March 19, 2018 5:43pm

There were very crowded trades to the downside as negative sentiment spurs a sell-off with wider implications to the sector – fearful expectation!

But, there is always one, the last hour saw an increase in the upside (8 at the mid-day to 14 at the close of my 40 followed) as the fear gauge (VIX) rose +20.38%

 

Q4 and FY17 financial results: Fibrocell (FCSC) didn’t report Q4 numbers yet FY17 featured a net loss of $20.8 M or -$1.33 per share with $17.4 M in cash to end the year highlighting a runway until Q1/19, maybe.

Out and about: A dearth of news other than VistaGen (VTGN - $0.02) gets a patent which registered to the downside while AxoGen (AXGN +$0.20) steps to the upside and bluebird bio (BLUE - $5.45) dives again with Spark Therapeutics (ONCE -$5.10) in close proximity

 

Interpretation, insight and translation with an end-of-day recap of the sessions impact, settlement with an opinion of what could or should happen the next session thrown in.

 

Henry’omics:

From the pre-open’s newsletter, “…the sector is yearning for sustainability and always in a wait and see mode … Which is focused on uncertainty and points to more risk.”

The sector has been fragile, as the “usual suspects” don't need a "reason" to drop if … ALGORITHMS want them to go down. Markets will be looking ahead to the FOMC meeting that begins tomorrow and ends on Wednesday. Will that become just another reason to sell?

Most susceptible are the small cap companies, they are also the most vulnerable to market conflagration, because as share pricing declines, it gets harder and harder to “run” the resistance challenge to the upside

As we head into the week ... VOLATILITY is a BUY word ...

But, another one, DON't CHASE  pricing - I'd be slow in BUYING the dip

 

The advance/decline line scenario of 40 covered companies:   

  • The open was negative with the A/DL to 16/21 and 3 flats;
  • The mid-day was negative with an A/DL of 8/32 and 0 flats;
  • The close was still negative with an A/DL of 14/25 and 1 flat;

 

 

MY working trend lines:

… The greatest volume to the downside:  MDXG, XON, ADVM, VTGN and SGMO

… Upside volume was weighted to:  AXGN, IMUC, NWBO, ADRO and BLCM

… Biggest $ downside:  ONCE (-$5.10), BLUE (-$4.85), RGNX (-$1.30), QURE (-$0.81) and CLLS (-$0.76)

… Largest $ upside: RENE.L (+$1.00), OSIR (+$0.47), AXGN (+$0.20), BLFS (+$0.13) and KOOL (+0.07)

… Flat:  ONVO

 

 

Daily analytics:

All three benchmarks ended off their lows of the session as the Dow tumbled on Monday, erasing its year-to-date gain, pushing the indicator negative for 2018. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ are both positive for the year, so far.

  • The Dow declined 335 points, or 1.4%, at 24,610, for a decline in the first three months of the year of about 0.4%.
  • The S&P 500 index closed 1.4% at 2,712.
  • The NASDAQ closed 1.8% lower at 7,344.

 

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market,

  • Monday traded at 19.02, up +20.38% …
  • Friday traded at 15.80, down -4.76%
  • Thursday traded at 16.59, down -3.71%
  • Wednesday traded at 17.23, up +5.38%
  • Tuesday traded at 16.43, up +4.12%
  • Last Monday traded 15.78, up +78.79%

 

The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) indicated:

  • Monday was down -0.95%
  • Friday +0.53%
  • Thursday -0.49%
  • Wednesday -0.46%
  • Tuesday -0.43%
  • Last Monday +0.18%

 

The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) indicated:

  • Monday was down -2%
  • Friday +0.06%
  • Thursday -0.98%
  • Wednesday -0.12%
  • Tuesday -0.71%
  • Last Monday +0.32%

 

 

The count - decliners versus gainers:

……. look at the differences in decliners:

  • Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.23% <XON -$0.04> to -9.03% <ADVM -$0.65> in 25 equities;
  • Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.34% < FATE -$0.04> to -6.92% <BLUE -$14.85> in 17 equities;
  • Thursday’s decliners ranged from -0.28% < CLLS -$0.10> to -9.35% <IMUC -$0.026 > in 27 equities;
  • Wednesday’s decliners ranged from -0.15% <RGNX -$0.05> to -11.42% <IMUC -$0.036> in 21 equities;
  • Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.62% <NWBO -$0.00> to -4.16% <BLUE -$9.70> in 16 equities;
  • Last Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.30% <MESO -$02> to -3.03% <VCEL -$0.35> in 21 equities;

Versus

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

  • Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.03% <CYTX +$0.0001> to +5.45% <OSIR +$0.47> in 14 equities;
  • Friday’s gainers ranged from +0.12% <NWBO +$0.0004> to +11.48% <FCSC +0.07> in 23 equities;
  • Thursday’s gainers ranged from +0.31% <NWBO +0.001> to +7.02% <FCSC +$0.04> in 11 equities;
  • Wednesday’s gainers ranged from +0.60% <VSTM +$0.02> to +11.18% <CLLS +3.54> in 18 equities;
  • Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.62% <CYTX +$0.002> to +2.03% <AXGN +$0.70> in 19 equities;
  • Last Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.47% <BLUE +$1.10> to +3.43% <ADRO +$0.30> in 16 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.