August 31, 2020 7:28am

September’s has a reputation for being a poor month for equities; yet, on average, it has not lost ground in presidential election years

Pre-open indications: 2 BUYs and 5 SELLs

The Biostage (BSTG) Chronicles - share pricing gyrations? <Read more>

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Dow futures are UP +0.12% (+35 points), S&P futures are UP +0.24% (+9 points) and NASDAQ futures are UP +0.45% (+54 points)

 

Stock futures are projected to a positive open on Monday, the last session of August,

European stocks were higher, the U.K., markets were closed Monday due to a bank holiday,

Asia Pacific markets were largely higher, with Japanese shares leading the gains amid the search for a replacement of longstanding Prime Minister Abe.

 

Data Docket: German inflation figures are due at 9 a.m. London time, as well as a final reading for Italy’s second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

 

Henry’omics:

August’s gains have pushed the S&P 500 to record levels, the Dow erased its 2020 losses on Friday, closing the session with a year-to-date gain 0.4%.

The August rally built on the market’s sharp rebound off the March 23 intraday lows, the Dow (+57%) and S&P 500 (+60.1%) are up as the Nasdaq keeps humming.

 

Friday night’s post title – “sector spurts from oversold territory, what is investor’s tolerance and where is it on track to be?

  • The NASDAQ closed UP +70.30 points (+0.60%);
  • The IBB closed up +0.29% and XBI also closed up +0.85%
  • Sector volume was LOW with 0 of the 25-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume and the 2 of 8-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked (Friday) was down -1.51 points or -6.17% at 22.96;
  • Friday’s percentage (%) of the 25-upside were +0.09% (FIXX) to +6.74% (SAGE) while the 8-downside ranges from -0.35% (ADRO) to -23.71% (BSTG); 

 

Q3 so far:

  • August, 9 positive closes and 11 negative closes
  • July -11 positive and 11 negative closes with 1 holiday

 

Companies in my headlights – It’s your decision; I provide an idea and context:

Maintaining Sell:

Biostage (BSTG) closed down -$0.46 or -23.71% to $1.48 with 71,846 shares traded (the highest in YEARS) after Thursday’s +$0.30 to $1.70 (with 8998 shares traded) after Tuesday’s flat at $1.40 (1465 shares traded) and last Monday’s -$0.22 to $1.40,

  • Keep “PUMPING” the share purchases – it’s costing you more and the less goes to the operations of the company.

Analysts ask questions … and usually don’t get a response. Wonder WHY …

Question #1 - have all the financial liabilities (approved by chairman Jason Chen) been registered and HOW many billings have been “conveniently” lost or even destroyed; at the least the website has finally been updated with “lost” executives; how many more scientists are about to leave?

Question #2 - since Hong Yu has been president, and Shunfu Hu as a V.P. - how has the public stock price labored – down from April’s $4.20 and a low of $0.80 (Friday) even after a ‘hole lot of pumpin’ goinn-on. Mrs. bin Zhao have you as the major shareholder and Head of DST Capital of Weston, Mass. approved and Jason Chen of Beijing, China as chairman of the board permitted or condoned these actions?

  • Fact: There exist the millions of private placement unregistered shares (priced at $3.20, $3.60, $3.70 and now $4.00) existing FAR beyond the registered outstanding and float shares. SO again, why are companies with ‘going concerns”, measured by continual losses, development failures, a filed IND with NO clinical trial follow-up and continuous inflated financings – still listed?

Investors want to KNOW …Transparency is very important because investors NEED to understand what's going on?

 

SELL into STRENGTH:

CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) closed up +1.29 to $90.71 after Thursday’s +$0.51 to $89.42, Wednesday’s $88.91, Tuesday’s $88.92 and last Monday’s $86.59 and has a positive +$0.29 or +0.03% aftermarket indication;

Mesoblast (MESO) closed up +$0.70 to $19.34 after Thursday’s +$0.25 to $18.58, Wednesday’s +$0.67 to $18.33, Tuesday’s $17.66 and last Monday’s $18.70, with a negative -$0.09  (Friday) or -0.47% aftermarket indication with a 52-week change of +265.14% - time to lighten the “load”;

Pluristem (PSTI) closed up +$0.25 or +$11.01 after Thursday’s +$0.49 to $10.76, Wednesday’s +$0.05 and has a negative pre-market -$0.01 or -0.09% aftermarket indication. Yesterday. There was news of the U.S. FDA has clearing an Expanded Access Program (EAP) for the use of its PLX-PAD cells to treat Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) caused by COVID-19 outside of the ongoing P2 COVID-19 study in the U.S. I LIKE PSTI but, traders play with the pricing as new highs appear;

uniQure NV (QURE) closed up +$0.65 to $39.09 after Thursday’s $e8.44, Wednesday’s $38.04, Tuesday’s $39.85 and last Monday’s $38.21 with a negative -$0.23 or -0.60% aftermarket (Friday) indication and a 52-week low of 36.20 and a high of $78.69;

 

Maintaining BUY:

Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) closed up +$0.37 to $5.17 after Thursday’s -$0.17 to $5.03, Wednesday’s -$0.14 to $5.20, Tuesday’s $5.34 and last Monday’s $ 5. AGTC and has NO aftermarket indication yet, I believe is oversold;

bluebird bio (BLUE) closed up +$0.37 to $56.75 after Thursday’s $56.38, Wednesday’s $56.41, Tuesday’s $59.21 and last Monday’s $59.16 and has a positive +$0.25 or +0.44% aftermarket indication;

 

 

The BOTTOM LINE: The question is, will be finish the month on a positive note?

 

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.