August 22, 2024 4:38pm

Sector jerky motion from upside to downslide as I wrote this a.m., "somethings out of kilter"

It’s hard to be right so often, it’s about defining insight. Who speaks out while standing in-front, beside and behind investors - RMi

I say today what others won't, so you can do what others can't by sticking to the FACTS!

Never leave an investor uninformed!  

I follow the dictum, quoting Churchill that “short words are best, and the old words when short are best of all.”

 

Thursday: The Dow closed DOWN -177.71 points or -0.43%, the S&P closed DOWN -50.21 points or -0.89% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -299.63 points or -1.67%

Henry’omics:

  • Indexes pulled back on Thursday, readying for a speech by Fed Chair Powell at the annual Jackson Hole conference.
  • Stocks also felt downward pressure from rising bond yields on Thursday. Notably, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed around 10 basis points to 3.875%. <CNBC>

Thursday’s advance/decline line at the open was negative with 11 incliners, 19 declined and 4 flats; ending with a positive close of 4 incliner, 29 decliners and 4 flats

  • the IBB was down -1.16% and the XBI was down -1.60%
  • the VIX was up +2.79 point or +18.81% at 17.59

Economic Data Docket: Initial filings for unemployment benefits were a bit higher than expected last week, while the longer-term trend continued to rise.

  • Jobless claims totaled 232,000 for the week ending Aug. 17, up 4,000 from the previous period and slightly higher than the 230,000 Dow Jones consensus estimate. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, nudged up to 1.863 million, an increase of 4,000 and the highest level since Nov. 27, 2021.
  • Sales of previously owned homes snapped a four-month losing streak in July, rising 1.3% month over month to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 3.95 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.

 

RegMed Investors (RMI) Research Note: Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN) Chronicles: Reports Q2/24 results … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13580

  • After a Research Note Monday, OTCQB: HRGN closed down -$0.05 with 50 shares traded to $2.25 and traded flat on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

 

Ebb and flow of MY covered sector cell and gene therapy session daily “endings”:

Q3/24

  • August: 1 neutral, 6 positive and 9 negative closes
  • July: 1 market holiday. 1 day off, 6 negative, 1 neutral and 12 positive closes

 

Thursday’s Closing Down (10 of 29):

  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP -$2.49 after Wednesday’s +$0.92, Tuesday’s -$0.76 and Monday’s +$1.98),
  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$1.84 after Wednesday’s -$1.59, Tuesday’s +$6.28 and Monday’s +$6.24),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$1.27),
  • Blueprint Medicine (BPMC -$1.27 after Wednesday’s +$1.58, Tuesday’s -$2.50 and Monday’s -$2.21),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM -$0.97 after Wednesday’s +$0.96, Tuesday’s -$0.47 and Monday’s +$0.57),
  • Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE -$0.69 after Wednesday’s +$4.04, Tuesday’s -$0.77 and Monday’s +$0.73),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS -$0.64 after Wednesday’s +$0.85, Tuesday’s -$0.31 and Monday’s +$1.18),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA -$0.61 and Wednesday’s +$0.43),
  • Vericel (VCEL -$0.59 and Wednesday’s +$0.97),
  • AxoGen (AXGN -$0.57 after Wednesday’s +$0.60 and Tuesday’s +$0.06),

Flat (4):

  • Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM)
  • Compass Therapeutics (BMPX)
  • Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN)
  • Homology Medicine (FIXX)

Thursday’s Closing Up (2 of 2):

  • Agenus (AGEN +$0.28)
  • MiMedx (MDXG +$0.01)

 

The BOTTOM LINE: Sector losses deepened Thursday as the annual economic symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyo., got underway.

  • Volume on the Nasdaq compared with the same time on Wednesday.
  • The small-cap Russell 2000 was down 0.5%, while the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) gave up early gains and fell 0.3%.

Cell and gene therapy share pricing were shucked like corn on Thursday after jumping on Wednesday after diving Tuesday after popping Monday after last week's gains, pain and a neutral share pricing as a measure of calm returns – hope springs eternal but, not a technical factor.

•              As “uncle algo and his electronic dwarfs” left last week’s Friday’s closing sector pricing neutral, pumped 2 sessions and dumped 2 sessions of the cell and gene therapy sector’s share pricing!

•              Last week slowed with the sector’s Friday neutral close after Thursday’s positive close following Wednesday’s negative close, Tuesday’s positive close and Monday’s negative close.

•              Following the previous week’s Friday’s decline and the previous Thursday’s incline after drooping on Wednesday following Tuesday’s pop and Monday’s decline in a new week …

Investors and traders anxiously await commentary from the Fed’s Powell; who is expected to deliver remarks Friday at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, where he could provide further clues into the Fed’s next rate decision at its September gathering.

  • Markets are fully pricing in a September cut, which would be the first since the emergency easing in the early days of the Covid crisis.

 

investors will also keep a watchful eye on the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off on Monday and could bring more insight into what to expect from presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

 

The up/downs in sessions could be a preview of the rest of the month, quarter and year …

  • Economic concerns, geopolitical conflict and the looming November elections could keep investors on edge in the coming months.

 

Reiterating, “There’s more room for “tactical downside in the weeks to come as we enter the gauntlet of the weakest two months and only consecutive losing months for equities, with markets at all-time highs.”

 

Q3 and August’s 3rd full week:

  • Thursday ended with a negative close of 2 incliners, 29 decliners and 4 flats
  • Wednesday ended with a positive close of 29 incliner, 3 decliners and 3 flats
  • Tuesday ended with a negative close of 8 incliner, 24 decliners and 3 flats
  • (8/19) Monday ended with a positive close of 27 incliner, 6 decliners and 2 flats

Electronic trading pops and flops the cell and gene therapy sector - all week long

  • There is evidence of a slower … slowdown coming (it’s the contrarian in me) and it's going to become even more thin as we go forward into 2H/24.

The top three (3) performing in the session:  just one today

  • Thursday: Agenus (AGEN)
  • Wednesday: Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE), Blueprint Medicine (BPMC) and Vericel (VCEL)
  • Tuesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR) and uniQure NV (QURE)
  • Monday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Blueprint Medicine (BPMC) and CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP)

The worst three (3) in the session: 

  • Thursday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Blueprint Medicine (BPMC)
  • Wednesday; Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ) and Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR)
  • Tuesday: Blueprint Medicine (BPMC), BioLife Solutions (BLFS) and Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE)
  • Monday: Agenus (AGEN), Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN) and Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ)

Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

  • Right up front, “I also hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and facts are its product; I can always be WRONG but … I am mostly EARLY!”

 

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. Regulation Analyst Certification (Reg AC): The research analyst primarily responsible for the content of this report certifies the following under Reg AC: I hereby certify that all views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject company or companies and it’s or their securities.

I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report.