November 17, 2015 5:53pm

 

Uncertainty creates volatility level increases, sentiment is rather sanguine and danger lurks in any opinion.  Anything that seems to have short-term risk, investors need to stay away from!

Share pricing fluctuation requires more stamina than patience.  Subscription required … http://www.regmedinvestors.com/create-account

 

 

I say today what others won't, so you can do what others can't - access insight into sector sentiment and share pricing!

 

 

U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed Tuesday, as some encouraging earnings reports offset pressure from declines in oil prices and continued geopolitical concerns.

The NASDAQ closed UP +1.40 or +0.03% to 4,986.02 and the DOW is also UP +6.49 or +0.04% to 17,489.50.

 

 

Henry’omics:

The stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed sector opened negative and jumped to a positive stance at the mid-day to close in negative territory (of 43 covered companies)!

  • There is an uncertain payoff based purely on stock price performance which suggests a lack of conviction by “smart” money that any moves higher off the lows is sustainable!

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) traded UP 1.3% after Monday was slightly higher.

  • My fear gauge is flopping – The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) traded Tuesday near 19 following Monday’s below 19 following Friday’s above 20.

 

 

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 14/24 and 3 flats;
  • The mid-day popped with a positive A/DL of 24/17 and 2 flats;
  • The closing bell rang negative to end Tuesday’s session with an A/DL of 18/23 and 2 flats.

 

 

Out and about:

Why did Osiris Therapeutics (OSIR) crash today?

  • Answer is … price discounts and losses are weighing on investor minds according to analysts at Brean Capital. The brokerage cut its rating to a "sell" today and slapped a price target on Osiris Therapeutics of $8 -- well below current levels!
  • Although that may suggest there's still running room ahead for OSIR to grow, the company's cloudy pricing strategy and increased spending make it hard to guess when Osiris will be able to consistently reward investors with quarterly profit. For that reason, I would … be buying shares in this company on this decline!!

 

Referencing the Cesca Therapeutics (KOOL) notation in the pre-open post …

  • The “stuff” hit the fan as thinly traded Cesca Therapeutics (KOOL) cratered -49.57% or -$0.2879 with more than 969.9 K shares traded <3 month average = 67.5 K shares>, an 11x surge in volume in response to its announcement that a big chunk of the money ($9.5M) it raised in its convertible debt offering won't be immediately available to fund its planned P3 study of SurgWerks in critical limb ischemia (CLI);
  • The money resides in a restricted control account and won't be released until certain milestones are met, including approval from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) of the company's application for matching funds in the form of a CIRM grant;
  •  KOOL has withdrawn its application to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) over doubts about its prospects;
  • This puts KOOL in a serious financial bind since the P3 study is projected to cost over $20M. Predictably, the company is quickly editing its application, specifically making changes to the anticipated rate of patient enrollment, the overall timetable and the design of the statistical plan, so it can resubmit it to CIRM. It will also accelerate its search for funding via strategic partnerships and/or license agreements.

 

bluebird bio (BLUE) soared today …

  • Shares of BLUE are soaring higher today after releasing updated abstract data in advance of the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting that caused a handful of analysts to reaffirm their bullish outlook on the company's stock.
  • BLUE released data yesterday related to its ongoing preclinical oncology work with its collaboration partner Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG), giving investors their first look at how the experimental anti-BCMA CAR therapy performs in patients with myeloma. bluebird and Celgene's anti-BCMA therapy was able to generated a positive response or keep the diseases stable in several of the patients who are using treatment, which is a promising sign when considering that the patients who are using the therapy had previously used an average of 7 other treatments before giving bluebird & Celgene's therapy a go.

 

 

Tuesday’s trading indications:  1 hit/ 5 miss

  • Applied Genetics Technologies (AGTC) closed DOWN – miss;
  • Capricor (CAPR) closed DOWN – hit;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed DOWN – miss;
  • Osiris (OSIR) closed DOWN – miss;
  • Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) closed DOWN – miss;
  • Verastem (VSTM) closed DOWN – miss;

 

 

Riding the indexes and ETFs roller-coaster:

  • The iShares Biotechnology Stocks ETF (IBB) closed Tuesday closed up +4.25 or +1.31% after Monday’s advance of +1.25 or +0.39%;
  • The NASDAQ Biotechnology index (NBI) closed Tuesday up +45.73 or +1.35% after Monday’s+10.84 or +0.32%;
  • The Russell 2000 (IWM) closed Tuesday down -0.44 or -0.38% after Monday’s advance of +0.98 or +0.86%;
  • The SPDR SD&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed Tuesday up +0.50 or +0.73% after Monday’s decline of -0.12 or -0.18%;

 

 

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

  • Open: NEGATIVE with 24 decliners, 14 advances and 3 flats;          
  • Mid-day (1 pm): POSITIVE with 17 decliners, 24 advancers and 2 flats;
  • Closing bell: NEGATIVE with 23 decliner, 18 advancers and 2 flats

 

 

Who was UP – top 5:

  • Bluebird bio (BLUE) closed up +$5.16 to $79.61;
  • Aduro Biotech (ADRO) +$1.24 to $28.87;
  • Cellectis (CLLS) +$0.97 to $35.52;
  • Regenxbio (RGNX) +$0.92 to $22.26;
  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed up +$0.55 to $79.89;

 

 

Who closed down – top 5:

  • Osiris (OSIR) closed down -$3.01 to $10.97;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) -$0.34 to $53.13;
  • Cesca Therapeutics (KOOL) -$0.2879 to $0.30;
  • Histogenics (HSGX) -$0.24 to $3.50;
  • BioTime (NYSEMKT: BTX) -$0.11 to $3.25

 

 

Flat:

  • Ocata Therapeutics (OCAT) at $8.46;
  • VistaGen (VSTA) at $6.00;

 

 

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.