March 7, 2025 7:46am

More econs roil markets but, will “uncle algo and his electronic trading dwarfs” rule the Friday session

 

Breaking: A weaker-than-expected jobs report released Friday raised further concerns about an economic softening and sent rates lower. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs in February, less than the consensus forecast for 170,000 from economists. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.1%.

Pre-open Indications: 4 Negative and 1 Positive Indications

News: Solid Biosciences (SLDB) prepares S-3 offering of 975,496 shares with no $ to SLDB

No false narratives or fake news; to read insights and analysis on the latest sector action, check out Pre-Open Brief …

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!

 

Thursday’s night’s … RegMed Investors (RMi) Closing Bell: revisiting the badlands … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13829

 

Friday's Update and evolving; The pre-open Dow futures are DOWN -0.33% or (-134 points), the S&P futures are DOWN -0.21% or (-12 points) and the Nasdaq futures are DOWN -0.11% or (-21 points)

  • Stock futures were scarcely higher Friday,
  • European markets were generally lower,
  • Asia-Pacific markets fell

 

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

The Dow lost more than 427 points or -0.99%, and the Nasdaq fell -483.48 points or -2.61% - more than 10% off its high and the S&P dived -104 points or -1.78%.

The week to date, the S&P 500 is off -3.6%, the Dow is down -2.9%, and the Nasdaq is the is down -4.1% so far.

Economic Data Docket: monthly jobs report

  • The February jobs report is expected to show hiring picked up in February, while the unemployment rate held steady. This comes at a crucial moment for markets as stocks have recently been floundering amid fears about economic growth weakening in the US.
  • Economists forecast growth of 160, 000 to 170,000 jobs, and expect the unemployment rate held steady at 4%.
  • In January, the US economy added 143,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4%. <from my favorite economist, Josh Schafer, Yahoo Finance>

 

Q1/25:  March sessions with 1 positive and 3 negative closes

  • February – 1 holiday, 11 negative and 8 positive closes
  • January – 2 holidays, 1 market close, 10 negative and 10 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.

Pre-Open indications: a chutes and ladder’s approach …

Negative:

BioLife Solutions (BLFS) closed up +$0.55 after Wednesday’s +$1.41, Tuesday’s +$0.33, Monday’s +$0.51 after earnings release with a negative -$0.85 or -3.17%

Solid Biosciences (SLDB) closed down -$0.26 with a negative or -3.82% as it prepares an S-3 for an offering

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) closed up +$0.64 after Wednesday’s +$0.80, Tuesday’s +$0.35, Monday’s -0.59 after last Friday’s +$1.84 with a negative -$0.11 or -0.32%

Mesoblast (MESO) closed down -$1.14 with a negative -$0.08 or -0.58%

 

Positive:

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) closed down -$1.10 after Wednesday’s +$6.30m, Tuesday’s -$0.60 and Monday’s -$3.22 with a positive +$0.65 or +0.26%

 

The BOTTOM LINE: the new month, March … NOT much has changed, as I have written, “uncle algo and his trading dwarfs” determine the heights or lows of share pricing”

Econ releases sustains uncertainties creating sector and market volatility as traders attempted to trade the risk. <Bloomberg>

  • Nonfarm payrolls: +160,000 vs. +143,000 in January
  • Unemployment rate: 4.0% vs. 4.0% in January
  • Average hourly earnings, month over month: +0.3% vs. +0.5%
  • Average hourly earnings, year over year: +4.1% vs. +4.1%
  • Average weekly hours worked: 34.2 vs. 34.1 in January.

March to date: 1 Positive and 3 Negative closes

  • 3/6 – Thursday closed negative with 16 positive, 18 negative and 1 flat
  • 3/5 – Wednesday closed positive with 25 positive, 9 negative and 1 flat
  • 3 /4 – Tuesday closed negative with 15 positive, 18 negative and 2 flats
  • 3/3 – Monday closed negative with 2 positive, 31 negative and 2 flats

Reiterating, “I think it's important just to take a step back, focus on the fundamentals, be selective. I mean, this has definitely been a “sucky” January and February from a stock-picker standpoint given the up/downs. And so, I am relatively neutral across today/Friday’s equity strategy.

  • Reiterating, “Take the emotion out of the sector, think of the reality of the “plays” that exist of who’s really buying.”

It’s earnings season “sparking” a quarterly life crisis…

  • Cell and Gene therapy earnings continue to be important; LPS (loss per share), revenue uplifts and lags, clinical progress with some program uncertainty, a dearth all followed by estimate misses
  • The coming batch of quarterly earnings will provide last years, FY2024’s LPS (loss-per-share), some EPS, consensus meets and non-greets, cash positions, runways and partner status for investors

Earnings are here … from Q4/24 and FY24 … my view will follow, has been busy and personally eventful!

  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB), Thursday, 3/6
  • Agenus (AGEN) – Tuesday, 3/11
  • Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR) - Tuesday, 3/11
  • Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO), Monday, 3/17

 

Think about it; one of the biggest problems with the cell and gene therapy sector’s share pricing is …  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.

 

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.