December 26, 2023 4:35pm

Final trading week of 2023

Subscription is coming, it is not conscription but, an offer to join our collective of like-minded investors!  Join me … in the NO spin zone.

Santa left covid for me (having avoided it for 4 years) and the babe for a very low-key holiday

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Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

I follow the dictum, quoting Churchill that “short words are best, and the old words when short are best of all.”

 

Tuesday: The Dow closed UP +159.36 points or +0.43%, the S&P closed UP +20.12 points or +0.42% while the Nasdaq closed UP +81.60 points or +0.54%

Monday:  Christmas holiday

Friday: The Dow closed DOWN -18.38 points or -0.05%, the S&P closed UP +7.88 points or +0.17% while the Nasdaq closed UP +29.11 points or +0.09%

 

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 closed positive rising to start the last week of the year, pushing the S&P 500 closer to record levels.

“Wall Street came into the holiday-shortened week with momentum, after the S&P 500 on Friday registered its eighth straight weekly advance and longest streak since 2017. The Dow and Nasdaq also notched an eight-week winning streak.” <CNBC>

Economic Data Docket: housing reports showed mixed results. The Case-Shiller home price index met Econoday forecasts by rising 0.6% in October. But the Federal Housing Finance Agency index rose 0.3% for October, short of views for a 0.5% gain.

 

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

  • Tuesday’s advance/decline line was positive at the open with 21 incliners, 11 decliners and 3 flats, ending with a positive close of 25 incliners, 8 decliners and 2 flats
  • Monday was a holiday
  • Friday’s advance/decline line ended with a positive close of 28 incliners, 5 decliners and 2 flats 

 

Ebb and flow of MY covered sector cell and gene therapy session daily “endings”:

Q4:  December – 1 holiday, 7 negative and 10 positive closes

  • November – 11 positives, 1 holiday and 10 negative closes
  • October – 12 negative and 10 positive closes

 

Key Metrics:

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

  • Tuesday, the IBB was up +0.94% and the XBI was up +2.08%
  • Monday was holiday

The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked:

  • Tuesday was down -0.05 point or -0.38% at 12.98
  • Monday was Christmas

 

Tuesday’s Closing Down (8 of 8):

  • Harvard Apparatus GN (HRGN -$0.47 after Friday’s $0.00)
  • Editas Medicine (EDIT -$0.17 after Friday’s +$0.49),
  • Generation Bio (GBIO -$0.06)
  • bluebird bio (BLUE -$0.04),
  • Prime Medine (PRME -$0.02 after Friday’s +$0.46
  • Compass Therapeutics (CMPX -$0.02),
  • Caribou BioSciences (CRBU -$0.01)
  • Mesoblast (MESO -$0.01 after Friday’s -$0.03)

Flat (2):

  • Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM),
  • Cellectis SA (CLLS),

Tuesday’s Closing Up (10 of 25):

  • Blueprint Medicine (BPMC +$1.98 after Friday’s +$2.90),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$1.66),
  • Vericel (VCEL +$1.56 after Friday’s -$0.75),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$0.98 after Friday’s +$1.16),
  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB +$0.80 after Friday’s +$0.43),
  • uniQure NV (QURE +$0.68),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS +$0.63),
  • Verve Therapeutics (VERV +$0.542),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.34 after Friday’s +$1.41),
  • Sage Therapeutics (SAGE +$0.32),

 

Q4/23 – December

  • Tuesday closed positive with 25 incliners, 8 decliners and 2 flats
  • Monday (12/25) was Christmas

 

The BOTTOM LINE: I got the “vid” – covid – didn’t make for a happy, happy but made the most of is as I was cook, cleaner and bottle washer and playing doctor wasn’t as fun in finishing 2023!

Tuesday’s backdrop:

  • Volume was high on the Nasdaq as small caps continued to shine; the Russell 2000 added hefty gains and rose a solid 1.2%. Small caps are on pace for their best month of the year, having surged more than 12% in December.
  • The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was unchanged at 3.908%, while the two-year U.S. Treasury yield was up 3.7 basis points at 4.377%.

 

Question: How long will the Santa Claus rally last?

Answer: Thin liquidity conditions are likely to exacerbate the so-called 'Santa Claus rally' in equities ahead of the turn to year's end.  

 

It's time to think ahead to December’s end and 2024’s Q1.

  • Don’t FORGET portfolio December tax selling and a bit of rebalancing … “Investors NEED to start formulating their portfolio outlook into next year.”
  • It might be prudent to harvest and cash but, it’s too late … wait for 2nd or 3rd of January for tax purposes following the past month’s dramatic rally.
  • And then comes January and with worries that the U.S. economy will be slowing down, the potential for continued Middle East violence and, of course, the real prospect of bitterly contested elections across all of the United States. <The Street>

 

The top three (3) performing in the session:

  • Tuesday: Blueprint Medicine (BPMC), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Vericel (VCEL)
  • Monday: holiday

The worst three (3) in the session:

  • Tuesday: Harvard Apparatus GN (HRGN), Editas Medicine (EDIT) and Generation Bio (GBIO)
  • Monday: holiday

 

Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

  • Right up front, “I also hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and facts are its product; I can always be WRONG but … I am mostly EARLY!”

 

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.