September 26, 2024 4:49pm

“Uncle algo and his electronic trading dwarfs” came to visit and stayed after expected economic data

News: Sage Therapeutics (SAGE +$0.15) Biogen (BIIB) terminated its rights under the collaboration and license agreement with SAGE specific to the SAGE-324 program; after the announcing negative results from the P2 KINETIC 2 Study of investigational SAGE-324 for the chronic treatment of essential tremor (ET) and discontinued further clinical development of SAGE-324 in ET. Under the terms of the collaboration and license agreement, the termination will be effective on 2/17/25, and SAGE will resume full ownership of the SAGE-324 asset at that time. Sage plans to continue to evaluate other potential indications, if any, for SAGE-324.

Never leave an investor uninformed!  

On point, short on words, long on facts and being judicious!

 

Thursday: The Dow closed UP +260.36 points or +0.62%, the S&P closed UP +23.11 points or +0.40% while the Nasdaq closed UP +108.09 points or +0.60%

  • Indexes jumped on Thursday afternoon, setting the stage for fresh record highs
  • Friday's will bring a highly anticipated reading on the PCE index, the inflation metric preferred by the Fed.

Henry’omics: We need to more than consider the economic environment - rising rates and inflation to comprehend the micro re “our” universe of cell and gene therapy companies …

  • Weekly jobless claims fell more than expected, pointing to a steady labor market.
  • Durable goods orders for August were unchanged versus economists’ expectations for a decline. And the final reading of second-quarter GDP was unrevised at a strong 3%.
  • Gross domestic product rose at a 3% annualized rate in Q2, according to the last of 3 readings from the Commerce Department; in line with market expectations.

Thursday’s advance/decline line at the open was positive with 24 incliners, 8 decliners and 3 flats; ending with a positive close at the close of 23 incliner, 10 decliners and 2 flats

  • The sector closed to the upside with more than a little help from trading, electronic and human

Metrics:  Thursdays, the IBB was up +1.09% and the XBI was up +0.45% while the VIX was down -0.03 points or -0.19% at 15.38

 

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: “more economic news weekly jobless claims and Q2 GDP.Q3 is 3 sessions to end with earnings expectation to take cover." ... https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13631   

 

Ebb and flow of MY covered sector cell and gene therapy session daily “endings”:  Q3/24

  • September – 9 positive and 10 negative closes
  • August: 1 neutral, 10 positive and 11 negative closes
  • July: 1 market holiday. 1 day off, 6 negative, 1 neutral and 12 positive closes

 

Thursday’s Closing Down (10 of 10):

  • Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE -$1.54 after Wednesday’s -$0.72),
  • AxoGen (AXGN -$0.40),
  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB -$0.27),
  • Generation Bio (GBIO -$0.22),
  • MiMedx (MDXG -$0.21),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX -$0.18 after Wednesday’s -$0.38 after Tuesday’s -$0.46),
  • Vericel (VCEL -$0.13 after Wednesday’s -$0.54 after Tuesday’s -$1.63),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA -$0.12 after Wednesday’s -$0.77),
  • Precigen (PGEN -$0.0114),
  • Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO -$0.0109),

Flat (2):

  • Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM)
  • Homology Medicine (FIXX)

Thursday’s Closing Up (10 of 23):

  • Blueprint Medicine (BPMC +$2.06 after Wednesday’s -$3.27 after Tuesday’s +$0.211 after Monday’s -$11.62),
  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY +$1.84 after Wednesday’s +$1.73 after Tuesday’s -$0.83 and Monday’s -$2.05),
  • LENZ Therapeutics (LENZ +$0.68),
  • Beam therapeutics (BEAM +$0.62),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$0.57 after Wednesday’s -$0.87),
  • Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN +$0.48),
  • Mesoblast (MESO +$0.44 after Wednesday’s -$0.29 after Tuesday’s +$0.53),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS +$0.19),
  • Verve Therapeutics (VERV +$0.19),
  • uniQure NV (QURE +$0.155 after Wednesday’s -$0.32 after Tuesday’s +$0.09),

 

The BOTTOM LINE: More uptick in volatility for cell and gene therapy sector stocks … to the upside.

Although … risk markets are STILL anticipated!
 

The 4th week of September’s Thursday popped to a positive close after Wednesday closed negative; Tuesday closed positive after Monday closed negative …

  • The 3rd week of September’s as Friday bombed the sector after Thursday’s sector ascended to new heights after Wednesday declined after Tuesday ascended helped by “uncle algo and his electronic trading dwarfs” after Monday, bolted to the downside …
  • The 2nd week’s Friday rapid positive ascension followed Thursday’s positive after Wednesday’s sector gained altitude post Tuesday’s negative drop in the puddle after Monday’s closed positive
  • Following the 1st short week of September ending with 4 negative closes - a bust!

 

Think and read and question … revisionist GDP gov releases:

  • And while the focus what is largely on recent data, the revisions went back several years — and one in particular caught our eye.
  • Initially, the Bureau of Economic Analysis had reported that growth in the US economy declined at a 0.6% annualized rate in the second quarter of 2022. This followed a negative print in the first quarter and, at the time, stirred recession discussion as two negative quarters of GDP is an often-referenced indicator of recession.
  • But after some revisions revealed on Thursday, it turns out the US never actually had two negative quarters of GDP. Revisions to GDP data now show the US economy grew by an annualized rate of 0.6% in Q2/22. <Josh Schafer, Yahoo Finance>

 

The top three (3) performing in the session: 

  • Thursday: Blueprint Medicine (BPMC), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), and LENZ Therapeutics (LENZ)
  • Wednesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Compass Therapeutics (CMPX) and Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI)
  • Tuesday: Mesoblast (MESO), AxoGen (AXGN) and Blueprint Medicine (BPMC)  
  • Monday: Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN), Generation Bio (GBIO) and bluebird bio (BLUE)

The worst three (3) in the session: 

  • Thursday: Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE), Solid Biosciences (SLDB) and AxoGen (AXGN)
  • Wednesday: Blueprint Medicine (BPMC), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and BioLife Solutions (BLFS)
  • Tuesday: Vericel (VCEL), Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY)
  • Monday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Blueprint Medicine (BPMC) and CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP)

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.