September 18, 2017 7:03pm

With the IBB (+0.11%), XLV (+0.02%), XBI (+0.44%) and IWM (+0.70) were up while the NASDAQ hit a record before closing 0.1% higher.

 

The risk to the downside is related to … a swift and possibly hasty upside move

 

Pre-open indications: 5 hits and 1 miss

Out and about: New grant for BioTime (NYSEMKT: BTX); Fate Therapeutics (FATE) initiated enrollment in the P2 stage of PROTECT while Pluristem (PSTI) pays “hypers” in stock to advance shares …

 

I answer one question, in which company should investors commit and keep their money. In the grip of rotating cycles and disparaging trends, what is the price of sector knowledge – a subscription! 

 

Monday’s results have implications to Tuesday’s sector activity as a daily report may say little or a lot and it serves as insurance that all indications are being examined and evaluated!

 

 

Henry’omics:

From the pre-open’s newsletter “…I feel a tremor!”

  • U.S. stocks carved out another round of all-time highs on Monday as the path of least resistance is to the upside today!
  • Yet CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, hit 9.88, its lowest level since 8/8 to close at 10.15.

It's a tricky time of the year, as Q3 comes to a close and fundamentals seem stronger as momentum swings to the upside – but, as I have said in the past – watch your steps and corners!

 

Cell, stem and gene therapy companies moved to the upside on what – an algorithmic computation.

Some of MY working trend lines or indications:

… The greatest volume to the downside:  VSTM, ONVO, ADRO, ADVM and BSTG

… Upside volume was weighted to:  IMUC, PSTI, NWBO, CAPR and BLCM

… Biggest $ downside:  CLLS, KOOL, ONVO, MESO and VSTM

… Largest $ upside:  RGNX, BLUE, BLCM, ONCE and SGMO

… Flat:  AST, BTX, OSIR and RENE.L

 

After a week of pain: AGTC was up +$0.20 but, will it last and foe how long – I say a day maybe two?

Gaining momentum by volume: MDXG, FCSC (+$0.16), ATHX (+$0.16), QURE (+$0.23), KITE and VCEL (+$0.30) and CAPR (+$0.32) on a press release of October’s data release – wait for the erosion

Lighting the stock price on fire was: JUNO, AXGN, STML, SGMO and ONCE with a few others …

BLFS who was up +$0.44 to $5.29 – something is up as volume is huge, 947.8 K shares traded <3 month average = 141.02 K shares> - it better happen soon like an offering to raise cash and not live on debt or are they preparing for a take-out after 12/31/16’s price of $1.61 … is there a strategy here or will an Icarus flight pattern be readied?

 

Volume alternates but, is still weighted to the upside.

Love the upside; let’s watch for the pricing by Wednesday or on Friday!

 

 

Pre-open indications: 5 hits and 1 miss:

  • Adverum (ADVM) closed down -$0.05 – hit;
  • Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM) closed up +$1.01 – hit;
  • Cellectis SA (CLLS) closed down -$0.50 – hit;
  • MiMedx (MDXG) closed up +$0.11 – hit;
  • Pluristem (PSTI) closed up +$0.08 – hit;
  • Regenxbio (RGNX) closed up +$1.55 – miss;

 

 

The advance/decline line scenario of 43 SCGT & RT covered companies:   

·         The first hour was positive with an A/DL of 33/7 and 3 flat;

·         The mid-day was positive with an A/DL of 34/7 and 2 flat;

·         The close was positive with an A/DL of 28/11 and 4 flat;

 

 

Out and about:

BioTime (NYSEMKT: BTX) announces that it has been awarded a grant of up to $1.56M from the Small Business Innovation Research program of the National Institutes of Health.

  • The grant provides funding to further develop restoration program for advanced retinal diseases and injuries.
  • 3-dimensional retinal tissue using pluripotent cell technology will be used in the restoration program to improve vision caused by retinal degeneration and traumatic injury.

BTX closed FLAT at $2.85 …

 

 

Fate Therapeutics (FATE) initiated enrollment in the P2 stage of PROTECT, a combined open-label P1 / blinded P2 clinical trial of ProTmune™ for the prevention of acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing matched unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).

