Bioasis Technologies (TSXV:BTI) * Top Pick

If you look at my last several updates you will notice that I am very excited about Bioasis Technologies.  This is therefore one of my favorite speculative picks for 2011. Many milestones with respect to Cognitest and Transcend are pending in the first half of 2011. With a market cap of less then 18M, two exciting, and groundbreaking technologies, and a proven management team, Bioasis is poised for success. I think there is a potential for this stock to hit $1.50 within six months. The risk is delays surrounding deals of commercialization of either technology, in which case we could see a pullback to $0.45. Longer term Bioasis could fetch $5 in a buyout. I continue to accumulate under $0.64.

Melkior Resources·(TSXV:MKR) * Top Pick

Melkior is one of my top speculative picks this year because of its West Timmins gold project. Long time readers may recall that we have covered Melkior's meticulous exploration program for over 2 years now. The project is now heating up because of the deep(er) drilling that is testing the newly discovered anomaly at a depth of 500m+. Early in the new year we are expecting assay results from re-drilling of 3 exploration holes which are being deepened to a total depth of 700m, after being previously drilled to a depth of 500m.

Clearly the short term risk here is that the initial 3 holes do not intercept signficiant amounts of gold, in which case the stock could pull back to $0.18. The reward is that Melkior intercepts a significant width and grade of gold in one of the holes. West Timmins is one of the hottest gold camps and there is a lot of attention on every explorer in the area, so if Melkior does find a significant intercept, this stock will fly to $1, maybe $2. That is an excellent risk/reward ratio.

A disclaimer: Melkior has started advertising on TB's website since December of 2010. I have covered Melkior on and off since the beginning of the letter and the advertising deal will have no impact on the coverage. Further, as is the case with most stocks that I write about, I own Melkior stock.

EMC Metals·(TSX:EMC)

I initiated coverage of EMC in the alert at $0.20, and in this letter when it was trading at $0.25. The price has since reached a high of $0.44. The company is doing a great job of advertising the potential of scandium, and raising awareness of it's Springer tungsten project (currently being shopped around for $20-$30M).  With the market cap of $50M, money in the bank, and strong financial backing, EMC is a must have in any portfolio. Recall what I said about EMC in the last update "I am buying EMC on both the deposit potential, but also on the hype which will likely follow all things scandium. Remember that earlier in this decade palladium stocks, followed by uranium stocks, would easily gain 1,000%, if not 10,000%, returns for early-investors on nothing more then pure speculation!"

This company would have been one of my top picks except for the fact that stock price has already appreciated quite a bit. Note that I have taken some profits on this move up.

Medicago·(TSX:MDG)

In the last update I said "Medicago continues to be a good stock to accumulate in the $0.40 range...as we near the commercialization stage all eyes will be on the big prize and the share price should start to firm up."  Over the past two weeks Medicago's share price has been on a steady climb, reaching a high of $0.63. Medicago is now an institutional play and big moves like this are entirely possible, if not expected, with each new milestone that is achieved. Even with the 50% move, Medicago still remains a good risk/reward investment. Remember that funds are less price sensitive and more concerned about milestones. This stock could therefore quickly move to $2, even with the dilution and well over 100M shares out.

Risk wise my only real concern are future financings. Medicago's past financings have resulted in tremendous stock dilution. This is the only reason that Medicago is not one of my top 2011 picks. Having said that, I think the recent addition of a seasoned business development consultant will help with financial engineering and contractual efforts.

ICO Therapeutics (TSXV:ICO)

ICO announced sale of partial licensing rights for ico-008 drug to a US/Israeli biotech startup, Immune Pharmaceuticals. Ico gets $1M up-front with another $32M due in milestone payments, plus royalties, in exchange for rights to uses of ico-008 for inflammatory conditions. The most significant aspect of this deal is that ICO sold an asset that was not priced-in to current market cap. ICO's primary focus, and most lucrative assets, are the ocular applications of ico-007 and ico-008 drugs, targeting Diabetic Macular Edema ($3B market), and large-market ocular diseases ($2B market) respectively. ICO has only sold rights to non-ocular applications of ico-008.

Sama Resources (TSXV:SME)

A negative political development in Ivory Coast has caused the price of Sama Resources (SME.V) to pull back to low $0.30s. Sama is exploring a potential world-class poly-metallic deposit in Ivory Coast. Recently long overdue elections were held in the country and it seems that the defeated president of the country does not want to relinquish the power. Some may speculate that the political instability may be short, and that in the long run Sama Resources' property will not be impacted. I am not convinced that anyone can predict this with any degree of certainty, so I am staying on the sideline until things settle down. It is worth noting that Sama's management has good relations with everyone in the country, so once things get resolved I expect to see a normal resumption of business activities.