February 23, 2021 7:38am

No “Fiddler on the Roof” yet today, Fed Chair Powell begins his two day’s comments setting the tune for/on markets and resulting outlook to the sector

Pre-open indication: 1 BUY and 6 SELLs

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Dow futures are DOWN -0.01% (-4 points), S&P futures are DOWN -0.44% (-17 points) and NASDAQ futures are DOWN -1.43% (-189 points)

 

U.S. stock futures were mixed yet, barely lower in early Tuesday,

European stocks retreated amid a choppy morning of trading as the pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 1.2% by late morning,

Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed, Mainland China, South Korea were lower as MSCI’s index of shares outside Japan rose 0.36%.

 

Data Docket: data on consumer confidence and home prices

 

Henry’omics:

The move in futures comes after a Monday session marked by stark differences in the sectors of the market.

  • Facebook (FB) reached an agreement with the Australian government and will restore news pages in the country again, just days after restricting them.

To the point quote, “The higher Treasury yields move up, the quicker investors are rotating out of high-flying tech stocks and into stocks in the Russell 2000 Index,” OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya said in a note.

 

This week’s Q4 & FY20 earnings’ releases:  Tuesday, 2/23 - bluebirs bio (BLUE), Wednesday, 2/24 - Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS), Vericel (VCEL), Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO), Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT); Thursday, 2/25 - Caladrius Biosciences (CLBS), Editas Medicine (EDIT), Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR), Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA)

Coming attractions: earnings’ releases – Monday, 3/1 - Precigen (PGEN), Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM) and Regenxbio (RGNX)

 

Monday’s evening’s recap: “sector sentiment slips a steep slide … Say that four (4) times, as the appetite for risk in “our” universe of earnings’ releases” … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/11781

  • The Nasdaq closed DOWN -341.41 points (-2.46%);
  • The IBB closed down -2.51% and XBI closed down -3%
  • Sector volume was LOW with 2 of the 7-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with the increased volume of 7 of 27-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) was up +1.40 points or +4.35% at 23.45;
  • Monday’s percentage (%) of the 7-upside were +0.22% (QURE) to +7.82% (BSTG – “pumped”) while the 27-downside ranges from -0.39% (MESO) to -33.62% (BCLI);

February: 8 positive, 7 negative closes and 1 holiday to date

January: 10 positive, 9 negative closes and 1 holiday

 

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

Maintaining Sell: Questions continue …

Biostage (BSTG) closed up +$0.145 to $2.00 with 2,094 shares traded after Friday’s -$0.00 to $1.85 with only 23 shares traded (interesting how no share traded without the “pumping of buys”, Thursday’s -$0.115 to $1.85 with 303 shares traded, Wednesday’s -$0.12 to $1.97 with 4.656 shares traded and last Tuesday’s -$0.03 to $2.09 with 1,243 shares “pumped”. Reiterating …

Question#1: WHERE is all the money from DST Capital going or even coming FROM – “to pump the public share price”? just think over the past months if those dollars were put into the company coffers, they wouldn’t be cutting back on employees’ salaries – also WHAT did they take PPP funds for or MAYBE a clinical trial would have been initiated?

Question#2: WHAT is the relationship of DST Capital beyond being BSTG’s investor as they are BOTH based in the same offices – together. WHY is Dixintong Technology Group in Beijing, China led by Donghai Lui defining BSTG’s path forward as Hong Yu, BSTG’s president reports to him through Jason Chen, BSTG’s chairman who also reports to him while managing DST Capital, bottom-line his wife’s (Mrs. bin Zhao) money?  

Question#3: Is Biostage (BSTG) a majority Chinese owned through Private Placements and warrants executions with a minority U.S. investors managed from Beijing?

 

BUY after earnings’ release:

AxoGen (AXGN) closed up +$0.54 to $21.19 and has a positive +$0.31 or +1.46% aftermarket indication. Q4/20 Net revenue was $32.5 million, a 15% increase compared to Q4/19 revenue of $28.2 million. Gross margin was 83.2%, compared to 82.7% in Q4/19. Net loss was $6 million, or $0.15 per share, compared to a net loss of $7 million, or $0.18 per share, in Q4/19. Cash, was $110.8 million, compared to a balance of $106.7 million on 9/30/20.

 

SELL:

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) closed down -$6.99 to $148.07 after Friday’s $155.06 with a negative -$11.66 or -7.87% aftermarket indication.

blue bird bio (BLUE) closed down again -$0.61 to $26.07 after Friday’s -$0.27 to $26.88, Thursday’s -$1.07 to $26.95 with another negative -$0.87 or -3.34% pre-market indication.

Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed down -$9.22 to $100.96 after Friday’s +$8.08 to $110.08, Thursday’s $102.10, Wednesday’s $103.22 and last Tuesday’s $101.44 with a negative -0.96 or -0.95% pre-market indication.

Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT) closed up +$0.14 to $48.47 after Friday’s -$0.43 to $48.33, Thursday’s -$0.41 to $48.76 with a negative -$1.65 or -3.40% pre-market indication.

Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) closed down -$1.24 to $81.09 after Friday’s +$3.86 to $82.33 after Friday’s -$4.01 to $78.47 with a negative -$0.99 or +1.22% pre-market indication. Earnings on Wednesday.

 

The BOTTOM LINE: Again, “forewarned … earnings LPS (loss-per-share) season is upon us – my advice, trim and skim … if one can!”

It’s STILL all about, the “bouncing ball” of sector momentum …

Many talk of horizons; “as I have said last week, my horizon is usually a Friday’s close …”

 

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.