November 11, 2015 6:51am
The chorus is growing louder for “our” universe’s participants to “guide” more as volatility ebbs and flows following a humbling but, not ugly Q3.
Henry’s “5” Tuesday trading picks. Subscription required: http://www.regmedinvestors.com/user/register
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DOW futures and NASDAQ futures are both UP +0.2%
U.S. stock futures gained early Wednesday, with the S&P 500 eyeing a second up day in a row after halting a four-session losing streak.
European equities were trading higher as investors await comments from the head of the European Central Bank and digest data from China.
Asian stocks mostly edged up on Wednesday following fresh economic data from China that largely met expectations.
Data docket: There are no top-tier U.S. economic reports scheduled for Wednesday.
The RegMed sector closed NEGATIVE on Tuesday following POSITIVE closes on Monday and Friday, a NEGATIVE close on Thursday following a POSITIVE close on last Wednesday.
Tuesday closed NEGATIVE with 27 decliners, 14 advancers and 2 flats following Monday’s POSITIVE close with 15 decliners, 26 advancers and 2 flats.
The sector gets a spark from a Japanese firm’s buy-out of Ocata Therapeutics (OCAT) but, there is barely a flutter in “our’ universe!
- The pin was pulled on the “flash bang" <a non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient senses>, which I thought would stun the speculators and produce a blinding flash of light to impair and disorient the algorithmic programs – no joy!
I warn of the disorientation of investors, time and time again; any move higher in stock prices increase the odds of an upcoming depreciation
- Stocks are not properly priced and where does the fault lie - a lack of faith and that basis is laid at the footsteps of companies themselves. Talk to me more about guidance and proper governance!
Wednesday’s --- trading indications, stocks to watch:
- Bellicum Pharma (BLCM) closed UP +$3.08 <$18.38%> to $19.84 and the aftermarket value is up +$0.16 to $20.00. BLCM reported a net loss of $13.4 M or -$0.51 per share with basic and diluted shares of 26.37 M and cash of $163.2 M with a float of 18.98 M shares. Although losses are increasing, investors are focusing more on BLCM's drug pipeline progress, and fortunately, there was plenty of good news on that front. BLCM reported that four children with beta thalassemia receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplant and Bellicum's BPX-501 have become transfusion independent. Additionally, Bellicum announced progress on its engineered T-cell research programs, including BPX-601, which is slated to begin human clinical trials in pancreatic cancer soon. I’ll sit on the sidelines until BLCM’ cash burn how much BLCM's cash burn will increase in the future but for now, $1.63.2 buys a lot of FTEs and pipettes –BUY;
- Kite Pharma (KITE) closed UP +$5.18 to $82.67 and is up +$0.33 or +0.40% to $83.00 in the aftermarket. KITE is scheduled to report Q3 results on Nov 12 after the market closes. KITE which started trading in 6/14 has posted negative earnings surprises in the last four Q’s. On the basis of the market expectation – BUY;
- Opexa (OPXA) closed DOWN -$0.01 to $3.26 after reporting <11/9> a Q3/15 net loss of -$2.8 M or -$0.42 per share with $15.59 M in cash. Opexa had released results of a pre-clinical study, which show that T-cell immunotherapy with attenuated antigen-specific T-cells suppress the T-cell response to Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in a dose-dependent manner, compared to vehicle control, as measured by reduction in both Aquaporin-4 reactive T-cell (ARTC) proliferation and associated cytokine activity. The results were statistically significant. Huh (?), personalized T-cell immunotherapy may target the root cause of neuromyelitis optica (NMO). It’s a shot pre-clinically but, a good one - Aquaporin-4 reactive T-cells support pathogenic autoantibody production from B-cells in NMO, but also drive the T-cell mediated cytokine signaling and infiltration of inflammatory cells that also contribute to disease pathology. OPX-212 aims to restore immune tolerance in NMO patients by specifically targeting ARTC while leaving the rest of the patient’s immune system … intact. In the aftermarket, OPXA is up +$0.30 or +9.20% to $3.56 – BUY;
- Osiris (OSIR) closed DOWN -$0.34 to $14.34 with 456 K shares traded <3 month average =295 K shares>. For all the hullabaloo post the earnings call, OSIR reported product Q3 revenue of $24.3 million, obtained coverage of Grafix® for 128 million lives, an increase of 5 million lives compared to the previous quarter and initiated a P3 clinical study for OTI-15-01 for the treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers. The next phase of the Biological License program for OTI-15-01 is to pursue a clinical indication for Venous Leg Ulcers. OSIR launched two new products: TruSkin™ and Stravix which will provide solutions to wound specialists and surgeons for the treatment of larger wounds and surgical reconstruction procedures – BUY;
- Verastem (VSTM) closed DOWN -$0.02 at $2.11 with only 478.9 K shares traded <3 month average = 1 M shares> after reporting <11/9> a Q3/15 net loss of -$15.54 M or -$0.42 per share with $120.5 M in cash. Maintaining BUY;
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.
Henry McCusker, the editor and publisher of RegMed Investors does not hold or have positions in securities referred to in this publication.
