cannabis market may have struggled to come into its own. Still, investors got some positive news from a recent BDSA industry analysis that forecasted global cannabis sales to reach US$55 billion by 2026, a compound annual growth rate of nearly 13 per cent. This is good news for the likes of producer HEXO Corp. (TSX:HEXOForum), who recently won the dismissal of a class action lawsuit pending before the Québec Superior Court.

The lawsuit was filed on November 19, 2019, against the company and its former CEO on behalf of certain primary market and secondary market purchasers of HEXO securities.

The lawsuit cited alleged misrepresentations and breaches of disclosure obligations – under the Québec Securities Act and the Civil Code of Québec – in connection with certain statements in HEXO’s prospectus, public documents and public oral statements between April 11, 2018, and March 27, 2020.

On January 23, 2023, the Superior Court of Québec dismissed the plaintiff’s amended motion in its entirety, with costs, seeing “no reasonable possibility” that the secondary market claim filed under the Québec Securities Act had a reasonable chance of success.

The Court also held that the plaintiff had not demonstrated an arguable case for a primary market class action or a civil liability class action for misrepresentation under the general principles of fault in civil law. The plaintiff has a right to appeal.

The energy market has been as up-and-down as ever, especially this week, but a number of outfits have gathered solid attention for their ongoing work. Take Toronto-based energy company CGX Energy (TSXV:OYL, Forum), which is spudding a new well, the Wei-1 well, on the Corentyne block offshore from Guyana.

The well is a joint venture with the company’s partner Frontera Energy Corp. (TSX:FEC).

The Government of Guyana has approved an Appraisal Plan for the northern section of the Corentyne Block, which started with the Wei-1 well. The joint venture is now free to consider future wells.

Future drilling is contingent on positive results at Wei-1, and the two companies have no further drilling obligations beyond the Wei-1 well.

The Wei-1 well is located approximately 14 kilometres northwest of the joint venture’s previous Kawa-1 light oil and condensate discovery and will be drilled in a water depth of approximately 583 metres, to an anticipated total depth of 6,248 metres. The well is expected to take approximately 4-5 months to reach total depth.

Just a couple of days in, and February has already given us a decent performance and some small-cap stocks for the Bullboards to get excited about. Will we see six more months of winter? Probably. Next week will likely bring us more of the same, and the weekly Buzz on the Bullboards review will be here to bring you some intriguing stock highlights.


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