October 5, 2020 8:02am

Which leaves many oversold below the zone with lowered expectation

Pre-open indications: 4 SELLs and 1 BUY

What I provide is an “intelligence daily” to ensure that shareholders are kept apprised based on a 24-hour surveillance of “our” universe, the RegMed/cell and gene therapy sector and its surrounding markets

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Dow futures are UP +0.78% (+214 points), S&P futures are UP +0.74% (+24 points) and NASDAQ futures are UP +0.91% (+102 points)

 

Stock futures rose early Monday as investors brace for another volatile week

European stocks advanced while the pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.6% by late morning;

Asia Pacific markets were up with China closed for a holiday as the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose +1.12%.

 

Henry’omics:

The Dow futures climbed while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 futures also rose.

Major averages all gained last week, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.5% for its first positive week in five.

 

Friday night’s post: RegMed Investors’ (RMi) closing bell: stocks closed lower after President Trump tests positive for Coronavirus”

  • The Nasdaq closed DOWN -251.49 points (-2.22%);
  • The IBB closed down -2.05% and XBI closed down -2.19%;
  • Sector volume was extremely LOW with 1 of the 8-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with the increasing volume of 10 of 26-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) was up +0.93 points or +3.48% at 27.63;
  • Friday’s percentage (%) of the 8-upside were +0.09% (AXGN) to +20.91% (SLDB) while the 20-downside ranges from -0.61% (VCEL) to -35.18% (MESO); 

Q4’s October, so far: 2 negative closes

Q3: July through September: 1 neutral, 28 positive and 34 negative closes with 2 holidays

 

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

Maintaining Sell:

Biostage (BSTG) closed +$0.03 to $1.60 after Thursday’s -$0.03 to $1.57, Wednesday’s +$0.05 to $1.60, Tuesday’s -$0.19 to $1.55 and last Monday’s +$0.04 to $1.74. Question#1: Does this seesaw of pricing make sense? Question#2: NO clinicals after an approved IND, barely any employees left, an empty office building – WHAT is the future of BSTG after its abysmal and appalling path to this period? Question#3: is it a SCREEN for the OFF-SHORE moneys flowing into its private placements?

 

SELL into Strength:

Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed down -$2.52 to $38.09 after Thursday’s +$0.64 to $40.61, Wednesday’s +$0.57 to $39.97, Tuesday’s -$1.10 to $39.40 and Monday’s +$2.70 to $40.50 and last Friday’s $37.80 with a POSITIVE +$0.11 or +0.29% aftermarket (Friday) indication;

 

BUY:

bluebird bio (BLUE) closed down -$2.20 to $51.65 after Thursday’s -$0.10 to $53.85 and then announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) accepted its marketing authorization application (MAA) for its investigational elivaldogene autotemcel (eli-cel, Lenti-D™) gene therapy for the treatment of patients with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD). CALD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease primarily affecting young boys. Has a POSITIVE +$0.10 or +0.19% aftermarket (Friday) indication

 

SELL:

Mesoblast (MESO) closed down -$6.53 to $12.03 after Thursday’s flat at $18.56 and has a POSITIVE +$0.37 or +3.08% (Friday) aftermarket indication on last week’s news that the US FDA has issued a Complete Response Letter to its Biologics License Application (BLA) for remestemcel-L for the treatment of pediatric steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease (SR-aGVHD). While the FDA recommended that MESO conduct at least one additional randomized, controlled study in adults and/or children to provide further evidence of the effectiveness of remestemcel-L for SR-aGVHD.

SELL into strength:

Solid BioSciences (SLDB) closed up again +$0.72 to $4.18 after Thursday’s+$1.43 to $3.46 and has a POSITIVE +$0.33 or +7.89% aftermarket (Friday) indication

 

The BOTTOM LINE:  Sentiment has been fitful weighed by a worse-than-expected September jobs report. Nonfarm payroll rose by 661,000 in September, the Labor Department said Friday in the final jobs report before the November election. Economists had expected a jobs gain of 800,000. The unemployment rate fell to 7.9% last month.

Trump’s illness, as well as a weak September jobs report, highlighted the urgency for further coronavirus stimulus after a months-long stalemate in Washington.

Optimism for reaching a compromise has risen after House Speaker Pelosi signaled progress on Friday, saying “we continue to work on the text to move quickly to facilitate an agreement.” <CNBC>

 

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.