December 29, 2017 4:47pm
Apathy and a yawn as equities opened higher but struggled to hold opening gains, closing down
On the last trading day of the year, who can trust chasing a pricing “fix”?
In a last remark, may the trade be with you in the New Year
Out and about: Brainstorm Cell Therapy (BCLI +$0.89) leads the day with shareholder letter re its clinical treatment of ALS.
Friday’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, “… still waiting for selling to be sapped as the RSI (relative strength index) has been falling, but there is more room to fall. January will define the “BUY” zone – so wait and define your risk tolerance and any target’s cash positions. Get ready to have a happy … portfolio!”
As I had stated, “Heed the warnings of the past month … how confident are we of the sector’s prospects!”
I am GLAD this year is OVER …
The advance/decline line scenario of 40 SCGT & RT covered companies:
· The open was positive with an A/DL of 19/17 and 4 flat ;
· The mid-day was negative with an A/DL of 16/20 and 4 flats;
· The close was negative with an A/DL of 14/25 and 1 flat;
MY working trend lines or indications:
… The greatest volume to the downside: RENE.L, ONVO, NWBO, IMUC and JUNO
… Upside volume was weighted to: CYTX, XON, BCLI, VCEL, VTGN and FATE
… Biggest $ downside: JUNO (-$1.70), BLUE (-$1.60), RGNX (-$0.95), ONCE (-$0.68) and SGMO (-$0.65)
… Largest $ upside: BCLI (+$0.89), STML (+$0.85), CLLS (+$0.77), VCEL (+$0.25) and QURE (+$0.21)
… Flat: ISCO
Out and about:
Brainstorm Cell Therapy (BCLI +$0.89) leads the day with shareholder letter.
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/brainstorm-issues-2017-letter-shareholders-085400568.html
Its P3 trial will enroll approximately 200 patients at six leading clinical sites in the U.S. The NurOwn® P3 trial patient population will focus on the patient sub-groups which demonstrated superior outcomes in the P2 ALS clinical trial. The primary outcome measure will be the ALSFR-S score responder analysis, a score that measures a patient's ability to perform tasks that are affected by ALS.
BCLI expect interim safety data in mid-2018 and top-line data in late 2019.
The pivotal P3 NurOwn® trial is being supported by a $16 million non-dilutive grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). In addition, for the tenth consecutive year, BCLI have received non-dilutive grants from the Israel Innovation Authority to further support the development of NurOwn®, including a $2.1 million grant in 2017.
The daily “BS” detector: Biostage (OTCQB: BSTGD) …
Opened at $0.78 (previous closed $0.91) then dropped -$0.13 or -14.299% to close down -$0.04 or -4.40% at $0.87 in a day’s range of $0.78 to $0.91 with 21,214 shares traded following the projected $1.32 post the 1-to-20 reverse split – a $4 M in-flow just followed a $30 M investment loss incurring a $47 M deficit!
It ain't over, more than many investors are agitating ... it will continue to spill over!! Even after a reverse, they still can’t meet NASDAQ listing requirements!
Daily analytics:
U.S. stocks traded lower Friday afternoon, suggesting that an otherwise stellar year for equities in 2017 would end on a modestly negative note in a thinly traded session.
· The Dow fell 40 points, or 0.2%, to 24,797.
· The S&P 500 fell more than 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,682.
· The NASDAQ was down 23 points, or 0.3%, at 6,927.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market; Friday traded at 10.79, up +5.99% …
- Thursday traded at 10.28, down -2.77% after Wednesday traded at 10.47, up +2.15% after Tuesday traded at 10.25, up +0.47% following the previous Tuesday trading at 9.92, up +6.21% …
Welcome to another day of the sector’s roller coaster …
… The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) indicated:
· Friday was down -0.80%
· Thursday +0.40%
· Wednesday -0.10%
· Tuesday +0.04%
· The previous Tuesday was down -0.76%
… The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) indicated:
· Friday was down -0.95%
· Thursday was up +0.19%
· Wednesday was up +0.14%
· Tuesday closed up +0.47%
· The previous Tuesday was down -0.24%
The count - decliners versus gainers:
……. look at the differences in decliners:
· Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.35% <FCSC -$0.00> to -6.52% <AST -$0.15> in 25 equities;
· Thursday’s decliners ranged from -0.11% <BLUE -$0.20> to -8.28% <FATE -$0.55> in 20 equities;
· Wednesday’s decliners ranged from -0.16% <BLFS -$0.01> to -6.21% <ONVO -$0.09> in 17 equities;
· Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.47% <BLFS -$0.03> to -29.1% <BSTG -$0.375> in 16 equities;
· The previous Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.11% <CLLS -$0.03> to -% <NWBO -$0.0423> in 20 equities;
Versus
… Look at the percentage’s (%) and spreads …
· Friday’s gainers ranged from +0.17% <MESO +$0.01> to +29.37% <BCLI +$0.89> in 14 equities
· Thursday’s gainers ranged from +0.53% <AXGN +$0.15> to +5.96% <ISCO +$0.09> in 15 equities
· Wednesday’s gainers ranged from +0.43% <NWBO +$0.001> to +8.22% <CAPR +$0.12> in 20 equities
· Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.30% <SGMO +$0.05> to +11.94% <FATE +$0.67> in 22 equities
· The previous Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.18% <JUNO +$0.08> to +5.88% <QURE +$1.01> in 17 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.
