December 23, 2016 5:51pm
… Comes to an end while volume evaporates
There are two things that investors need - interpretation of news and translation of market realities concerning the SCG&RT sector to corroborate share pricing.
The stem, cell, gene and regenerative therapy (SCG&RT) sector opened positive, stayed positive at the mid-day and closed positive.
Pre-open indication’s tally: 4 hits (BLCM, MESO, ONVO and VSTM) and 0 miss
I answer one question; in which company should investors put, keep and commit their money!
I am right more often than not and investors have always been able to count on … ME for return on investment (ROI); start thinking return on speculation!
U.S. equities closed mostly flat on Friday ahead of the Christmas holiday, as the Dow failed again to reach the psychologically important level of 20,000.
The NASDAQ closed UP +15.27 or +0.28% to 5,462.69 and the DOW closed UP +19.43 or +0.07% to 19,933.81.
A day in the life of the stem, cell, gene and regenerative therapy (SCGT & RT) sector – the advance/decline line scenario of our 43 covered companies:
- The open was positive with an A/DL of 25/15 and 4 flats – the opposite of yesterday;
- The mid-day stayed positive with an A/DL of 27/13 and 3 flats;
- The closing bell continued positive with A/DL of 34/7 and 2 flats;
Henry’omics:
The stem, cell, gene and regenerative therapy (SCG&RT) sector opened positive, stayed positive at the mid-day and closed positive.
- From this morning’s investor’s letter, “Time to let go and get away from the market, the sector and political issues … enjoy the holidays!”
Many of the buy side institutions have already left for the coming holiday. The extremely thin liquidity ahead of the long weekend make stocks flip and dip during the last hours.
- Trading volume in the U.S. evaporated this week, as most investors and traders have left their offices in light of the Christmas holiday. U.S. markets will be closed Monday in observance of the holiday.
Health care is the worst performing S&P sector for the year, having fallen more than 3%.
- The words of the day are – avoiding the traffic!
The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) indicated a positive +0.14% in the pre- open and closed UP +0.53%; the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) did NOT indicate in the pre-open and closed UP +2.11%.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded lower near 11.6.
My pet-peeve:
High-frequency trading accounted for 52% of December's daily trading volume of about 7.56 billion shares <TABB Group>.
· During the peak levels of high-frequency trading in 2009, about 61% of 9.8 billion of average daily shares traded were executed by high-frequency traders.
Today’s 3 biggest $ gainers included:
- Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) +$4.35;
- Bluebird bio (BLUE) +2.15;
- Kite Pharma (KITE) +1.81
Today’s 3 biggest $ losers of the session were:
- Caladrius Biosciences (CLBS) -$0.21;
- International Stem Cell (ISCO) -$0.16;
- Opexa (OPXA) -$0.129
The downside trend reflects a pricing trend range of:
- Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.58% <AXGN>to -13.91 <ISCO>in 7 equities;
- Thursday’s decliners ranged from -0.39% <KOOL> to -10.71% <SGMO> in 30 equities;
- Wednesday’s decliners ranged from – 0.20% <MESO> to –7.22% <KOOL) in 31 equities;
- Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.32% <CUR> to -28.35% <NWBO> in 15 equities;
- Monday’s decliners ranged from -14.69% <NWBO> to -0.48% <RGNX> in 20 equities;
- Last Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.07% <BLUE> to -19.36% <NWBO> in 26 equities;
The upside shows a pricing trend range of:
- Friday gainers ranged from +0.58% <NWBO>to +9.45% <ADRO> in 34 equities;
- Thursday’s gainers ranged from +0.36% <FATE> to +39.31% <NWBO> in 10 equities;
- Wednesday’s gainers ranged from +0.28% <VTGN> to +1.68% <CAPR> in 9 equities;
- Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.07% <BLUE> to +9.52 <ADVM>in 25 equities;
- Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.27% <ONVO> to +16.24% <CUR> in 22 equities:
- Last Friday’s gainers ranged from +0.09% <ONCE> to +10.42% <CYTX> in 14 equities;
Wrap-up: anybody can read a paragraph … review the percentage changes per day in the week of the decliners and advancers while …
- Friday 34 gainers dwarfed Thursday’s 10 compared to Wednesday’s 9 having slipped after Tuesday’s 25 following Monday’s 22 compared to last Friday’s 26
- Friday’s 7 decliners followed Thursday’s 30 compared to Wednesday’s 31 which doubled after Tuesday’s 15 following Monday’s 20 compared to last Friday’s 14 …
Pre-open indication’s tally: 4 hits (BLCM, MESO, ONVO and VSTM) and 0 miss
- Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM) closed UP +$0.99 – hit;
- Organovo (ONVO) closed UP +$0.15 – hit;
- Mesoblast (MESO) closed UP +$0.46 – hit;
- Verastem (VSTM) closed UP +$0.03 – hit;
Percentage (%) decliners:
- International Stem Cell (ISCO) -13.91%;
- Opexa (OPXA) -11.81%;
- Fibrocell (FCSC) -8%;
- Caladrius Biosciences (CLBS) -6.69%;
- Vericel (VCEL) -1.72%
Percentage (%) advancers:
- Aduro Biotech (ADRO) +9.45%;
- Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) +9.19%;
- Mesoblast (MESO) +8.98%;
- Bellicum (BLCM) +7.27%;
- Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) +8.15%
Flat:
- Adverum (ADVM) at $3.30;
- ReNeuron (RENE.L) at $2.625;
- Microbot (MBOT formerly STEM) at $1.28
Review my fear gauge or the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX):
· Friday traded near 11.6;
· Thursday traded near 11.5;
· Wednesday traded near 11.3;
· Tuesday traded near 11.5;
· Monday traded near 12;
· Last Friday traded near 12.2;
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.
