How to be a gold miner (without getting dirty)

I guess I'm the modern day version of the gold miner, except that I do it from my desk, usually on a laptop. It's warmer and drier... and I don't have to worry about getting snakebit, scalped or eaten by mountain lions.

I get my thrill from the hunt every bit as much as I do from cashing in the bag of gold flakes on payday. I enjoy finding the big nugget that others step over every single day in their hurried lives... not to mention that the payoff can be far beyond your wildest dreams.

Everyone is scared of stocks after the Crash of 2008. The larger indexes were down 40 to 50% last year. That hurts. Investors are reeling from the shock of a crash most people haven't seen in their lives. I don't blame them. The 'safe' blue chips got killed, and the pain from those losses won't be easy to forget for many years. Fear rules now.

However, some stocks did well during the great crash of 2008. Those are the stocks that smart investors seek out. Find a stock that fares well while the world is burning around it, and you've found one you want to own. Stocks that do well in hard times soar above the others when good times return. NEOP was up 98% in 2008. Compare that with anything else (go ahead, really).

I started buying NEOP years ago. I own shares that I bought as cheap as 7 cents, while the market ignored this little company. I've held those shares and accumulated hundreds of thousands more as it climbed to .70 and .80+ cents.

I bought at 10 cents and everyone said I was crazy. They were buying GE and GM.
I bought at 22 cents and everyone said I was crazy. They were buying GOOG.
I bought at 35 cents and everyone said I was crazy. They were buying AAPL.
I bought at 49 cents and everyone said I was crazy. They were buying IBM.

Do you see a pattern...?

Everyone who thought I was crazy now wishes they'd cashed in their 'safe blue chips' and bought my 'risky Penny Stock' NEOP.

Now... I'm not a charting guy. My hat's off to those who are good at it. They use their charting magic to predict when stocks will go up and down. Not always, but often.

I don't study charts on NEOP. I don't need to. I know it's going up, because I've studied the company more than anyone outside of its own management. I don't care if the stock is going up or down a penny or a nickel or a dime during the next week or the next month. Stocks do that constantly, for no reason. I couldn't care less about the first down, the 5-yard penalty or the screen pass for a 7-yard gain.

I'm sitting up in the box seat, focused on the long ball. The touchdown. The pennant. I'm looking out months from now, and into 2010. Even with the 300%... 400%.... 600% returns I enjoy with NEOP today, those returns will pale in comparison to 2009 and 2010.

I know what's about to unfold. This stock is going much higher, and it will start soon. Not because of what a chart says. It's going much higher because news is about to change everything. Nobody sees what this company is about to accomplish.

Yeah, yeah... I know. I'm crazy. Gee... I've never heard that one before.

DDbuyer

NEOP. Penny stock or not...?

They (whoever the proverbial 'they' might be) tell you not to own penny stocks. 'Too risky' they say.

Yeah... well, tell that to the masses who owned 'safe' blue chips in 2008 and watched their investments get cut in half or worse.

During the same year NEOP was up 98%. So much for 'safe blue chips' vs 'risky penny stocks'.

'They' also tell you not to have more than 10% of your portfolio in a speculative stock. NEOP is speculative, but I have over 16% of my portfolio in NEOP and it was the only stock that buffered me from the disaster of 2008.

Penny stocks are defined as stocks worth less than $5. After the 2008 meltdown, that describes a lot of companies. They're all down from their highs, but just because they're <$5 doesn't mean they're Penny Stocks.

To me, Penny stocks are the companies that sell nothing but hype, hope and fluff. They tout the next weight loss pill, invisible ray gun, or cancer cure... or they can make energy from bathtub mold, or some other stupid B.S. They've never sold anything and they never will.

NEOP once reached $22.00. When I started this blog it was less than 50 cents. (Latest update - now about $1.20).

Why is NEOP climbing?

It's simple - they have two diagnostic drugs in late stage FDA clinical trials. Good drugs. Needed drugs... and I'll delve into them with follow-up posts. In the meantime feel free to join us at our online at our Investor Village NEOP message board., where the longs gather to chat about the company and its outlook.

DDbuyer