RMi Closing Bell: Smack down

October 10, 2025 4:52pm

Cell and gene therapy sector crashed as sentiment was “ruled” by algos and trader exists with a selloff facilitated by possible tariff hikes on China

President Trump has announced a further 100% tariff on all Chinese goods after Beijing imposed export restrictions on rare earth metals; sparked a frantic sell-off

It’s nice to be right more often than nought

We are getting closer to Q3 LPS (loss-per-share) earnings releases waiting for further share pricing debacles as the risk curve uplifts

Never leave an investor uninformed! 

TGIF, ready for holiday long weekend

For the week, the S&P 500′s split -1%, the Nasdaq dived -1% and the Dow -2%. The SPDR S&P Biotech (XBI) was down 1.3% on Friday, year to date it has rebounded more than 9%. The momentum has been particularly strong of late, with a nearly 5% jump so far this month.

RMi pre-open: Pause … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/14144

Traders rushed to buy protection in the options market against an even bigger decline for the benchmark indexes

Friday: The Dow closed DOWN -878.82 points or -1.92%, the S&P closed DOWN -182.60 points or -2.71% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -820.196 points or -3.56%

• Theme of the session: another pull back
• The fear gauge – the CBOE Volatility index spiked above 22, ending about 4 months of a placid upward grind for the S&P 500 to record highs.

Henry’omics: We need to more than consider the economic environment to comprehend the micro re “our” universe of cell and gene therapy

• President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs on China, accusing the country of “becoming very hostile” with its restrictions on rare earth metals, a key resource for the tech and defense industries. <CNBC>

Friday’s (my) 40-company covered sector’s advance/decline line opened negative with 8 incliners, 32 decliners and 0 flat ending with a negative close of 3 incliners, 37 decliners and 0 flat

Metrics:  Friday, the RUT was down -74.25 points or -3.01%, the IBB was down -2.10 points or -1.38%, the XLV was down -2.08 points or -1.44%, the XBI was down -1.53 points or -1.44% while the VIX was up +5.23 points or +31.77% at 21.6

Q4 – 5 positive and 3 negative closes

Q3 – September - 1 holiday, 9 negative and 12 positive closes; August - 12 negative and 9 positive closes; July - 1 market holiday, 13 positive and 9 negative closes

Friday Closing UP (3 of 3)

• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY +$3.51 after Thursday’s +$6.27, Wednesday’s -$8.90, Tuesday’s +$7.58 and Monday’s -$4.35),
• Compass Therapeutics (CMPX +$0-.17),
• Fate Therapeutics (FATE +$0.025),

Flat (0)

Friday’s Closing DOWN (10 of 37):

• Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ -$7,46 after Thursday’s -$2,35 after Wednesday’s +$1.66, Tuesday’s -$0.83 and Monday’s -$2.63),
• Vertex (VRTX -$7.07 after Thursday’s -$6.29 after Wednesday’s +$10.87, Tuesday’s +$7.38 and Monday’s -$0.40),
• IQV Holdings (IQV -$4.83 after Thursday’s+$2.41, Wednesday’s -$0.26 after Tuesday’s -$4.16 after Monday’s -$1.59),
• BioNTech (BNTX -$2.42 after Thursday’s-$1.80),
• uniQure NV (QURE -$2.10 after Thursday’s +$3,68, Wednesday’s +$2.05, Tuesday’s +$5.01 and Monday’s -$2.01),
• CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP -$1.85 after Thursday’s -$1.86, Wednesday’s +$6.16, Tuesday’s +$0.43 and Monday’s +$2.45),
• Beam Therapeutics (BEAM -$1.55 after Thursday’s +$0.87, Wednesday’s +$1.87 after Tuesday’s -$0.76 and Monday’s +$0.14),
• Regenxbio (RGNX -$1.25),
• Mesoblast (MESO -$1.21 after Thursday’s-$0.22, Wednesday’s +$1.66, Tuesday’s +$0.77 and Monday’s -$1.09),
• Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT -$1.02 after Thursday’s -$0.25),

The Bottom Line: More of the … WHYs …

• I can’t seem to let go of this quote, “It’s always darkest before the pitch dark”

The government shutdown stretches into its 10^th day …

The crystals and mood rings are muted as shutdown puts off scheduled data releases, including the jobless claims update that had been due putting the focus decisively on coming Q3 earnings, watched for insight into the economy's health.

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US ended the fiscal year of 2025 with a lower deficit-to-GDP ratio than the year before and sounded an optimistic note for 2026, noting that the US is on its way to lowering deficits without causing a recession. <Yahoo Finance>

After multiple uplifting sessions, the cell and gene therapy sector got dimed out

• I remain a skeptic, as electronic trading remains the impetus to, I believe the cell and gene therapy sector gets artificially … high and low” … as proven in past sessions by “uncle algo and his electronic trading dwarfs”!
• Keep your wallet closed!

As I had written, “when dramatic upsides occur, investors are often unsure exactly what to do, but they frequently act as if they do confidently know the best path forward – don’t be LULLED into an uncertainty position!” Right again …

• Maintaining the watch for further breakage-down in the risk curve!

October: understand the “flow” …

• 10/10 – Friday closed negative with 3 positive, 37 negative and 0 flat
• 10/9 - Thursday closed positive with 21 positive, 19 negative and 0 flat
• 10/8 – Wednesday closed positive with 29 positive, 10 negative and 1 flat
• 10/7 – Tuesday closed negative with 15 positive, 25 negative and 0 flat
• 10/6 – Monday closed negative with 17 positive, 22 negative and 1 flat

Last week:

• 10/3 – Friday closed positive with 27 positive, 10 negative and 3 flats
• 10/2 - Thursday closed positive with 26 positive, 13 negative and 1 flat
• 10/1 – Wednesday closed positive with 26 positive, 14 negative and 0 flat
• 9/30 -- Tuesday closed positive with 24 positive, 15 negative and 1 flat
• 9/29 – Monday closed positive with 33 positive, 5 negative and 2 flats

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

• I am more frequently right than consequentially wrong; if I wanted to be liked, I wouldn’t have been an analyst/journalist.
• “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!”

Why do I keep repeating, framed in a different para, so investors can make the connection

The top three (3) performing in the session:   

• Friday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Compass Therapeutics (CMPX) and Fate Therapeutics (FATE)
• Thursday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), uniQure NV (QURE) and IQV Holdings (IQV),
• Wednesday: Vertex (VRTX), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA)
• Tuesday: Vertex (VRTX), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) and uniQure NV (QURE)
• Monday: CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Arrowhead Pharma (ARWR) and Vericel (VCEL)

The worst three (3) in the session:

• Friday: Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ), Vertex (VRTX) and IQV Holdings (IQV)
• Thursday: Vertex (VRTX), Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ) and CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP)
• Wednesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), IQV Holdings (IQV) and MiMedx (MDXG)
• Tuesday: IQV Holdings (IQV), Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) and Arrowhead Pharma (ARWR)
• Monday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ) and uniQure NV (QURE)

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.