October 29, 2018 5:01pm

Sector equities sold-off into the close with three (3) trading days left until end of month

Out and about: the Crispers – (CRSP -$1.14 or -3.52%), (EDIT -$0.93 or -3.58%) and (NTLA -$1.33 or -6.7%) are getting further bloodied by small volumes versus 3 month averages

De-risking or a flight before earning’s LPS (loss-per-share) releases?

Pre-open indications: 1 MISS <Regenxbio (RGNX) closed down -$0.59 (having been up +$2.39)>

 

Who is defining the metrics for individual investors?

The next few trading sessions will be critical for the RegMed sector which will establish whether market reaction to recent events is temporary and short-lived, or if this is the start of a more fundamental correction.  

I follow the dictum, quoting Churchill that “short words are best, and the old words when short are best of all.”

 

Daily analytics and metrics:

  • The Dow closed down -245.39 points or -0.99% to 24,442.92
  • The S&P closed down -17.44 points or -0.66% to 2,641.25
  • The NASDAQ closed down -116.92 points or -1.63% to 7,050.29

 

The advance/decline line scenario of 45 covered companies:   

  • The open was positive with an A/DL of 34/11 and 0 flat;
  • The mid-day was negative with an A/DL of 15/29 and 1 flat;
  • The close was negative with an A/DL of 5/39 and 1 flat;

 

Pre-open indications:  1 MISS

  • Regenxbio (RGNX) closed down -$0.59 (having been up +$2.39) – miss;

 

Five (5) key metrics: 

… The greatest volume to the downside:  HSGX, VSTM, SGMO, BLUE and BMRN

… Upside volume was weighted to:  MDXG, IONS, CUR, PSTI and CLLS

… Leadership ($) to the downside:  BLUE (-$7.07), BMRN (-$3.68), ALNY (-$2.85), SLDB (-$2.58) and SAGE (-$2.51)

… Best moves ($) to the upside:  CLLS (+$0.29), IONS (+$0.13), MDXG (+$0.03), CUR (+$0.012) and PSTI (+$0.01)

… The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) closed:

  • Monday was down -0.97% after indicating a positive +1.1% in the pre-market;
  • Friday was down -0.37% after indicating a negative -1.51% in the pre-market;
  • Thursday was up +1.15% after NOT indicating a POSITIVE +0.7% in the pre-market;
  • Wednesday was down -5.76% after indicating a NEGATIVE -0.59% in the pre-market;
  • Tuesday was down -0.48% after NOT indicating in the pre-market;
  • Last Monday was down -1.44% after indicating a POSITIVE +0.01% in the pre-market;

 

Henry’omics:

It’s a day of "sell ’em if you’ve got them" re sector equities!

Sector equities closed lower on Monday, giving up sharp gains from the open amid market reversals, the possibility of more U.S.-China tariffs coupled with a decline in tech shares.

Don’t be fooled by the stock market’s early, manic Monday moves, I have been exposing -caution.

A dive by the Dow by -0.99%, the S&P 500 index of -0.66% and the NASDAQ dip of 1.43% after a positive open had investors hoping that a withering rout that has played out since early October may be coming to an end.

 

I believe that “our or my” universe will continue to … flush (down as a toilet) to truly achieve a bottom that I mentioned in the a.m. post.

Never forget the bright side to steep inclines – the old mythology stories – the Phoenix will rise from the ashes just as Icarus flew too high and crashed into the sea – buyers will appear when a bottom flashes!

Until “earnings” are released … LPS (loss-per-share) numbers and runways are defined … market fears linger.

 

Monday offers … NO indication for the week and the month of October to end!

 

Monday's moves come after a 3% drop on the Dow last week, which was capped off by a decline of nearly 300 points on Friday. The S&P 500 dropped 3.9% while the NASDAQ dropped 3.8%.

 

WEAKNESS indicators:

Review the range of the 5 upside from +0.27% to or +1.94% while the 39 downside ranges from -0.31% to -11.97% (AST) with a 1 flat close (RENE.L).

Interesting stat: Volume DECREASED … look at the depth – 1 out of 5 of the upside had higher (than the 3 month average) volume while 11 of the downside experienced greater volume (than the 3 month average) out of 39.

 

From the pre-open newsletter,”…bottom, bottom; who is coming off their bottom? How much and had how far versus those few who keep tripping as the markets are staging a comeback.”

 

October sessions:

Monday closed NEGATIVE with 39 decliners, 5 advancers and 1 flat;

Friday closed NEGATIVE with 26 decliners, 18 advancers and 1 flat;

Thursday closed POSITIVE with 7 decliners, 37 advancers and 1 flat;

Wednesday closed NEGATIVE with 41 decliners, 3 advancers and 1 flat;

Tuesday closed NEGATIVE with 23 decliners, 21 advancers and 1 flat;

Monday closed NEGATIVE with 33 decliners, 11 advancers and 1 flat;

Friday closed NEGATIVE with 34 decliners, 8 advancers and 3 flat;

Thursday closed NEGATIVE with 36 decliners, 8 advancers and 1 flat;

Wednesday closed NEGATIVE with 25 decliners, 19 advancers and 1 flat;

Tuesday closed POSITIVE with 4 decliners, 39 advancers and 2 flats;

Monday closed NEGATIVE with 26 decliners, 17 advancers and 2 flats;

Friday closed POSITIVE with 9 decliners, 35 advancers and 1 flat;

Thursday closed NEGATIVE with 38 decliners, 7 advancers and 0 flat;

Wednesday closed NEGATIVE with 42 decliners, 2 advancers and 1 flat;

Tuesday closed NEGATIVE with 23 decliners, 18 advancers and 4 flats;

Monday closed NEGATIVE with 34 decliners, 10 advancers and 1 flat;

Friday closed NEGATIVE with 26 decliners, 17 advancers and 2 flat;

Thursday closed NEGATIVE with 35 decliners, 8 advancers and 2 flat;

Wednesday closed POSITIVE with 16 decliners, 27 advancers and 2 flat;

Tuesday closed NEGATIVE with 32 decliners, 12 advancers and 1 flat

Monday (10/1) closed NEGATIVE with 33 decliners, 13 advancers and 1 flat;

  • In 19 sessions in September – there were 10 negative closes and 9 positive close;
  • In 21 August sessions – 6 had negative and 15 had positive closes

 

 

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.