March 7, 2016 6:10pm

 

Investing has moved from downright frustration to hand-wringing to applause – today!

 

Ranking Monday’s end-of-day pre-open trading indications – 2 hits and 3 misses. Subscribe:  http://www.regmedinvestors.com/create-account   

 

 

Investors suffer from the paradox of information overload. If you have a smartphone in your pocket, you can access more information about the financial markets than the world's top hedge funds did 20 years ago. Yet, I bet your investment returns have not improved one iota as a result.

·         But, who is interpreting that information … get it here!

 

 

U.S. stocks closed mixed Monday, steadying after their first three-week rally of the year so far. The Dow posted its first five-straight days of gains since October. The NASDAQ underperformed with a decline of more than half a percent in afternoon trade.

The NASDAQ closed DOWN -8.77 or -0.91% to 4,708.25 and the DOW closed UP +67.18 or +0.40% to 17,073.95.

 

 

A day in the life of the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed (SCGT & RM) sector – the advance/decline line scenario of our 43 covered companies.

  • Friday, the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed sector opened negative with an A/DL of 22/19 and 2 flats;
  • The mid-day stayed negative with an A/DL of 36/6 and 1 flat;
  • The closing bell rang positive with A/DL of 30/12 and 1 flat

 

 

Henry’omics:

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

  • I did say in the pre-open that … “What concerned me on Friday was the close of the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) which was down - 1.11 or -0.42% and its after-market indication of -0.47 or -0.18% as well as the NASDAQ Biotechnology (NBI) being down -9.39 or -0.34%!”

Well I was wrong in my review!

  • But, I did say … watch the windsock! Moving averages, quite simply, tell you about probabilities that favor higher or lower volatility regimes.

They are not trend indicators. They are risk indicators.

  • However keeping my contrarian hat on … technically an overbought sector staying overbought is a good thing until speculators resume their “shakedown” of these positions in synch with past weekly trends unable to resist the urge to take profits!

My attempts to define a pattern with a time limit on one by one or two for one day closes ignores the fact that the sector operates on its own schedule, and no one else's.

 

 

Monday’s handicapping the sector pre-open indications – 2 hits and 3 miss: 

  • Athersys (ATHX) closed UP – miss;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed DOWN – miss;
  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed DOWN – miss;
  • Intrexon (XON) closed UP – hit;
  • Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) closed UP – hit;

 

 

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

  • The market opened: POSITIVE with 19 decliners, 22 advancers and 2 flat;
  • The mid-day (12:30 pm: POSITIVE with 6 decliners, 36 advancers and 1 flat;
  • Closing bell: POSITIVE with 12 decliners, 30 advancers and 1 flat

 

 

Review my fear gauge or the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) which is scary:

·         Monday traded near 17.5;

·         Friday traded at 16.5;

·         Thursday traded below 17;

·         Wednesday traded near 17, another decrease;

·         Tuesday traded near 18 – 10% decrease;

·         Last, Monday traded below 20;

 

 

Riding the indexes and ETFs roller-coaster:

The iShares Biotechnology Stocks ETF (IBB) closed DOWN on Monday +6.63 or +2.52%

·         Friday -1.11 or -0.42%

·         Thursday -3.88 or -1.45%

·         Wednesday +2.85 or +1.07%

·         Tuesday +11.18 or +4.40%

·         Last, Monday -7.40 or -2.83%

The NASDAQ Biotechnology index (NBI) closed DOWN on Monday +66.97 or +2.43%

·         Friday -9.39 or -0.34

·         Thursday -39.41 or -1.41%

·         Wednesday +28.75 or +1.04%

·         Tuesday +114.28 or +4.30%

·         Last, Monday -73.30 or -2.68%

The Russell 2000 (IWM) closed UP on Monday +1.17 or +1.09%

·         Friday +0.59 or +0.55%

·         Thursday +1.11 or +1.05%

·         Wednesday +1.08 or +1.03%

·         Tuesday +2.21 or +2.15%

·         Last, Monday -0.46 or -0.45%

The SPDR SD&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed UP on +1.86 or +3.58%

·         Friday +0.24 or +0.46%

·         Thursday -0.58 or -1.11%

·         Wednesday +2.09 or +4.16%

·         Tuesday +2.31 or +4.82%

·         Last, Monday -1.50 or -3.04%

 

 

Who was leading the declines – to of the bottom 5?

  • VistaGen (VSTA) closed down -$1.50 at $6.50;
  • Mesoblast (MESO) -$1.25 to $7.93;
  • Kite Pharma (KITE) -$0.84 to $53.60;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) -$0.57 to $43.18;        
  • Aduro Biotech (ADRO) closed down -$0.09 to $16.60

 

 

Who was UP – top 5:

  • Cesca Therapeutics (KOOL) closed up +$4.14 to $4.34 – after a reverse;
  • Intrexon (XON) +$1.87 to $38.90;
  • Spark therapeutics (ONCE) +$1.16 to $35.69;
  • uniQure (QURE) +$0.70 to $14.72;
  • Sangamo (SGMO) closed up +$0.63 to $6.67

 

 

Who was FLAT?

  • BioTime (NYSEMKT: BTX) at $2.85;

 

 

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.