August 28, 2025 4:37pm

I wrote this a.m., “I expect more sentiment selling as we get closer to August’s month end and to the Labor Day holiday”

Be ready its coming; investors should be on their guard, September has been the weakest month of the year for stock performance.

Trouble in HHS Kennedy land (continued): CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez’s lawyers speak as she “refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts” and that “she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda.”

My insights are conveyed with a simplicity of language to highlight what is informative.

Never leave an investor uninformed!  

I answer or qualify the sector’s equity’s movement; with an emphasis on which company is gaining or losing stride in their portfolio for the short-term

 

Thursday’s RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: econs set the attitude and HHS issues set the tone … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/14082

RegMed Investors (RMi) Research Note: Harvard Apparatus GT (OTCQB): Just another wrinkle – Q2/25’s 10-Q – liabilities exceed cash position … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13812

 

Thursday: The Dow closed UP +71.67 points or +0.16%, the S&P closed UP +20.46 points or +0.32% while the Nasdaq closed UP +115.019 points or +0.53%

  • Theme of the session, shrugging off today’s econs waiting for personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index’s reading for July, tomorrow

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

  • GDP, gross domestic product rose at a 3.3% annualized pace in the April-through-June period. The reading was better than the initial 3% estimate as well as the 3.1% consensus forecast as consumer spending helped push the number higher. Consumer spending helped push the number higher, rising by 1.6% compared to an initial 1.4% estimate. A measure called final sales to private domestic purchasers jumped 1.9%, up from the previous figure of 1.2%
  • Exports, which add to GDP, fell by 1.3%, compared to the previous estimate of -1.8%. Taking the figures together, net exports added nearly 5% to the Q2 total. For 1H/25, GDP has grown about 2.1%, or an average of a little more than 1% per quarter. The economy contracted 0.5% in Q1, largely due to the impact of the import rush.
  • Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 229,000 for the week ended August 23. Economists had forecast 230,000 claims for the latest week. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.954 M during the week ending 8/16.

 

From the title, a potential for a response to September’s historical prognosis: The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have offered their worst averages return during September. The impetus is fund managers looking to rebalance, rotate, spruce-up and protect their return %s ahead of the end of the year. Tax-loss selling is also in play.

  • History shows that September has been a seasonally weak month for stocks, Adam Turnquist of LPL Financial thinks this year’s monthly period might not be as dismal.
  • “The trend is your friend when it comes to September,” the firm’s chief technical strategist said on Thursday. “Seasonal data represents the typical climate for stocks but not the weather. And currently, the weather for the S&P 500 is filled with blue skies and record highs. When accounting for momentum and trend, which we believe is much-needed context, September doesn’t look so bad.”

 

Thursday’s my covered sector’s advance/decline line opened positive with 25 incliners, 10 decliners and 0 flat ending with a negative close of 15 incliners, 17 decliners and 3 flats

Metrics:  Thursday, the IBB was down -0.38%, the XBI was flat 0.00% while the VIX was down -0.49 points or -3.30% at 14.36

 

Q3 – August – 11 negative and 9 positive closes

  • July – 1 market holiday, 13 positive and 9 negative closes

Q2/25: June – 1 market holiday, 1 neutral, 9 negative and 11 positive closes, May – 1 market holiday, 10 negative and 11 positive closes and April – 11 positive and 10 negative closes

 

Thursday Closing UP (10 of 15) 

  • Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ +$0.83 after Wednesday’s -$1.27),
  • uniQure NV (QURE +$0.51),
  • Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN +$0.30 after Wednesday’s +$0.75 after Tuesday’s -$0.11 after Monday’s -$0.45)
  • Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT +$0.27 after Wednesday’s -$0.19),
  • Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE +$0.22 after Wednesday’s +$0.52 after Tuesday’s +$0.29 after Monday’s -$0.51),
  • Compass Therapeutics (CMPX +$0.21 after Wednesday’s +$0.13),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX +$0.19 after Wednesday’s -$0.30),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$0.18),
  • Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI +$0.09),
  • AxoGen (AXGN +$0.0840)

Flat (3)

  • Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN),
  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB)
  • Vericel VCEL)(

Thursday’s Closing DOWN (10 of 17): 

