October 22, 2021 5:06pm

My skepticism has played through

Patterns of pump and promote must be examined by the SEC: Biostage (BSTG) closed down -$0.156 with 516 shares traded after Thursday’s -$$0.094 with 265 shares traded, Wednesday’s +$0.30 with 8,356 shares traded, Tuesday’s flat with 1,500 shares traded and last Monday’s flat with 4,000 shares traded

Pre-open indication results: 6 Hit and 0 MISS

My version of the session’s “indications” is about what you need to know; it’s what did happen after the opening, mid-day and to the close

An objective, fact and numbers-based narrative – check the numbers!

The week in review …

The Dow closed UP +74.60 points (+0.21%); the S&P closed DOWN -4.80 points (-0.11%) while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -125.50 points (-0.82%)

 

Henry’omics:

Indexes slipped (S&P -0.11%) and Nasdaq (-0.82%) while the Dow popped (+0.21%).

The reversal to the downside came as Powell said the central bank was "on track to begin a taper of our asset purchases that, if the economy evolves broadly as expected, will be completed by the middle of next year" during a virtual event hosted by the South African Reserve Bank Friday.

  • The central bank had previously telegraphed it believed the economy was nearing the recovery threshold that would warrant the start to tapering of the Fed's crisis-era asset purchase program.
  • Powell also noted he expected elevated inflationary pressures spurred by global supply constraints "are likely to last longer than previously expected, likely well into next year." <Yahoo Finance>

All three major averages are on track to close the week higher for three straight weeks of gains. The Dow touched an intraday record earlier in the week. On the month, the Dow and S&P are up +5% while the Nasdaq is up +4%.

Small caps were struggling, with the Russell 2000 closing down 0.3%.

 

RegMed/Stem/Cell and Gene therapy’s 35 covered equities’ Advance/Decline (A/D) lines: what’s happening …

  • Friday opened negative at 2/31, 1 flat and 1 acquired, stayed negative at the mid-day at 2/32, and 1 acquired, ending with a negative close of 9/26, 1 flat and 1 acquired;
  • Thursday opened positive at 25/8, 1 flat and 1 acquired, strayed negative at the mid-day at 16/17, 2 flats and 1 acquired, ending with a negative close of 15/15, 2 flats and 1 acquired;
  • Wednesday opened negative at 8/24, 2 flats and 1 acquired, strayed negative at the mid-day at 11/23 and 1 acquired, ending with a negative close of 12/21, 1 flat and 1 acquired;
  • Tuesday opened positive at 23/10, 1 flat and 1 acquired, stayed positive at the mid-day at 28/4, 2 flats and 1 acquired, ending with a positive close of 26/6, 2 flats and 1 acquired;
  • Monday opened negative at 6/27, 1 flat and 1 acquired, stayed negative at the mid-day at 10/23, 1 flat and 1 acquired, ending with a negative close of 13/21 and 1 acquired;

 

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: “it’s a let’s take a profit Friday. Sector earnings start next week as all three major averages are on track to close the week higher for three-straight weeks of gains” … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12150

 

Pre-open indication results: 6 Hit: < SELL: Biostage (BSTG -$0.156 with 516 shares traded); SELL into Strength: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY - $5.72), Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT +$0.21), Sage Therapeutics (SAGE +$0.19), Pluristem (PSTI -$0.25), Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE -$0.18)> and 0 MISS>

 

Key Metric - volume:

  • Sector volume was LOW with 0 of the 9-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with LOW volume of 6 of 26-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;

 

There are clear winners and losers

Jumping with share pricing momentum (9 of 9):

  • Regenxbio (RGNX +$1.11 after Thursday’s +$0,23, Wednesday’s +$0.11, Tuesday’s -$0.68 and Monday’s -$0.57),
  • Vericel (VCEL +$0.72 after Thursday’s -$0.16, Wednesday’s -$1.87, Tuesday’s +$0.55 after Monday’s +$1.26),
  • bluebird bio (BLUE +$0.41 after Thursday’s -$0.59),
  • uniQure NV (QURE +$0.22 after Thursday’s -$0.23),
  • Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT +$0.21 after Thursday’s +$1.57, Wednesday’s -$0.52, Tuesday’s -$0.40 after Monday’s +$0.19),
  • Sage Therapeutics (SAGE +$0.19 after Thursday’s +$0.33, Wednesday’s +$0.61, Tuesday’s -$3.78 and Monday’s -$0.87),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS +$0.11 after Thursday’s -$0.19, Wednesday’s -$0.76, Tuesday’s +$1.03 and Monday’s -$4.85),
  • Mesoblast (MESO +$0.04),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS +$0.01 after Thursday’s +$0.54, Wednesday’s +$0.38, Tuesday’s +$0.46 and Monday’s +$0.68),

Hammered in today’s market (10 of 26):

