September 13, 2018 5:44pm

Fundamentals have been ravaged by the sudden spikes of volatility; but, are we sliding to a reckoning?

Keep an eye on the difference of gains indicated by low volume

Sentiment is capricious!

 

Pre-open indications: 3 HIT and 0 MISS

 

We crave explanations because they give us an illusion of control. Who is feeding your portfolio - profit from RMi’s analysis!

Henry’omics:

I have been exposing CAUTION as volume has been low but, is picking-up mostly to the downside.

I’m worried by the slippage of September’s sessions (see end of newsletter).

As someone who is neurotic about who to be invested in; I have learned that unwelcome surprises (i.e. missing an endpoint) can spark panic, defensive trades and other fearful reactions among investors, funds, traders and the ultimate kill-joy – algorithms.

 

What concerns me the most is the intractability of boards-of-directors (BOD) to execute their fiduciary responsibilities for stakeholders and shareholders. How many companies are in TURMOIL – over the status of their CEO, clinical enrollment lateness or just spending – always depending on capital markets and investor dilution to keep their jobs?

CEOs - those ultimately responsible for the share price … NEED to aggregate their risks, polish their platforms by ARTICULATING through GUIDANCE that it’s NOT a crap-shoot in their development program!

Theme for Q3 – ACCOUNTIBILITY if CEOs want to continue their tenure! In many companies, the only individuals making money are the management teams with investors in some cases gathering dust in a broom closet!

 

From the pre-open newsletter: “chugging along, let’s keep it this way after slow running in September, the sector is leisurely advancing. Although still split, the trend is to play it safe – a no risk session!”

 

The spits and spurts:

AGTC slipped negative -$0.05 to $3.90 after Wednesday’s +$0.03 after getting nailed post Q4 and FY18 reporting (-$0.375);

BLFS declined another -$0.93 to $18.15 after Wednesday’s -$0.50 after Tuesday’s -$0.44, as I had stated - another Icarus flight pattern;

VSTM dropped another -$0.06 after Wednesday’s -$0.31 following Tuesday appreciation of +$0.12 with increasing volume – October is getting closer, are investor feeling negative (?) or just profiting;

HSGX was down again -$0.059 after Wednesday’s -$0.0167 after being barely up, the shell and cash is worth more than today’s $0.58;

BLUE bounced back +$0.90 after Wednesday’s -$5.45 following Tuesday’s -$5.00 - regains some of altitude;

RGNX bounced back +$0.85 after Wednesday’s slip of -$1.55 after Tuesday’s gain of +$1.90, regaining altitude

The CRISPR trio– they are getting “RIPE” to be profited while retracing lost value until the next decline (I wouldn’t hold my breath:

  • CRSP closed up again +$0.42 following Wednesday’s +$1.93 after Tuesday’s +$2.11;
  • EDIT closed down -0.27 post Wednesday’s +$0.25 after Tuesday’s +$1.17;
  • NTLA closed up again +$0.70 after Wednesday’s +$1.14 after Tuesday’s +$2.015 …

 

Of the 45 companies covered on Thursday; 22 downside equities finished in a range of -0.28% (AXGN) to -9.30% (HSGX) while 20 upside equity oscillated from +0.11% (IONS) to +9.76% (KOOL +$0.04) with 3 flat closes (PSTI, BLCM and RENE.L).

 

 

Daily analytics and metrics:

  • The Dow is up +107.07 points or +0.57% to 26,145.99
  • The S&P closed up +15.26 points to 2,904.18
  • The NASDAQ closed up +59.48 points or +0.75% to 8,013.71

 

The advance/decline line scenario of 45 covered companies:   

  • The open was positive with an A/DL of 27/16 and 2 flats;
  • The mid-day was positive with an A/DL of 24/17 and 4 flats;
  • The close slipped negative with an A/DL of 20/22 and 3 flats;

 

Pre-open indications: 3 TRADES

  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) closed up +$0.43 to $54.15 in a day’s range $53.34 to $55.48 - hit;
  • Editas Medicine (EDIT) closed down -$0.27 to $32.22 in a day’s range of $31.68 to $32.93 – hit;
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) closed up +$0.70 to $30.97 in a day’s range of $30.01 to $31.40 – hit;

 

Four (4) key metrics:  

… The greatest volume to the downside:  VSTM, MDXG, GBT, HSGX and AXGN

… Upside volume was weighted to:  SGMO, ALNY, VCEL, BMRN and IONS

… Leadership ($) to the downside:  GBT (-$3.40), SLDB (-$2.70), SAGE (-$1.27), BLFS (-$0.93) and ONVE (-$0.55)

… Best moves ($) to the upside:  BOLD (+$2.30), FIXX (+$1.04), BMRN (+$0.99), VTGR (+$0.94) and RARE (+$0.91)

 

The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) closed:

  • Thursday was up +0.74%
  • Wednesday was up +0.05%
  • Tuesday was down -0.42%
  • Monday was up +0.17%
  • Friday was down -0.57%
  • Last Thursday was down -1.78%

 

September sessions:

Thursday’s closed NEGATIVE with 22 decliners, 20 advancer and 3 flats 

Wednesday’s closed POSITIVE with 20 decliners, 25 advancer and 0 flats 

Tuesday’s closed POSITIVE with 20 decliners, 23 advancer and 2 flats 

Monday’s closed NEGATIVE with 28 decliners, 17 advancer and 2 flats 

Friday’s closed POSITIVE with 15 decliners, 23 advancer and 7 flats 

Thursday’s closed NEGATIVE with 39 decliners, 1 advancer and 5 flats 

Wednesday’s closed NEGATIVE with 30 decliners, 12 advancers and 3 flats 

Tuesday’s (9/4) closed NEGATIVE with 22 decliners, 19 advancers and 4 flats  

 

 

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.