December 17, 2015 5:49pm

 

Liquidity is weakening, volatility is often treacherous however, my advice is let the noise, the news, the “witch” and FED reactions get digested.

Beware, tomorrow marks quadruple witching, which is the simultaneous expiration of stock-index futures, stock-index options, single-stock options and single-stock futures, are typically volatile days.

 

Subscribe or take your losses without complaining …

 

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

 

 

U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday as investors eyed oil prices and economic data, after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday made the widely expected move of raising rates.

The NASDAQ closed DOWN -68.58 or -1.35% to 5,002.55 and the DOW closed DOWN -253.25or -1.43% to 17,495.84.

 

 

Henry’omics:

The stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed (SCGT&RM) sector opened positive, stayed positive to the mid-day  and closed positive (of 43 covered companies).

  • Today’s trading is a microcosm of the entire year — lots of noise but the index is still range bound, lacking momentum.

My fear gauge is UP – the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) traded Thursday near 17.5 after Wednesday’s above 17.5 following Tuesday’s near 20.5 from Monday’s below 23 after briefly topping 26!

  • The spread between the bids and asks of even the most liquid securities widen significantly, and where the spreads might have averaged about a penny in normal conditions, the spreads will widen …

In settings such as this – the bitchin, witching and the FED … the ones who benefit most are the market makers.

  • The ones who tend to have the most difficult time of it are smaller traders and investors who might often buy a stock or ETF at a price that is $0.10 or $0.20 higher than where they could sell it if they decided to turn around and do so!

Reiterating, trading in respect to “our” universe has been volatile in the last several days as traders weighed seasonal tax-loss selling and anticipation of quadruple witching expiration tomorrow as the year-end approaches.

  • As a result, the best decision is often to make no decision until the news is properly digested.A day in the life of the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed (SCGT & RM) sector:

 

 

 

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

  • The opening bell rang positive with an A/DL of 32/10 and 1 flats staying positive at the mid-day with an A/DL of 22/18 and 3 flats to close positive on Thursday’s session with an A/DL of 22/17 and 4 flats.

 

 

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

  • Opening bell: POSITIVE with 10 decliners, 32 advancers and 1 flat;
  • Mid-day: POSITIVE with 18 decliners, 22 advancers and 3 flats;
  • Closing bell: POSITIVE with 17 decliners, 22 advancers and 4 flats

 

 

Thursday’s … trading indications – my daily tabulation 4 hits, 3 misses;

  • Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) closed UP – hit;
  • Capricor (CAPR) closed DOWN – hit;
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed UP – hit;
  • Fibrocell (FCSC) closed UP – miss;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed DOWN – miss;
  • MiMedx (MDXG) closed UP – hit;
  • Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) closed DOWN – miss;

 

 

Riding the indexes and ETFs roller-coaster:

  • The iShares Biotechnology Stocks ETF (IBB) closed DOWN on Thursday -5.28 or -1.56% after Wednesday’s advance of  +7.41 or +2.25% after Tuesday’s +9.15 or +2.85% following Monday’s advance of +0.95 or +0.30%;
  • The NASDAQ Biotechnology index (NBI) closed DOWN on Thursday -59.21 or -1,68% after Wednesday’s +79.79 or +2.31% after Tuesday’s +95.02 or +2.83 % following Monday’s advance of +8.30 or +0.25%;
  • The Russell 2000 (IWM) closed DOWN on Thursday -1.22 or -1.07% after Wednesday’s advance of +1.72 or +1.53% after Tuesday’s advance of +1.60 or +1.44% following Monday’s decline of -0.80 or -0.71%;
  • The SPDR SD&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed DOWN on Thursday -0.85 or -1,22% after Wednesday’s advance of  +2.93 or +4.39% after Tuesday’s advance of +1.86 or +2.86% following Monday’s decline of -0.73 or -1.11%

 

 

Who was UP – top 5:

  • Bluebird bio (BLUE) closed up +$1.56 to $62.00;
  • MiMedx (MDXG) +$0.82 to $8.92;
  • Osiris (OSIR) +$0.80 to $10.90;
  • Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) +$0.21 to $18.07;
  • Fibrocell (FCSC) closed up +$0.18 to $5.15

 

 

Who closed down – top 5:

  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed down -$2.61 to $63.87;
  • Aduro Biotech (ADRO) -$1.89 to $31.74;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) -$1.64 to $44.91;
  • Cellectis S.A. (CLLS) -$1.24 to $27.93;
  • Intrexon (XON) closed down -$1.15 to $31.82;

 

 

Flat:

  • Caladrius Bioscience (CLBS) at $1.06;
  • Ocata Therapeutics (OCAT) at $8.49;
  • ReNeuron (RENE.L) at $2.75;
  • VistaGen (VATA) at $5.39

 

 

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.