September 27, 2017 7:20am

As the month’s close is in sight with rebalancing in progress

Q3 is also coming to an end as funds lock-in any profit

 

Preview RMi's morning call. You’d be reading this if you were a SUBSCRIBER!

Pre-open indications:  4 BUYs and 1 SELL

 

If you had been right as many times as I have been in these many months of 2017 as a SUBSCRIBER you would know when to get in and out or get back in again! 

It’s called premium content for a reason: I report the truth in “our” universe!


 

A critical pre-market indication ahead of “our” universe’s open!

 

 

Higher open expected

Dow futures are UP +0.06% (14 point) and NASDAQ futures are UP +0.23% (13.5 points)

 

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wednesday morning as investors continued to digest comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and looked ahead to new announcements on tax reforms.

European markets moved higher amid some major corporate news and on growing expectations of another rate hike in the United States before year-end.

Asian shares were cautious. Greater China markets bucked declines in most Asian markets to post slight gains while across the Korean Strait, the Kospi closed lower after wavering around the flat line.

 

Data docket:  durable goods and pending home sales figures out at 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET

Issues that affect the trading day: investors will be looking for details from U.S. President Donald Trump, who is due to speak on his plans for tax cuts Wednesday. The much-anticipated tax reform package is expected to be presented during a speech in Indianapolis, at 3 p.m. ET.

 

 

The cell therapy sector closed NEGATIVE on Tuesday, Monday, Friday, Thursday and last Wednesday.

The cell therapy sector’s record over the last 5 sessions (of 43 covered companies):

·         Tuesday closed NEGATIVE with 23 decliners, 17 advancers and 3 flats;

·         Monday closed NEGATIVE with 23 decliners, 16 advancers and 4 flats;

·         Friday closed NEGATIVE with 20 decliners, 18 advancers and 5 flat;

·         Thursday closed NEGATIVE with 21 decliners, 16 advancers and 6 flats;

·         Last Wednesday closed NEGATIVE with 23 decliners, 19 advancers and 1 flat;

 

Henry ’omics:

From Tuesday night’s closing bell post “…just when some thought it was safe to enter the sector …To give it a try and make a point, I relied on indexes and ETFs for pre-open indications; wrong – they compound exposure and are inadequate in forecasting pricing. Sentiment and perception are the cause of much of the downside flight in the immuno-oncology and gene therapy companies as profit-taking ramps up.”

As I had stated, “The selloff that has hit the sector over the last six (6) sessions Tuesday looked like a garden variety case of investors cashing out in some cases the lofty and unattainable valuations.”

RegMed and cell therapy equities need more, more and more time to develop their business models to “work” and often underperform as algorithms and ETFs … hurt momentum over the short-term.

Fasten your seatbelts; October is just around the corner, and historically it’s the most volatile month of all for stocks.

 

 

You’ve made it to the office, turned on the monitor, having just gotten your coffee and it hits you - what could be today’s trades? 

Watch list:

  • The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) closed down -0.93% on Tuesday and is NOT indicating in Wednesday’s pre-market;
  • The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed Tuesday down -1.18% and is indicating a NEGATIVE -0.54%in Wednesday’s pre-market%;
  • The Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) closed down -0.16% on Tuesday and NOT indicating in Wednesday’s pre-open;
  • The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) closed up +0.32% on Tuesday and is indicating a POSITIVE +0.33% in Wednesday’s pre-open

 

 

Companies in my headlights – my five (5):

BioLife Solutions (BLFS) closed up +$0.28 to $5.56 with 168 K shares traded after Monday’s -$0.11 to $5.28 with 196 K shares traded <3 month average =174.45 K shares>. The aftermarket indication is a negative -$0.02 or -0.36%. It’s very rich as September started at $4.86 with a low of $4.72. It does intrigue me- this upside however, the accumulation is very volume and momentum driven as the float is only 6.31 M shares and the short ratio is down registering 185.31 K shares or 2.92% - Maintaining SELL;

Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed down -$0.28 to $42.05 with 1.87 M shares traded after Monday’s -$2.81 to $42.33 with 2.96 M shares traded <3 month average = 2.74 M shares>. JUNO closed its follow-on public offering of 7,015,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $41.00 per share, which included an exercise in full by the underwriters of the offering of their option to purchase up to additional 915 K shares of common stock. Concurrent with the closing of the follow-on public offering, JUNO closed a private placement of 758,327 shares of its common stock, at a price of $41.00 per share, to a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation. Aggregate gross proceeds from the follow-on public offering and concurrent private placement, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions, in the case of the follow-on public offering, and expenses payable by Juno were approximately $318.7 million. The aftermarket indication is a positive +$0.34 or +0.81% - Maintaining BUY;

MiMedx (MDXG) closed down -$0.03 to $12.31 with 2.2 M shares traded <3 month average = 1.968 M shares>. Many of the legal challenges that have faced the company have seen significant wins. MDXG is the leading supplier of placental tissue, having supplied over 1,000,000 allografts to date for application in the Wound Care, Burn, Surgical, Orthopedic, Spine, Sports Medicine, Ophthalmic and Dental sectors of healthcare The aftermarket indication is a positive +$0.67 or +$5.44% - Maintaining BUY;

Regenxbio (RGNX) closed down -$0.45 to $30.50 with 441.4 K shares traded <3 month average = 249.4 K shares>. RGNX has shown quite an upside resilience as compared to many of the usual sector suspects. September started at $22.65 with a month’s low of $22.65 and a high of $30.95. The aftermarket indication is a positive +$1.20 or +3.93% - Maintaining BUY;

Verastem (VSTM) closed down -$0.32 to $4.50 with 1.4 M shares traded after Monday’s +$0.06 to $4.82 with 930.6 K shares traded <3 month average = 1.66 M shares>. The aftermarket indication is a positive +$0.20 or +4.44 – Maintaining BUY

 

 

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.