April 22, 2022 5:00pm

As sector’s advance/decline line suffers from anoxia, an absence of oxygen

Pre-open indications: 1 Pimp/Pump/Promote

What I provide is an intelligence daily. RMi outlines a daily bell weather of “indications” about what you need to know; it’s what could happen or materialize after the opening and what might happen during the session.

Who else is tracking a broad grouping of cell and gene therapy equities – can you afford to not read facts supported by real numbers?

The week in review …


If I have learned one thing as a former research analyst, venture and public fund investor now a journalist; it is that your life and your bank account are largely tied to your knowledge of price movements and questioning pricing targets.

 

The Dow closed DOWN -981.36 points (-2.82%); the S&P closed DOWN -121.88 points (-2.77%) while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -335.36 points (-2.55%)

 

Henry’omics:

Indexes plunged on Friday, for consecutive weekly declines, as corporate earnings and rising interest rates.

Those losses put the Dow down 1.9% for the week, its fourth straight weekly decline and its ninth losing week of the last 11. The S&P 500 fell to a three-week slide, and was down 2.8% on a weekly basis. The Nasdaq was the laggard this week, losing 3.8%. <CNBC>

A telling quote, “Despite April posting the strongest average price increase since World War II, and second-highest frequency of advance, the prospects of more aggressive rate tightening by the Federal Reserve in response to an inflation rate not seen since the early 1980s continues to weigh on stock prices and investor nerves,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. <CNBC>

"Today's market action reflects the power of Jerome Powell's comments yesterday, that the Fed is determined to slay climbing inflation and virtually acknowledging that the market can expect a 50-basis point hike in May," LPL Financial chief equity strategist Quincy Krosby said. <yahoo finance>

 

52-week low:

  • bluebird bio (BLUE) at $3.99,
  • Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO) at $4.69,
  • AVROBIO (AVRO) at $1.02
  • Homology Medicine (FIXX) at $1.78,

 

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: “a lot of some “considered” favorite cell and gene therapy companies have fallen out of favor. Many CEOs have forgotten their investors as a relationship that needs to be coddled, not taken for granted.”  https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12400

 

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

  • Friday opened positive at 18 up/15 downs and 2 flats, flipped negative at the mid-day at 6/29, ending with a negative close of 10/23 and 2 flats,
  • Thursday opened positive at 17 up/16 downs and 2 flats, flipped negative at the mid-day at 5/30, ending with a negative close of 6/29 and 1 flat,
  • Wednesday opened negative at 4 up/30 downs and 1 flat, flipped positive at the mid-day at 18/14 and 3 flats, ending with a negative close of 15/20,
  • Tuesday opened negative at 15 up/18 downs and 2 flats, flipped positive at the mid-day at 31/3 and 1 flat, ending with a positive close of 27/6 and 2 flats,
  • Monday opened negative at 3 up/30 downs and 2 flats, stayed negative at the mid-day at 4/30 and 1 flat, ending with a negative close of 4/31,

 

Pre-open Indications: 0 HITs, 0 MISS and 1 Pimp/Pump/Promote < Biostage (BSTG +$0.05 with 3,233 shares traded – notice the share count?>

 

Key Metrics:

  • Friday - Sector volume was LOW with 3 of the 10-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with LOW volume of 4 of 23-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • Thursday - Sector volume was LOW with 1 of the 6-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with LOW volume of 8 of 29-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • Wednesday - Sector volume was LOW with 2 of the 15-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with LOW volume of 1 of 20-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • Tuesday - Sector volume was LOW with 3 of the 27-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with LOW volume of 2 of 6-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • Monday - Sector volume was LOW with 4 of the 4-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with LOW volume of 8 of 31-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume;

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

  • Friday, the IBB was down -2.32% and the XBI was down -1.59%
  • Thursday, the IBB was down -2.36% and the XBI was down -4.28%
  • Wednesday, the IBB was up +0.53% and the XBI was up +0.22%
  • Tuesday, the IBB was up +0.96% and the XBI was up +1.24%
  • Monday, the IBB was down -2.87% and the XBI was down -4.76%