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$1.85 after Wednesday’s +$2.98 after Tuesday’s +$7.56 after Monday’s -$10.74),
  • BioNTech SE (BNTX -$1.08 after Wednesday’s -$1.78 after Tuesday’s -$0.28 after Monday’s -$5.81),
  • Moderna (MRNA -$0.63 after Wednesday’s +$0.37 after Tuesday’s -$0.62 after Monday’s -$1.77),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$0.51 after Wednesday’s -$0.22),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP -$0.48 after Wednesday’s -$1.35 after Tuesday’s +$0.75),
  • Agenus (AGEN -$0.29 after Wednesday’s -$0.09 after Tuesday’s +$0.24),
  • Generation Bio (GBIO -$0.18 after Wednesday’s +$0.22),
  • Mesoblast (MESO -$0.17),
  • Wave Life Science (WFE -$0.15),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS -$0.13 after Wednesday’s +$0.58 after Tuesday’s +$0.35 after Monday’s -$0.87),

 

The BOTTOM LINE:  The Nasdaq led the market today … after digesting better-than-expected GDP numbers and weekly jobless claims.

  • Indexes gained a bit more buying oomph during afternoon trade.
  • The S&P 500 saw its minimal gains reflate a touch to nearly 0.3%, and the Nasdaq was up slightly more than 0.5%.
  • The Nasdaq-100 index moved 0.6% higher, matching the gain seen earlier in the morning.
  • The Dow pulled a positive reversal, turning losses into meager gains.
  • The Russell 2000 was also up marginally.
  • Volume was running 3% higher vs. the same time on Wednesday on the Nasdaq. <IBD>

 

Expect volume to cool on Friday, however, as traders take off for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

 

As I wrote yesterday, Tuesday … “Despite the stock market's recent record highs, many investors are concerned that a downturn is on the horizon.”

  • Nearly 45% of U.S. investors admit to feeling "bearish" about the next 6 months, according to the most recent weekly survey from the American Association of Individual Investors, compared with 33% in late July. <The Street>

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!”
  • Yet, I was again on target … this 4 a.m.

Earnings: As earnings slowly come to the last few releases, collaborator revenues and runways has instilled share pricing with forward stability

  • Q2 results so far:  4 net incomes and 25 net losses of 29 releases to date

 

August: understand the “flow” …

  • 8/28 – Thursday closed negative with 15 positive, 17 negative and 3 flats
  • 8/27 – Wednesday closed negative with 16 positive, 17 negative and 2 flats
  • 8/26 – Tuesday closed positive with 25 positive, 9 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/25 – Monday closed negative with 4 positive, 29 negative and 2 flats

Last week:

  • 8/22 – Friday closed positive with 30 positive, 4 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/21 - Thursday closed positive with 22 positive, 12 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/20 - Wednesday closed negative with 14 positive, 19 negative and 2 flats
  • 8/19 - Tuesday closed negative with 5 positive, 28 negative and 2 flats
  • 8/18 - Monday closed positive with 18 positive, 17 negative and 0 flat

 

“I hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and truth is its product; I can always be WRONG but, I am mostly EARLY!”

  • If I have learned one thing as a former research analyst in a venture and public fund, operating executive, x-FBI, x-military officer and an adjunct (MBA) business school professor now a journalist; my life and your portfolio are largely tied to knowledge of price movements and questioning pricing targets and more.
  • I was once told by a “very” prominent figure early in my career, “write it right, keep it tight without hype and never lose the stride to guide the reader” – they were pretty simple instructions to follow!

 

Why do I keep repeating, so investors can make the connection …

The top three (3) performing in the session:   

  • Thursday: Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ), UniQure NV (QURE) and Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN)
  • Wednesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), IQVIA Holdings (IQV) and Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN)
  • Tuesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), AxoGen (AXGN) and CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP)
  • Monday: Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM) and Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN)
  • Friday: IQVIA Holdings (IQV), Vericel (VCEL) and Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN)

The worst three (3) in the session: 

  • Thursday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), BioNTech (BNTX) and Moderna (MRNA)
  • Wednesday: BioNTech (BNTX), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ)
  • Tuesday: Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ), Moderna (MRNA) and BioNTech (BNTX),
  • Monday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), BioNTech (BNTX) and IQVIA Holdings (IQV)
  • Last Friday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Ionis Pharmaceuticals IONS) and Agenus (AGEN)

 

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 it’s 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.