  • Thirteen U.S. centers are currently open for enrollment in the P2 stage of PROTECT.
  • The P2 stage is assessing the safety and efficacy of ProTmune in 60 subjects, where subjects are being randomized, in a 1:1 ratio; to receive either ProTmune or a conventional matched unrelated donor mobilized peripheral blood cell graft.
  • The primary efficacy endpoint of PROTECT is incidence of acute GvHD by Day 100 post-HCT, where prospective clinical studies have shown that 40% to 80% of patients undergoing matched unrelated donor transplant experience Grades 2-4 acute GvHD. There are currently no approved preventive therapies and very few treatment options for acute GvHD.

FATE closed UP +$0.09 …

 

 

Pluristem (PSTI) using stock as the collateral payments distorts your progress

  • After a hyped release, resorting to compensating “pushers” to drive momentum is injudicious in this climate...
  • The PSTI news today has been the granting of a Fast Track Designation to the firm’s ongoing late-stage study of PLX-PAD cells for the treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) in patients ineligible for revascularization by the U.S. FDA. With Fast Track Designation, there is an … increased possibility <KEY WORD:  possibility> for a priority review by the FDA of PLX-PAD cells for the treatment of CLI – a little TO SUGESTIVE or way TOO early to ASSUME!
  • Get the message out within the confines of best practices!
  • BIOTECHSTOCKS.com is owned by MIDAM VENTURES LLC., a Florida Corporation has been compensated eleven thousand shares (11,000 shares, that’s $15,840 at today’s price $1.44) of PSTI’s stock – disclosed on 9/18/17. Didn’t the SEC just file a number of complaints, fines and a censure for these “dealings”?  Real news, overstated press releases, fake news, hyped news – PSTI has a “history” of these dealings! SEC, where are you …?

The stock was trading down from a morning high of $1.60 to close at $1.42 (+$0.08) … WONDER ... WHY?

 

 

Daily analytics:

U.S. stocks carved out another round of all-time highs on Monday.

·         The Dow rose 71 points, or 0.3%, to 22,340.

·         The NASDAQ added 24 points, or 0.4%, to 6,472 after setting an intraday record at 6,477.77.

 

 

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market; Monday traded at 10.15, down -0.20% …

  • Friday traded at 10.21, down -2.30% after Thursday traded at 10.44, down -0.57% after Wednesday traded at 10.51, down -0.66%, Tuesday traded at 10.58, down -1.40% and last Monday traded at 10.73, down -11.47%

 

 

Welcome to another day of the sector’s roller coaster …

… The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) indicated:

·         Monday was up +0.70%

·         Friday +0.45%

·         Thursday -0.08%

·         Wednesday +0.30%

·         Tuesday+0.61%

·         Last Monday +1.03%

 

… The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) indicated:

·         Monday was up +0.11%

·         Friday -0.07%

·         Thursday -0.59%

·         Wednesday -0.33%

·         Tuesday +0.22%

·         Last Monday+0.09%

 

 

The count - decliners versus gainers:

……. look at the differences in the spreads as decliners jump and %

·         Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.36% <BSTG -$0.0012> to -6.13% <ONVO -$0.13> in 11 equities;

·         Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.19% <BLUE -$0.25> to -6.19% <ONVO -$0.14> in 19 equities;

·         Thursday’s decliners ranged from -1.20% <CYTX -$0.0042> to -4.74% <XON -$0.94> in 22 equities;

·         Wednesday’s decliners ranged from -0.27% <AXGN -$0.05> to -18.18% <AGTC -$0.90> in 15 equities;

·         Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.06% <KITE -$0.11> to -3.91% <PSTI -$0.05> in 27 equities;

·         Last Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.19% <RGNX -$0.05> to -4.29% <ADRO -$0.50> in 20 equities;

Versus

… Look at the percentage’s (%) and spreads …

·         Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.16% <KITE +$0.28> to +32% <CAPR +$0.32> in 28 equities;

·         Friday’s gainers ranged from +0.66% <ONCE +$0.54> to +8.52% <BLCM +$0.92> in 23 equities;

·         Thursday’s gainers ranged from +0.21% <BLFS +$0.01> to +4.39% <BLUE +$5.55> in 20 equities;

·         Wednesday’s gainers ranged from +0.10% <XON +$0.02> to +9.76% <PSTI +$0.12> in 27 equities;

·         Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.17% <OSIR +$0.01> to +5.32% <AGTC +$0.25> in 14 equities;

·         Last Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.14% <JUNO +$0.06> to +9.40% <PSTI +$0.11> in 23 equities;

 

 

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.