The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked:

  • Friday was up +5.27 points or +23.74% at 27.95
  • Thursday was up +2.36 points or +11.61% at 22.68
  • Wednesday was down -1.05 points or -4.91% at 20.32
  • Tuesday was down -1.10 points or -4.96% at 21.07
  • Monday was down -0.53 points or -2.33 % at 22.17

 

Jumping with share pricing momentum (10 of 10):

  • Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR +$0.23 after Thursday’s -$2.84, Wednesday’s +$0.55, Tuesday’s +$0.53 and Monday’s +$0.09),
  • Editas Medicine (EDIT +$0.22),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$0.15 after Thursday’s -$4.33 and Wednesday’s -$2.20),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$0.15 after Thursday’s -$2.05 and Wednesday’s -$2.38),
  • Precigen (PGEN +$0.12),
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE +$0.11 after Thursday’s -$2.08, Wednesday’s -$0.17, Tuesday’s +$1.29 and Monday’s -$2.29),
  • Verastem (VSTM+$0.05),
  • Biostage (BSTG +$0.04 after Thursday’s+$0.90, Wednesday’s -$0.48 and Tuesday’s +$0.48 - promoted),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM -$1.67 after Wednesday’s -$0.93, Tuesday’s +$0.72 and Monday’s -$2.42),
  • Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM +$0.01),

Hammered in today’s market (10 of 23):

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$1.75 after Thursday’s +$0.80, Wednesday’s +$6.75, Tuesday’s +$4.52 and Monday’s -$10.66),
  • Vericel (VCEL -$1.64 after Thursday’s -$1.92, Wednesday’s +$1.61 and Tuesday’s +$2.19),
  • Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT -$1.27 after Thursday’s -$1.05, Wednesday’s +$0.97, Tuesday’s +$0.67 and Monday’s -$1.42),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS -$1.27),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$0.89 after Thursday’s -$1.93 and Wednesday’s -$1.42),
  • Sage Therapeutics (SAGE -$0.85),
  • uniQure NV (QURE -$0.43),
  • AxoGen (AXGN-$0.33),
  • Chinook Therapeutics (KDNY -$0.26),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX -$0.23 after Thursday’s -$1.18 after Wednesday’s +$0.72 and Tuesday’s +$0.78),

 

April, Q2/2022:

  • Friday closed negative with 10 incliners, 23 decliners and 2 flats
  • Thursday closed negative with 6 incliners, 29 decliners and 1 flat
  • Wednesday closed negative with 15 incliners and 20 decliners
  • Tuesday closed positive with 27 incliners, 6 decliners and 2 flats
  • Monday closed negative with 4 incliner and 31 decliners

 

The BOTTOM LINE: The cell and gene therapy sector took a dive as market risk fears caused stocks to swoon.

Volume also fell on both the Nasdaq and the sector. This might be a good thing on a down day, but little help when indexes are off more than 2%.

“Traders are increasingly worried the Fed's more aggressive approach could lead to a recession as the all-powerful U.S. consumer becomes more wary about spending due to fears over the economy. Next week, investors will parse fresh figures from the University of Michigan on April consumer sentiment.” <IBD>

Also reiterating, “Investors are losing confidence and it shows up in the ever rotating roller-coaster of share pricing.”

There are clear winners and losers: gene editing equities are having a rough time since the Broad Institute patent award as the “other” companies face negotiating licenses.

State the obvious, investors are NOT in control of daily market driven sector appreciation or downward dives.

I try to keep it simple …

We are getting close to Q2 reporting season … yet, I can’t write away my misgivings about the daily sessions. 

Earnings’ season is upon us as Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) reports Thursday,4/28 followed by Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) on 5/3 and AxoGen (AXGN), Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS), MiMedx (MDXG) and Vericel (VCEL), and Fate Therapeutics (FATE) on 5/4 so far.

Volume again was also barely there … as earnings might get even more ugly.

I stick to my view of anticipating the risks – as my careers focus has been “warning analysis”.

 

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.

 

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.