RegMed Investors’ (RMi) closing bell analysis, the stem, cell, gene and regenerative therapy (SCG&RT) sector muddles on …

November 29, 2016 5:25pm

… Headlines have been either bad or fleeting as stocks flutter on news making investors even more than jittery while speculation abounds

Fluctuation set-ups are developing - let the market tell its story as "we" hang-on ...

I say today what others won't, so you can do what others can't!

Pre-open indication’s tally:  4 hits and 0 miss

There are two things that investors need - interpretation of news and translation of market metrics concerning the stem, cell, gene and regenerative therapy sector to substantiate share pricing.

U.S. equities closed higher on Tuesday, led by health care and real estate, as investors digested falling oil prices ahead of a key OPEC meeting, as well as economic data.

The NASDAQ closed UP +11.11 or +0.21% to 5,379.92 and the DOW closed UP +23.70 or +0.12% to 19,121.60.

A  day in the life of the stem, cell, gene and regenerative therapy (SCGT & RT) sector – the advance/decline line scenario of our 43 covered companies:   

• The open was negative with an A/DL of 21/22 and 0 flat;                       
• The mid-day slipped positive with an A/DL of 22/19 and 2 flats;
• The closing bell was negative with A/DL of 16/22 and 5 flats;

Henry’omics:

The stem, cell, gene and regenerative therapy (SCG&RT) sector opened negative, slipped positive at the mid-day and closed negative.

• From this morning’s investor’s letter, “a lot of spilt milk as the sector slipped … Getting it back into the glass is questionable.”

The small-caps Russell 2000, which has been outperforming large-cap indexes, fell more than 1%, snapping a 15-day winning streak; it’s longest in 20 years.

• The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded lower, near 12.7.

Reiterating, reality has started to set back in, and traders have started to recognize that there are still a lot of short and long-term risks out there while there is a dearth of events on the calendar.

I advise taking … some risks for short-term gains – as what appears on a Tuesday after a BAD Monday will usually be … REGRETABLE!

• It’s MY recipe for gaining and NOT losing. Big gains are too frequently abrogated by this speculative sector and market.
• Expectation usually leads to over- leverage and risk exposure and losses!

The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) indicated a positive pre- open of +0.28% and closed DOWN -0.05% while the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) did NOT indicate in the pre-open and closed barely UP +0.15%.

At the close …

$ Gainers included

• bluebird bio (BLUE) +3.75 after Monday’s -$3.30;
• Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) +$1.78 after Monday’s -$1.69;
• Kite Pharma (KITE) +0.66 after Monday’s -$2.21;
• Regenxbio (RGNX) +0.45;
• Bellicum (BLCM) +$0.31 after Monday’s -$1.80;

The biggest $ losers of the session were

• Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) -$0.99;
• International Stem Cell (ISCO) -$0.30 after Monday’s+$0.09;
• uniQure (QURE) -$0.24;
• Aduro Biotech (ADRO) -$0.20 after Monday’s -$1.35;
• Mesoblast (MESO) -$0.19 after Monday’s +$0.25;

The downside trend reflects a pricing trend range of:

• Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.13% <XON> to -18.75% <ISCO> in 22 equities;
• Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.91% <BCLI> to -9.94% <BTX> in 34 equities;
• Friday’s numbers were not tracked
• Thursday was Thanksgiving
• Wednesday’s decliners ranged from -2.17% <MESO> to -24.48% <JUNO> in 21 equities;
• Last Tuesday’s decliners ranged from – 0.16% <CAPR> to -28.57% <OPXA> in 26 equities;

The upside shows a pricing trend range of:

• Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.74 <CUR>  to +6.18% <BLUE> in 16 equities;
• Monday’s gainers ranged from +1.44% <CUR> to +5.96% <ISCO> in 7 equities;
• Friday was NOT tracked
• Thursday was Thanksgiving;
• Wednesday’s gainers ranged from + 0.01% <FCSC> to +11.90% <FATE> in 20 equities;
• Last Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.26% <VTGN> to +10.53% <FATE> in 14 equities;

Wrap-up: anybody can read a paragraph … review the percentage changes per day in the week of the decliners and advancers while …

• Tuesday’s 16 gainers compared to Monday’s 7 …
• Tuesday’s 22 decliners compared to Monday’s 34 ...

Pre-open indication’s tally:  4 hits (AGTC, FATE, HSGX and JUNO) and 0 miss

• Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) closed UP +$0.30 – hit;
• Histogenics (HSGX) closed UP +$0.00 – hit;
• Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed UP +$0.00 – hit;
• Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed DOWN -$0.99 – hit;

Percentage (%) decliners:

• International Stem Cell (ISCO) -18.75% after Monday’s +5.96%;
• Fibrocell (FCSC) -6.25%;
• Opexa (OPXA) -3.70%;
• Juno therapeutics (JUNO) -4.48%;
• Mesoblast (MESO) -3.95% after Monday’s +5.47%;

Percentage (%) advancers:

• bluebird bio (BLUE) +6.18%;
• Reneuron (RENE.L) +4.35% after Monday’s +4.55%;
• Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) +3.26% after Monday’s -7.07%;
• Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) +3.25%;
• VistaGen (VTGN) +2.16%

Flat:                                                                                                      

• AxoGen (AXGN) at $8.45;
• Fate therapeutics (FATE) at $3.09;
• Histogenics (HSGX) at $2.00;
• Sangamo (SGMO) at $3.25;
• Verastem (VSTM) at $1.17

Review my fear gauge or the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX):

·         Tuesday traded near 12.7;

·         Monday traded near 12.9;

·         Friday traded near 12.3;

·         Thursday was a holiday;

·         Wednesday traded near 12.6;

·         Last Tuesday traded near 12.6;

Opinions expressed are those of the author and are subject to change, and not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, nor investment advice.

Whether information or intelligence is good, bad or somewhere in between; I put into context what is relevant and useful for investors.  All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.

Henry McCusker, the editor and publisher of RegMed Investors does not hold or have positions in securities referred to in this publication.