November 5, 2015 6:10pm

 

Lately no clinical trial goes unpunished; anything once proven must just be re-proven. The real issue is which benefit fell short … independence or reduction?

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U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Thursday as investors awaited Friday's key jobs report that could shed light on the timing of a rate hike. The major averages held mostly lower in choppy trade after struggling to hold opening gains. The indexes are still on track for gains of about 1% or more for the week.

The NASDAQ closed DOWN -14.74 or -0.29% to 5,127.74 and the DOW closed DOWN -4.15 or -0.02% to 17,863.43.

 

 

Henry’omics:

The stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed sector slipped grievously turning negative at the open while traders sold into any strength.

  • The NASDAQ underperformed the major averages as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) briefly fell more than 2% after Wednesday’s decline of -0.43% following Tuesday’s +0.30% following Monday’s advance of +3.87% when it had closed Friday DOWN -3.09 or -0.94%;

High-frequency trading is infesting market makers and investors by infiltrating a dark force that undermines sector investments;

  • ETFs are a great idea if they serve an investment objective to gain exposure to a specific index, sector or asset class. If the only (convoluted) objective is to generate bid-ask spread trading arbitrage and lightning leverage opportunities for the qualified institutional market participants, then ETFs could cause more harm than good at times of increased market volatility;
  • I also believe there is something inherently wrong in their pricing process!
  • On Oct. 2, The Wall Street Journal featured an article titled "Traders Seek Ways to Benefit from ETFs' Woes," which discussed how dozens of ETFs traded at "sharp discounts" on the morning of Aug. 24. The article features the intriguing subtitle: "In some cases, gains come at expense of individual investors!"

My interpretation of the fear index, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) closed on Thursday’s near 16 following Wednesday’s above 15, an increase from Tuesday’s near 14 following Monday’s below 14.

  • Investors are still seeing signs of a bubble slowly deflating!

 

 

Earnings:

Most would agree the fundamental situation has not changed much, with exception of a handful of “so-so” received financial results/earnings reports, which is different than the previous quarter ...

  • Athersys (ATHX) reported <11/5> a Q3/15 net loss of -$6.5 M or -$0.08 per share with $28.5 M in cash, BLUE closed UP +$0.03 to $1.08;
  • Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) reported <11/5> a Q1/16 net loss of -$9.1 M or -$0.53 per share with $199.3 M in cash, AGTC closed down -$0.60 to $13.19;
  • Caladrius Biosciences (CLBS) reported <11/5> a Q3/16 net loss of -$11.4 M or -$0.21 per share with $29.4 M in cash, CLBS closed down -$0.06 to $1.31;
  • Cytori (CYTX) reported <11/5> a Q3/15 net loss of -$5.8 M or -$0.04 per share with $19 M in cash, CYTX closed down -$0.01 to $0.38;
  • Fibrocell (FCSC) reported <11/5> a Q3/15 net loss of -$1.5 M or -$0.07 per diluted share with $36.9 M in cash, FCSC closed UP +$0.33 to $4.89;
  • Regenxbio (RGNX) reported <11/5> a Q3/15 net loss of -$7.3 M or -$1.52 per diluted share with $224.4 M in cash, FCSC closed UP +$0.33 to $4.89;

 

 

 

A day in the life of the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed (SCGT & RM) sector:

  • The SCGT & RM equities opened negative with an Advance/Decline line (A/DL) of 8/28 and 7 flats;
  • The mid-day concluded negative with an A/DL of 8/32 and 3 flats;
  • The closing bell rang negative to end the session with an A/DL of 11/29 and 3 flats.

 

 

 

Dosing the sector – what a day for the 43 Patients:

  • Open: NEGATIVE with 28 decliners, 8 advances and 7 flats;
  • Mid-day (1 pm): NEGATIVE with 32 decliners, 8 advancers and 3 flats;
  • Closing bell: NEGATIVE with 29 decliner, 11 advancers and 3 flats

 

 

Thursday’s trading indications:  3 hits/ 3 miss

  • Athersys (ATHX) closed UP – hit;
  • Applied Genetic Technology (AGTC) closed DOWN – miss;
  • Capricor (CAPR) closed UP -miss;
  • Opexa (OPXA) closed DOWN – hit;
  • uniQure (QURE) closed DOWN – miss;
  • VistaGen (OTCQB: VSTA) closed FLAT – hit;

 

 

Riding the indexes and ETFs roller-coaster:

  • The iShares Biotechnology Stocks ETF (IBB) closed down on Thursday -6.49 or -1.92% after Wednesday’s -1.45 or -0.43% after Tuesday’s advance of +1.02 or +0.30% following Monday’s advance of +12.60 or +3.87%;
  • The NASDAQ Biotechnology index (NBI) closed down on Thursday -65.57 or -1.86% following Wednesday‘s -12.23 or 0.35 % after Tuesday’s advance of +3.74 or +0.11% following Monday’s advance of +131.08 or +3.84%;
  • The Russell 2000 (IWM) closed up on Thursday +0.09 or +0.08% following Wednesday’s decline of -0.06 or -0.05% after Tuesday’s advance of+0.61 or +0.52% following Monday’s +2.40 or +2.08%;
  • The SPDR SD&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed down -1.23 or -1.71% following Wednesday’s advance of +0.40 or +0.56% after Tuesday +0.64 or +0.90% following Monday’s advance of +4.48 or +5.72%;

 

 

Who closed down – top 5:

  • Bluebird bio (BLUE) closed down -$19.79 to $70.36;
  • Juno therapeutics (JUNO) -$3.92 to $51.81;
  • Spark Therapeutics ONCE) -$2.21 to $57.82;
  • uniQure (QURE) -$2.09 to $18.50;
  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed down -$1.48 to $71.64

 

 

Who was UP – top 5:

  • Cellectis ADR (CLLS) closed up +$6.27 to $41.28;
  • Bellicum (BLCM) +$0.60 to $15.82;
  • Fibrocell (FCSC) +$0.33 to $4.89;
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE) +$0.15 to $4.92;
  • Capricor (CAPR) was up +$0.12 to $4.12

 

 

Flat:

  • VistaGen VSTA) at $6.60;
  • Mesoblast ADR (USOTC: MBLTY) at $12.33;
  • ReNeuron (RENE.L) at $3.75;                                                 

 

 

All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives. The information included above as well as individual companies and/or securities mentioned should only construed as an indication from any RMi reviews.

The facts stated and the opinions given in this publication are based on data and information considered to be reliable and have been carefully worked into my analyses and prognoses. However, no guarantee can be given as to their fairness, accuracy or completeness.

Henry McCusker, the editor and publisher of RegMed Investors does not hold or have positions in securities referred to in this publication.