RegMed’s close: stocks are experiencing erratic volatility

January 26, 2016 5:32pm

…investors need to come to terms with the "trading" value that equities “fetch” these days

RegMed Investors’ willingness to provide the facts in evidence gets results that have caused reality and veracity to come to the surface.  Subscribe … http://www.regmedinvestors.com/create-account   or take your losses without complaining!

Stem, cell and gene therapy and RegMed investors have temporarily lost their compass. Right now, they are still questions on whether “our” universe can sustain gains as volatility pressures still abound, and I think investors are feeling dislocated while sentiment bounces.

U.S. stocks closed higher Tuesday, helped by a bounce in oil and some earnings beats, ahead of the release of the Fed meeting statement Wednesday. Despite Tuesday's gains, the major averages were still lower by almost 7% or more for the year so far and more than 10% below their 52-week intraday highs, in correction territory.

The mid-day NASDAQ is UP +49.18 or +1.09% to 4,567.67 and the DOW is also UP +282.01 or +1.78% to 16,167.23.

A day in the life of the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed (SCGT & RM) sector – the advance/decline line scenario …

• Tuesday, the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed sector opened negative with an A/DL of 9/32 and 2 flats while the mid-day was also negative with an A/DL of 18/23 and 2 flats while the closing bell rang with another positive A/DL of 22/18 and 3 flats.

Henry’omics:

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

• The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) pared an intraday 2% decline to close 0.4% lower.

“Our” universe should be bracing for a grim financial reporting season, notice I didn’t earnings! 

Out and about:

Fate Therapeutics (FATE) FDA Clearance of IND Application for ProTmune for Prevention of Acute GvHD and CMV Infection … in a multi-Center, randomized, controlled P1/2 clinical trial in mobilized peripheral blood HCT to be initiated in mid-2016

• ProTmune™ is a programmed cellular immunotherapy consisting of donor-sourced mobilized peripheral blood cells which have been functionally modulated using two small molecules;

• The clinical trial is for adult patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing mobilized peripheral blood (mPB) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT);

• The usual and primary objectives of a P1/2 clinical trial is to evaluate safety and tolerability, and … then to assess the potential of ProTmune to prevent acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, both of which are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing HCT;

• There are currently no approved therapies for the prevention of GvHD or CMV infection in patients undergoing allogeneic HCT, giving rise to a significant unmet medical need.

FATE, one of MY favorites closed UP +$0.02 and is UP +$0.37 or +14.92% to $2.85 in the aftermarket

My fear gauge or the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market traded

·         Tuesday traded near 22.5

·         Monday traded near 24;

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

• The market opened: NEGATIVE with 32 decliners, 9 advancers and 2 flat;

• The mid-day (12:30 pm:  NEGATIVE with 23 decliners, 18 advancers and 2 flats;

• Closing bell: POSITIVE with 18 decliners, 22 advancers and 3 flats

Tuesday’s indications – 3 hits and 2 miss:

• Harvard Apparatus RT (HART) closed DOWN – hit;
• Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed DOWN – hit;
• Kite Pharma (KITE) closed UP – miss;
• Northwest Bio (NWBO) closed DOWN – miss;
• uniQure (QURE) closed DOWN – hit;

Riding the indexes and ETFs roller-coaster:

• The iShares Biotechnology Stocks ETF (IBB) closed DOWN on Tuesday -1.12 or -0.40% following Monday’s decline of -4.82 or 1.67%;

• The NASDAQ Biotechnology index (NBI) closed DOWN on Tuesday -12.78 or -0.43% following Monday’s -49.67 or -1.65%;

• The Russell 2000 (IWM) closed UP on Tuesday +1.99 or +2% following Monday’s decline of -2.255 or -2.22%;

• The SPDR SD&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed DOWN on Tuesday -0.38 or 0.70% following Monday’s decline of -0.82 or -1.48%

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.