Mantra Venture Group, Ltd. (OTCMKTS:MVTG) Reinvents Itself in 2014

Mantra Venture Group, Ltd. (OTCMKTS:MVTG) does what other hot industry stocks do best: climb with what looks like a relentless enthusiasm, as the past month arrived with a spike in activity. MVTG added another 36% to its price, to $0.67, on dollar volumes above $816,000. Those are still low numbers compared to better- known cannabis tickers, but MVTG is going through the route of many newcomers, as it was picked up from very stagnant activity.

We have not met this company since 2011, when it rose disproportionately on a series of promotions. The beginning of last year also came with a spike of activity, but so far, MVTG was locked in a rather tight range, and trading rarely exceeded a million shares per day.

MVTG is working on fuel cells and eco-vehicles, and it announced optimistic expectations for 2014. Indeed, at least on the OTC markets, fuel cell companies and lithium producers are enjoying their 15 minutes of fame, as more and more industries seek clean energy solutions. The latest news from MVTG would be the creation of a prototype vehicle utilizing fuel cells. A working prototype was promised for later this year. There is only one problem: the dismal financial situation of MVTG. Consider if the company could create a miracle futuristic vehicle with:

• Zero cash

• $122,000 current assets, some prepaid expenses

• $1.37 million total current liabilities

• $148,404 revenues, achieved for the first time in 82 months

$8.7 million net loss since inception
We don’t know what the company may do to close the gaps, but there are 100 thousand authorized shares waiting to cause dilution. Also, there is little but future expectations to justify a market cap above $38 million.

MVTG will have to show its durability in the next few days, as it has proven that PR works quite well in propping up the stock price. MVTG relies on university research, with experts in the University of British Columbia working on more efficient fuel cells.

The narrative resembles that of Hypersolar, Inc. (OTCMKTS:HYSR), which recently exploded to unseen prices and activity, as it revived its PR messages. Still, HYSR logically slides down again, with a few days of selling. In the past days, HYSR lost half of its value, from a peak around $0.07 to current levels at $0.035.

Lithium Corp. (OTCMKTS:LTUM) fared no better, as it ran from $0.3 to $0.13 in less than a trading week, but fell to consequent selling and is currently at $0.06.

Eco technologies are considered another bubble sector, not unlike medical marijuana. The industry allows OTC companies to mix up an appealing story of innovative products and great potential revenues, but the truth is that few tickers survive beyond the most active days, and drop as soon as the novelty falls away. If you like the trend and robust activity of MVTG, still take care not to over-invest, and be sure you can avoid cuts like the ones in the other examples.