December 14, 2017 5:27pm

Headwinds evaporated any forward motion as the NASDAQ dives

 

Speculation has no conviction while sentiment is like oil on water

After a slightly positive open, the mid-day slipped with the advance/decline line sliding to the downside as the sector closed further down on weakness

 

Pre-open indications: 2 hits and 3 miss

 

Out and about: Biostage (BSTG) raised $4 M with sale of 60 M shares with 100% warrant coverage. According to former employees and in my opinion, this is the same team that blew $30 M and never accounted for their spending, missed clinical results and questions of the CEO and CFO ignored female employee harassment issues within the executive staff. 

 

Thursday’s results have implications to Friday’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, “…volume matters as the upside is fair-to-middling while the downside experiences the greater numbers … The question, is it the algorithms terminating at a final ending state? I believe the sector is tired thus too erratic.”

We’ve gotten more volatility as the headwinds increased as the session evolved to close to the downside!

The market received positive news in the form of economic data. Weekly jobless claims totaled 225,000, well below an estimate of 239,000. Meanwhile, retail sales rose 0.8% in November versus an estimated increase of 0.3%.

But, it didn’t help our universe in today’s market.

 

The advance/decline line scenario of 40 SCGT & RT covered companies:   

·         The open was positive with an A/DL of 21/19 and 0 flat ;

·         The mid-day was negative with an A/DL of 17/20 and 3 flats;

·         The close was negative with an A/DL of 13/24 and 3 flat;

 

Pre-open indications: 2 hits and 3 miss

  • bluebird bio (BLUE) closed down -$0.55 – miss;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed down -$3.24 – miss;
  • Regenxbio (RGNX) closed up +$0.00 – hit;
  • ImmunoCellular Therapeutics (IMUC) closed up +$0.182 – hit;
  • VistaGen (VTGN) closed down -$0.07 – miss;

 

 

MY working trend lines or indications:

… The greatest volume to the downside:  JUNO, ONVO, ONCE, XON and BLUE

… Upside volume was weighted to:  IMUC, CUR, RENE.L, FCSC and MDXG

… Biggest $ downside: JUNO (-$3.24), STML (-$0.95), XON (-$0.85), ONCE (-$0.70) and BLCM (-$0.57)

… Largest $ upside:  CLLS (+$0.94), BLFS (+$0.21), IMUC (+$0.182), QURE (+$0.16) and MDXG (+$0.15)

… Flat:  ISCO, ADVM and RGNX

 

 

Out and about:

Biostage Announces Binding Agreement for $4 Million Private Placement

To view this release online and get more information about Biostage InvestorRoom visit: http://ir.biostage.com/2017-12-14-Biostage-Announces-Binding-Agreement-For-4-0-Million-Private-Placement

There are currently 39 M shares outstanding with a float of 35.1 M shares …

Should whatever investors are left TRUST this team to manage the opportunity forward?  My opinion is … the SEC should be … INVOLVED and don’t forget the terminal suit hanging over its head like a “Sword of Damocles”!!

8-K: http://app.quotemedia.com/data/downloadFiling?webmasterId=101533&ref=11939417&type=HTML&symbol=BSTG&companyName=Biostage+Inc+-+Ordinary+Shares&formType=8-K&dateFiled=2017-12-14&cik=0001563665

Can shareholders trust them as they just continue to pay themselves for their mismanagement of past opportunities?  

Where is the SEC? There is more …

 

Daily analytics:

U.S. stock-market indexes relinquished earlier gains, finishing lower on Thursday, with the selling pressure coming from the health-care sectors.

·         The Dow closed 76.77 points, or 0.3%, lower at 24,508.66, retreating from the intraday high it hit earlier.

·         The S&P 500 index declined by 10.84 points, or 0.4%, to 2,652.01, with 10 of the 11 main sectors ending in negative territory.

·         The NASDAQ fell 19.27 points, or 0.3%, to 6,856.53.

 

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market; Thursday traded at 10.49, up +3.05% …

  • Wednesday traded at 10.18, up +2.62% after Tuesday traded at 9.92, up +6.21% after Monday traded at 9.34, down -2.51% after Friday traded at 9.58, down -5.71% and last Thursday traded at 10.22, down -7.26% …

 

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

… The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) indicated:

·         Thursday was down -1.10%

·         Wednesday +0.58%

·         Tuesday -0.31%

·         Monday -0.05%

·         Friday +0.10%

·         Last Thursday +0.69%

 

… The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) indicated:

·         Thursday was down -1.45%

·         Wednesday +0.91%

·         Tuesday -0.44%

·         Monday +0.15%

·         Friday +1.94%

·         Last Thursday +1.53%

 

 

The count - decliners versus gainers:

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

·         Thursday’s decliners ranged from -0.30% <BLUE -$0.55> to -8.60% <FATE -$0.40> in 24 equities;

·         Wednesday’s decliners ranged from -0.69% <AGTC -$0.025> to -3.88% <CYTX -$0.0097> in 8 equities;

·         Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.91% <IMUC -$0.0021> to -5.38% <BLUE -$10.85> in 27 equities;

·         Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.56% <MESO -$0.03> to -34.97% <ONCE -$25.66> in 27 equities;

·         Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.48% <FATE -$0.02> to -11.33% <VTGN -$0.23> in 19 equities;

·         Last Thursday’s decliners ranged from -0.57% <BLFS -$0.03> to -34.95% <CUR -$1.08> in 29 equities;

Versus

 

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

·         Thursday’s gainers ranged from +0.92% <QURE +$0.16> to +82.44% <IMUC +0.182> in 13 equities;

·         Wednesday’s gainers ranged from +0.26% <BCLI +$0.01> to +14.21% <CUR +$0.26> in 30 equities;

·         Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.76% <CYTX +$0.00> to +5.15% <MDXG +$0.60> in 11 equities;

·         Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.88% <CLLS +$0.22> to +17.91% <BLUE +$30.65> in 12 equities;

·         Friday’s gainers ranged from +0.69% <CLLS +$0.17> to +9.07% <VSTM +$0.36> in 19 equities;

·         Last Thursday’s gainers ranged from +0.54% <ATHX +$0.01> to +13.47% <QURE +$2.02> in 24 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.