November 20, 2015 6:35am

 

It's not the best of financial settings, but it's not getting any worse than usual and that's good news

Henry’s “5” Friday trading picks?  Subscription required: http://www.regmedinvestors.com/create-account

 

I say today what others won't, so you can do what others can't!

 

 

DOW futures and NASDAQ futures are UP +0.2%

 

U.S. stock futures on Friday pointed to a small step higher at the open, keeping the main benchmarks on track to score their seventh weekly gain in eight weeks.

European stocks rose Friday, headed for a weekly gain after a bumpy series of sessions in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. Investors will monitor a speech by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and watch shares of Dutch bank ABN Amro Group NV as they make their trading debut.

Asian equities bucked the trend and finished strongly even as investors continue to mull a likely interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve in December. Chinese markets stayed in line with the positive trend in Asian equity markets and closed in the green.

 

Data docket: Fed official Bullard is slated to give a speech on the economy and monetary policy at 9 a.m. Eastern Time in Fort Smith, Ark.

 

 

The RegMed sector closed NEGATIVE on Thursday, POSITIVE on Wednesday, NEGATIVE on Tuesday, NEUTRAL on Monday and NEGATIVE on last Friday.

The week in review related to RMi’s coverage universe of 43 companies:

·         Thursday closed NEGATIVE with 26 decliners, 16 advancers and 1 flat after

·         Wednesday’s POSITIVE close with 12 decliners, 26 advancers and 2 flats following

·         Tuesday’s NEGATIVE close of 23 decliners, 18 advancers and 2 flats after

·         Monday’s NEUTRAL close with 20 decliners, 20 advancers and 3 flats.

 

 

The main U.S. stock indexes finished barely changed Thursday after weakness in the health-care stunted gains!

  • Down-volume barely overwhelmed up-volume after extremes were registered on Thursday.

Yet again I reiterate, investors should be studying the Advance/Decline lines (A/DL), reviewing Price-Volume behaviors, measuring three (3) month averages to current share pricing, comparing the indexes as well as the ETFs as to their relationship to the NASDAQ.

 

 

Feeling the pain on Thursday were shares where any strength was sold into

·         VistaGen (VSTA -8.33% or -$0.50),

·         Mesoblast (MESO -8.05% or -$0.55),

·         bluebird bio (BLUE -5.75% or -$4.86 after Wednesday’s +6.26% or +$4.98),

·         BioTime (NYSEMKT: BTX) -4.90% or -$0.17) and

·         Fate Therapeutics (FATE -$4.56% or -$0.20).

 

Neuralstem (CUR) was better flat than a splat, at $1.09 on Thursday.

 

Listed are stocks worth watching regardless of current sector trends that were UP with significant volume:

  • Cesca Therapeutics (KOOL +15.75% or +$0.0449 to $0.329 having been down yesterday -$0.02 and lost big value -$0.29 on Tuesday ),
  • StemCells (STEM +12.11% or +0.055 to $0.51 after reporting interim trial data showing  motor improvement in patients with Cervical Spinal Cord Injury having been up +$0.01 and down -$0.06 on Tuesday),
  • Harvard Apparatus RT (HART +10.60% or +0.16 to $1.67 having closed up on Wednesday +$0.04 after Tuesday’s +$0.14 and Monday’s +$0.07),
  • Northwest Bio (NWBO +3.92% or +$0.18 to $4.77) and Intrexon (XON +3.85% or +$1.36 to $36.65)

 

 

Friday’s --- trading indications, stocks to watch:

  • Capricor (CAPR) closed DOWN -$0.11 <after Wednesday’s+$0.13> to $3.88 with 12.3 K shares traded <3 month average = 20.4 K shares>.  So, why again is the chairman being paid so much ($10 K a month) to “manage” the CEO? I have been negative since March and more often than not correct about the deflation of its share pricing - time after time after time. Never give up the conviction - be ready for an offering - Maintaining SELL;
  • Harvard Apparatus RT (HART) closed UP +$0.16 after Wednesday’s +$0.04 after Tuesday’s +$0.14 and Monday’s +$0.07> to $1.67. Volume has been dramatically increasing – unseen from anytime past - 8 M shares traded (Thursday, 1.7 M, (Wednesday), 1.922 M shares traded (Tuesday) and 2.717 M (Tuesday) shares traded.  Questions remain, how long can the appreciation last, what follow-on news will sustain the momentum, how strong is the “push-pull” to finance and finally … is there a “back” story to the cash burn?  The pre-market indication is +$0.08 to $1.75 - Maintaining HOLD;
  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed DOWN -$2.75 or -3.17% and is down further -$0.51 in the aftermarket to $83.59. Interesting is Thursday’s trading range of $83.02 to $89.84 and the low end $84.10 close – having jumped on a Goldman Sachs upgrade. Speculators are “nibbling” the appreciation - BUY to SELL;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed DOWN -$0.58 <after being up +$1.07 and being down -$0.34 after Monday’s +$3.47>. Shares had bounced from their September lows, and investors who got in at Juno's IPO are currently sitting on a strong 42% gain. JUNO’s shares are likely to remain extremely volatile until the end of the year– Maintaining SELL;
  • MiMedx (MDXG) closed DOWN -$0.25 or -2.99% to $8.11. MDXG is oversold … having been down -0.25 after being up +$0.24 and down -$0.11 so far this week.  MDXG has been awarded two (2) recent patents related to the company's amniotic membrane tissue allografts and the other was related to the CollaFix technology. Twelve (12) US patents have been granted year-to-date with four (4) patents for Its Amniotic Membrane Allografts and eight (8) awarded for its CollaFix™ technology. MDXG is up in the aftermarket +$0.25 or +3.08% to $8.36 - 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.