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$5.72 after Thursday’s +$0.51, Wednesday’s -$2.77, Tuesday’s +$2.69 and Monday’s -$4.66),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA -$2.68 after Thursday’s +$5.07, Wednesday’s -$3.54, Tuesday’s +$1.85 and Monday’s +$0.34),
  • ReNeuron (RENE.L -$2.50 after Thursday’s +$1.00, Wednesday’s -$4.50 and Tuesday’s flat)
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP -$1.50 after Thursday’s -$1.31, Wednesday’s -$1.89, Tuesday’s +$4.05 after Monday’s -$0.79),
  • Editas Medicine (EDIT -$0.65),
  • AxoGen (AXGN -$0.51),
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE -$0.48 after Thursday’s -$0.09, Wednesday’s -$1.60, Tuesday’s +$1.06 and Monday’s -$1.13),
  • Cellectis SA (CLLS -$0.46 after Thursday’s +$0.29 and Wednesday’s +$0.12),
  • Pluristem (PSTI -$0.25 after Thursday’s +$0.26 and Wednesday’s +$0.08),
  • Ultragenyx (RARE -$0.18 after Thursday’s +$1.44 and Wednesday’s -$1.08),

Closing Flat:

  • 1 – Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO) and 1 - Stemline Therapeutics (STML) – acquired

 

Stats:

The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) and the SPDR S&P ETF (XBI) indicators:

  • Friday, the IBB closed down -0.29% and XBI closed up +0.27%
  • Thursday, the IBB closed up +0.76% and XBI closed up +0.47%
  • Wednesday, the IBB closed up +0.19% and XBI closed down -0.34%
  • Tuesday, the IBB closed up +1.08% and XBI closed up +0.99%
  • Monday, the IBB closed down -0.85% and XBI closed down -2.09%

The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked:

  • Friday was up +0.42 points or +2.80% at 15.43
  • Thursday was down -0.48 points or -3.10% at 15.01
  • Wednesday was down -0.22 points or -1.40% at 15.48
  • Tuesday was down -0.68 points or -4.17% at 15.63
  • Monday was up +0.01 points or +0.06% at 16.31

 

October: the third week

Friday closed negative with 9 advancers, 26 decliners, 1 flat and 1 acquired

Thursday closed negative with 15 advancers, 17 decliners, 2 flats and 1 acquired

Wednesday closed negative with 12 advancers, 21 decliners, 1 flat and 1 acquired

Tuesday closed positive with 26 advancers, 6 decliners, 2 flats and 1 acquired

Monday (10/18) closed negative with 13 advancers, 21 decliners and 1 acquired

 

The BOTTOM LINE: Another wild ride, struggling amid weakness among stem, cell and gene therapy stocks.

Sector earnings get started next week, be prepared for decelerating share pricing growth.

I ate some dust Thursday … re prognostications; but today, how many right calls were offset by … early calls!

Big pharma healthcare sector has investors grinning on solid Q3 reports even as some worry that I our universe of stem, cell and gene therapy releases is too early to consider celebration.

We'll be seeing the results in the next couple of weeks as Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) on 10/28 followed by Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) on 11/2, Vericel (VCEL on 11/9 and Athersys (ATHX) on 11/15 – so far.

Once again, a large number of stem, cell and gene therapy stocks showed strength with lackluster moves meaning – low volume.

Reiterating, “the stem, cell and gene therapy sector is still seen as vulnerable to extreme moves in either direction, overbought and oversold categories as risk stimulates the susceptibility!”

I’m STILL a “beware or the cautious man” whose focus has always been “warning analysis” … earnings’ season is NOT over … my advice, trim and skim any new highs if one can!”

WHY do I keep analyzing Biostage (BSTG): When one sees an inextricable wrong and morally repulsive scenario; it takes courage, resolve and patience to stay the course of asking the questions without response!

Who is defining the metrics for investors and keeping you notified of the sector and market fluctuations?  What I provide is a trusted source of share pricing intelligence – it’s more than opinion, I deal in the facts and numbers that back them up.

 

Week in review …

Monday

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: indexes are slipping, will the sector fall with it? … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12142

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) closing bell: one word re share pricing – fear … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12143

 

Tuesday

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: sifting through Monday’s share pricing rubble … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12144

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) closing bell: the sun shines on the sector and optimism abounds … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12145

 

Wednesday

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: confidence … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12146

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) closing bell: pain follows gains with today’s spin down the drain while volume remains low ... https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12147

 

Thursday

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: markets and share pricing risks deflate sentiment = uncertainty … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12148

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) closing bell: expectation or causation … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12149

 

Friday

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: it’s a let’s take a profit Friday … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12150

 

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.

Regulation Analyst Certification (Reg AC): The research analyst primarily responsible for the content of this report certifies the following under Reg AC: I hereby certify that all views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject company or companies and its or their securities. I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report.