March 12, 2025 4:55pm

Indexes were higher after CPI showed that consumer inflation came in lower than expected

Only a few of upsized sector equities succumbed to selling heat

Healthcare was important in today's volatile market environment

I say today what others won't, so you can do what others can't!

Never leave an investor uninformed!  

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

My mission is to provide clear, actionable guidance on a regular basis to help investors and traders navigate the uncertain and often irrational financial markets. We put hours of effort into creating our reports, while leveraging my 40 years of operating and research experiences to analyze the key market-moving events and distill that into a cogent outlook.

 

RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: advantage of previous positive close… https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13837

Tuesday night’s RegMed Investors (RMi) Closing Bell: a late afternoon BUYING spree lifts the sector positive … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13836

 

RegMed Investors (RMi) Research Note: The clock continues to tick down on Harvard Apparatus GT (OTCQB: HRGN) … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13812

 

Wednesday: The Dow closed DOWN -82.55 points or -0.20%, the S&P closed UP +27.23 points or +0.49% while the Nasdaq closed UP +212.36 points or +1.22%

  • The Nasdaq rose on Wednesday after a soft inflation report eased concerns about the economy,
  • This week o far, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have all dropped more than 3%.

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

  • The consumer price index, a broad measure of costs across the U.S. economy, increased +0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.8%.               Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% on the month and 3.1% for the past 12 months.

Wednesday’s advance/decline line opened with a positive 26 incliner, 8 decliners and 1 flat ending with a positive close of 25 incliners, 9 decliners and 1 flat

Metrics:  Wednesday, the IBB was up +0.26%, the XBI was up +0.98% while the VIX was down -2.96 points or -10% at 24.23

 

As compared to … Tuesday: The Dow closed DOWN -478.23 points or -1.14%, the S&P closed DOWN -42.49 points or -0.75% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -32.22 points or -0.18%

  • Indexes hung onto losses Tuesday after President Trump placed additional tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum coming into the U.S.

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

  • The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Optimism Index posted a reading of 100.7 for the month, down 2.1 points from January and slightly below the Dow Jones estimate for 101. However, some of the internal indicators pointed to an even greater softening in sentiment.
  • The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell as much as 5 basis points to hit 4.162% earlier in the morning before paring some losses to trade around 4.1865%

Tuesday’s advance/decline line opened with a negative 8 incliner, 25 decliners and 2 flats ending with a positive close of 23 incliners, 11 decliners and 1 flat

Metrics:  Tuesday, the IBB was down -1.85%, the XBI was down -0.07% while the VIX was down -0.80 points or -2.87% at 27.06

 

Q1/25 – March, 3 positive and 5 negative closes

  • February – 12 holiday, 11 negative and 7 positive closes
  • January - 2 holidays, 1 market close, 10 negative and 10 positive closes

Q4/24 –

  • December - 1 holiday, 6 positive and 15 negative closes
  • November – 1 holiday, 10 negative and 10 positive closes              
  • October: 8 positive and 15 negative sessions

 

Wednesday’s Closing UP (10 of 25)

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY +$3.69 after Tuesday’s +$5.67 after Monday’s -$11.45)
  • Blueprint Medicine (BPMC +$2.74 after Tuesday’s +$1.07),
  • Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE +$1.96 after Tuesday’s +$0.83 after Monday’s -$1.12),
  • Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ +$1.63 after Tuesday’s -$0.39 after Monday’s -$1.10),
  • Moderna (MRNA +$1.25 after Tuesday’s -$2.20 after Monday’s +$0.35),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$1.12 after Tuesday’s -$0.97 after Monday’s -$2.19),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$1.00 after Tuesday’s +$0.73 after Monday’s -$2.79),
  • uniQure NV (QURE+$0.84 after Tuesday’s +$0.80),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX +$0.56)
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS +$0.38 after Tuesday’s +0.81 after Monday’s -$1.59),

Flat (1)

  • Homology Medicine (FIXX)

Wednesday’s Closing DOWN (9 of 9): -$ after Tuesday’s

  • Vericel (VCEL -$2.00 after Tuesday’s -$1.04 after Monday’s -$0.76),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$0.35 after Tuesday’s +$1.76 after Monday’s -$0.97)
  • Agenus (AGEN -$0.18 after Tuesday’s -$0.10),
  • bluebird bio (BLUE -$0.10),
  • Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI -$0.07),
  • Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN -$0.07 after Tuesday’s -$0.23 with 387 shares traded and Monday’s +$0.0120 with 1 share traded),
  • Compass Therapeutics (CMPX -$0.02),
  • MiMedx (MDXG -$0.02 after Tuesday’s +$0.33),
  • Caribou Biosciences (CRBU -$0.01),

 

The BOTTOM LINE: New week, the 2nd of March and 3rd session with 2 positive closes following Monday’s negative sector close.

  • Last Friday, 3/7 – the 5th NEGATIVE session in the week intermingled by 1 POSITIVE (Wednesday) close in a new month of March … so, what moves stock pricing?

 

“I hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and truth is its product; I can always be WRONG but, I am mostly EARLY!”

  • If I have learned one thing as a former research analyst in a venture and public fund, operating executive, x-FBI, x-military officer and an adjunct (MBA) business school professor now a journalist; my life and your portfolio are largely tied to knowledge of price movements and questioning pricing targets and more.

I don’t have much to write/say other than “electronic trading and uncle algo” slipped out the back door reaping sector disharmony and then popped right back for some profiteering.

  • What can I say, love ‘em, leave ‘em and welcome back to save the sector’s honor – “uncle algo and his electronic dwarfs.” <me>
  • Individual investors yanked more than $1 billion from U.S. equities on Tuesday and even more as week continued …
  • A comedown in sentiment among retail investors, who have become a significant part of the U.S. equity market in recent months. <Pia Singh, CNBC>

 

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

  • Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO), Monday, 3/17
  • Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ) – Wednesday, 3/19

 

March ‘25: understand the “flow” …

  • 3/11 – Wednesday closed positive with 25 positive, 9 negative and1 flat
  • 3/11 – Tuesday closed positive with 23 positive, 11 negative and 1 flat
  • 3/10 – Monday closed negative with 3 positive, 31 negative and 1 flat
  • 3/7 - Friday closed negative with 14 positive, 17 negative and 4 flats
  • 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

 

Big Point to remember “Think about it; the biggest problem the cell and gene therapy sector it’s all to the future …  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!”
  • 2024 saw very little life IPOs (initial public offering) market and secondaries – I have seen private investments, mortgages, sell-offs, as companies deferred and struggle to gain further market access i.e., public. <Me>

What could 2025 have in store for the capital access space?

  • "You'll see a number of cell and gene therapy companies 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 pipelines … capital expansion is second.

 

Why do I keep repeating, so investors can make the connection …

The top three (3) performing in the session:   

  • Wednesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Blueprint Medicine (BPMC) and Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE)
  • Tuesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), BioLife Solutions (BLFS) and Blueprint Medicine (BPMC)
  • Monday: Moderna (MRNA), Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI) and Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN)

The worst three (3) in the session: 

  • Wednesday: Vericel (VCEL), BioLife Solutions (BLFS) and Agenus (AGEN)
  • Tuesday: Moderna (MRNA), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Vericel (VCEL)
  • Monday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) 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.