October 5, 2023 7:49am

Lately, good news seems to be bad news and conversely 'bad news is good news; however, reflecting on normal times, no one really questions whether no news is better or actually good

Pre-open Indications: 1 Negative and 3 Positive Indications

News: uniQure NV (QURE +$0.14 pre-open) announced a strategic reorganization that will significantly reduce operating expenses while supporting focused execution to rapidly advance multiple clinical-stage programs to proof-of-concept.

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8:00 a.m. edition

Remember that overnight and pre-open actions in futures don't necessarily translate into actual trading in the coming day’s session. My interpretation of the morning’s numbers is written to be informative; it’s built on what could happen or materialize

Keeping the pre-open simple and brief ...

 

Dow futures are DOWN -0.20% or (-66 points), S&P futures are DOWN -0.13% or (-5 points) and NASDAQ futures are DOWN -0.04% or (-6 points) early in the pre-open – so far

U.S. stock futures edged lower Thursday coming off a positive session,

European stocks were slightly higher,

Asia-Pacific markets rose in a positive response.

 

Henry’omics:

We need to more than consider the economic environment - rising rates and inflation to comprehend the micro re “our” universe of cell and gene therapy companies …

Indexes ticked-up and up on Wednesday as the Dow closed UP +127.17 points or +0.39%, the S&P closed UP +34.30 points or +0.81% while the Nasdaq closed UP +176.54 points or +1.35%

Economic Data Docket: Weekly jobless claims and trade deficit

 

Wednesday’s (10/4) RegMed Investors’ (RMi) closing bell: “not in the cards for cell and gene therapy sector after writing, “a bounce back: after a whiskey-tango-foxtrot” Tuesday; econ, politics – removal of House of Reps speaker McCarthy and inflation concerns taunt the cell and gene therapy sector.” … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13149   

 

Ebb and flow:

Q4: October – 1 positive and 2 negative closes

Q3:

·         September – 1 holiday, 8 positive and 12 negative closes

·         August – 9 positive and 14 negative closes

·         July - 1 holiday, 12 positive and 8 negative close

 

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

I post about “indication intelligence” devoting my time to collection and analysis of information to assist investors with insight into sector vulnerabilities and strengths. A dictionary definition of “indicate” refers to something less than a certainty; an indication could be a signal of being oversold or overbought, a recommendation, or grounds for inferring or a basis for believing.

 

Negative Indications:

Wednesday’s closing price, some Tuesday, Monday, Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, and last Tuesday’s closing “numbers” with aftermarket dollar ($) and cent ($0.00) value and percentage (%)

Maintaining, Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) closed down -$0.74 after Tuesday’s +$0.27, Monday’s -$2.21, Friday’s -$0.14 and last Thursday’s -$0.33 with a negative -$0.09 or -0.31% pre-open indication

 

Positive Indications:

Wednesday’s closing price, some Tuesday, Monday, Friday, Thursday Wednesday and last Tuesday, Monday closing “numbers” with aftermarket dollar ($) and cent ($0.00) value and percentage (%)

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) closed down -$3.74 with a positive +$3.38 or +2% pre-open indication

Prime Medicine (PRME) closed down -$0.39 after Tuesday’s +$0.34 and Monday’s -$0.80 with a positive +$0.42 or +4.83% aftermarket indication.

uniQure NV (QURE) closed down -$0.30 with a positive +$0.19 or +3.15% pre-open indication after news of a strategic reorganization that will significantly reduce operating expenses while supporting focused execution to rapidly advance multiple clinical-stage programs to proof-of-concept.

 

The BOTTOM LINE: “Don't act like the sector is in an uptrend until the sector is actually in an uptrend.”

Investors are "kind of stuck in the middle between FOMO, fear of missing out, and FOLA, that fear of losing it all."

  • Wednesday, treasury yields pulled back from multiyear highs (4.735%) following the release of much weaker-than-expected jobs data,
  • The market is being dragged around by interest rates,
  • ADP said 89,000 private payrolls were added last month. That’s well below a forecast of 160,000 and fewer than an upwardly revised 180,000 payroll additions from August.
  • “The ousting of Republican Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker may not have any major immediate implications for Wall Street, but it could boost the likelihood of government shutdown in the fourth quarter.” <CNBC>
  • Although, Q4 historically has been the best quarter for the U.S. stock market …
  • What's also “spooking” the market and cell and gene therapy sector is volatility …
  • After 1 positive and 2 negative close in the new October, three (3) negative weekly closes and twelve (12) negative closes of twenty-one (21) in the month of September; hope springs eternal, which is NOT a technical indicator.
  • The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), which rises when investors expect market turmoil ahead, fell by nearly 1 point in Wednesday’s session to under 19. On Tuesday, the index hit a high above 20 not seen since May amid the market sell-off.
  • Fed said last month it may hike rates again as it struggles to bring inflation closer to its 2% annual target.

 

Today’s news, UniQure NV (QURE) from title:

“Discontinued more than half of its research and technology projects, including AMT-210 for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and multiple undisclosed programs. As a result of the reprioritization, the Company will be closing a research lab in Lexington and plans to sublease this space.

  • Also, will consolidate all GMP manufacturing into its Lexington, MA manufacturing facility and consolidate process and analytical development into its Amsterdam, Netherlands facility. Commercial manufacturing of HEMGENIX® for CSL Behring will be unaffected by these actions.
  • As a result of the restructuring plan, elimination of 114 positions, which represents 28% of the workforce not committed to HEMGENIX manufacturing obligations, and approximately 20% of the total workforce
  • Total cost savings of approximately $180 million over the next three years
  • Current balance of cash, cash equivalents and investment securities of $628.6 million as of June 30, 2023 (excludes $100 million milestone payment subsequently received from CSL Behring) to fund operations into Q2/27

 

An appropriate note, ““Anytime you have big momentum in one direction, there’s going to be days where you get a little bit of reprieve and in this case, you get a reprieve in rates and equities. The broader trend is really the downside from here.” <Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird>

 

Weekly Economic data Calendar:

  • Thursday: Challenger jobs cuts, year-over-year, September; Weekly initial jobless claims, September 30 (204,000 previously)

 

I hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and facts are its product; I am more frequently right than consequentially wrong but, I am mostly EARLY!

I am more frequently right than consequentially wrong; if you want to be liked, don’t be an analyst/journalist.

Timing is everything, “I learned very early (as a military officer), if you weren’t 5 minutes early for a meeting, you were 10 minutes late – follow my lead by being EARLY in portfolio deliberations.”

 

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. All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.

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.  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.

Henry McCusker, the editor and publisher of RegMed Investors could hold or have positions securities referred to in this publication and he will NOTIFY investors of holdings.