January 28, 2025 8:05am

Might make for a great read, but it’s far less fun when the sector acts like it’s their blueprint

The week ahead will bring investors a deluge of earnings releases and Wednesday’s Fed monetary policy decision news that will put that rally to the test.

Pre-open Indications: 1 Positive and 4 Negative

Never leave an investor uninform

 

Remember that overnight and pre-open actions’ futures and markets doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in today’s market session.

My interpretation of the morning’s numbers is written to be informative; it’s built on what happened to make “it” happen today!

Asian markets shut for Lunar New Year holidays include Chinese, Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam. Bourses in Hong Kong and Singapore are set to close early.

 

Monday’s night’s … RegMed Investors (RMi) Closing Bell: a strange turn of events … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13781

 

Tuesday; the pre-open Dow futures are UP +0.01% or (+4 points), the S&P futures are UP +0.13% or (+8 points) and the Nasdaq futures are UP +0.15% or (+31 points)

  • Futures are mixed, low and sticky on Tuesday, 1/28/25
  • European stocks were higher,
  • Several Asia-Pacific markets were closed

 

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

Monday: The Dow closed UP +289.33 points or +0.65%, the S&P closed DOWN -88.96 points or -1.46% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -612.47 points or -3.07%

Economic Data Docket: multiple

  • 8:30 am Durable-goods orders   Dec.                       0.7%     
  • 8:30 am Durable-goods minus transportation      Dec.                      
  • 9:00 am S&P Case-Shiller home price index (20 cities)      Nov.                     
  • 10:00 am Consumer confidence Jan.                        106.3     104.7

 

Q1/25: January – 2 holidays, 1 market close, 7 negative and 9 positive closes

  • Q4/24: December 1 holiday, 15 negative and 5 positive closes
  • November 10 negative and 9 positive closes
  • October: 8 positive and 15 negative closes

 

Companies in my headlights – It’s your decision; I provide ideas and context

I post about “indication intelligence” looking toward investment conferences … to assist investors with insight into sector vulnerabilities and strengths. A dictionary definition of “indicate” refers to something less than a certainty; an indication could be a signal of being oversold or overbought, a recommendation, or grounds for inferring or a basis for believing.

Positive:

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) closed down -$0.70 after Friday’s +$0.29, Thursday’s +$1.96, Wednesday’s -$0.18 and last Tuesday’s +$1.25 with a positive +$0.88 or +2.58% pre-open

Negative:

AxoGen (AXGN) closed down -$0.21 after Friday’s -$0.84 with a negative -$0.36 or -201% pre-open

BioLife Solutions (BLFS) closed up +$0.50 with a negative -$0.76 or -2.69% pre-open

Cellectis SA (CLLS) closed down -$0.13 after Friday’ +$0.145 with a negative -$0.01 or -0.65% pre-open

Vericel VCEL) closed up +$2.29 with a negative -$2.11 or -3.53% pre-open

 

The BOTTOM LINE: Risk versus uncertainty – which is worst?

Traders were also monitoring the fallout from Wall Street amid mounting concerns that a cheap artificial intelligence model from Chinese startup DeepSeek could make valuations in the sector tough to justify.

  • Bullion tumbled 1.1% on Monday as traders sold the precious metal to cover losses in equities, including almost $1 trillion wiped from the Nasdaq. <Bloomberg>

January ‘25 recap:

  • 1/27 – Monday ended with a negative close at the close of 12 incliner, 21 decliners and 2 flats
  • 1/24 – Friday ended with a negative close at the close of 12 incliner, 22 decliners and 1 flat
  • 1/23 – Thursday ended with a positive close at the close of 26 incliner, 4 decliners and 5 flats
  • 1/22 - Wednesday ended with a positive close at the close of 18 incliner, 14 decliners and 3 flats
  • 1/21 - Tuesday advance/decline line ended with a positive close at the close of 28 incliner, 6 decliners and 1 flat
  • 1/20 – Inauguration Day, markets were closed

 

Earnings are a-comin’ … from Q4/24 are due … as downdrafts follow as proven in past sessions!

  • Big Point to remember “Think about it; the biggest problem the cell and gene therapy sector has …  99% of them have no earnings! If rates are higher for longer, that means that sector companies will continue to struggle or be unable to raise capital and therefore be subject to debt servicing firms!” <Me>

What could 2025 have in store for the capital access space as Partners are the gift of life!

  • "You'll see a number of cell and gene therapy comandantes drive for secondaries – they’re desperate for cash, but I do think a lot of cell and gene therapy sector companies NEED to be focused on what is driving their own growth —they're focused on a lot of change BUT … that's happening in the market… capital expansion is second.

 

I seem to be asking a question followed by a question …

  • Do we need to brace ourself for more economics and their down trending affect?
  • Is this market STILL “bubblicious” my concerns are macroeconomic and valuation

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

  • The sector is what it is, until it isn’t and even then, it doesn’t seem to be… as NOT much changes as the sector’s share pricing rides the waves of volatility, algorithms, electronic trading and short covering.
  • I am more frequently right than consequentially wrong; if I wanted to be liked, I wouldn’t have been an analyst/journalist.

 

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. All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.

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.  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.

Henry McCusker, the editor and publisher of RegMed Investors could hold or have positions securities referred to in this publication and he will NOTIFY investors of holdings.