September 25, 2017 7:21am
Shouldn’t it be churn, churn, and churn – a percentage attrition rate which equities are subject to …?
Preview RMi's morning call. You’d be reading this if you were a SUBSCRIBER!
Pre-open indications: 0 BUY and 6 SELLs
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 this sector!
A critical pre-market indication ahead of “our” universe’s open!
Lower open expected
Dow futures are DOWN -0.06% (-13 points) and NASDAQ futures are DOWN -0.10% (-54.50 points)
U.S. stock futures pointed to a struggle on Monday, as investors digested elections in Germany and eyed new regulations on health care in the U.S. with the dollar rising and investors expected to look for guidance from a heavy calendar of Federal Reserve speakers this week.
European stocks were marginally higher as investors digested election results out of Germany, where the nationalist Alternative for Germany (Ad) won parliamentary seats for the first time.
Asian indexes were mixed, with a broad index of Asia Pacific shares recording a moderate decline, as investors digested elections in Germany and New Zealand over the weekend
Data docket: durable goods and consumer spending. On Monday, the Chicago Fed national activity index for August is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Issues that affect the trading day: Investors are likely to focus on looking for more monetary policy clues from the Fed, which last week announced it will begin to unwind its massive balance sheet in October. A busy lineup of speakers:
- Monday’s lineup includes New York Fed President William Dudley, who will speak and take questions in Syracuse, New York, starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, ahead of the market open. After that, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will make a speech on the economy in Grand Rapids, Michigan at 12:40 p.m. ET. Later, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will have a question-and-answer session at an event in Grand Forks, North Dakota at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The cell therapy sector closed NEGATIVE on Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday and POSITIVE last Monday.
The cell therapy sector’s record over the last 5 sessions (of 43 covered companies):
· Friday closed NEGATIVE with 20 decliners, 18 advancers and 5 flat;
· Thursday closed NEGATIVE with 21 decliners, 16 advancers and 6 flats;
· Wednesday closed NEGATIVE with 23 decliners, 19 advancers and 1 flat;
· Tuesday closed NEGATIVE with 21 decliners, 19 advancers and 3 slats;
· Last Monday closed POSITIVE with 11 decliners, 28 advancers and 4 flats;
Henry ’omics:
From Friday night’s closing bell post “… sector gets downsized again while the end of the Q gets closer. The issue is the same – expectation or the lack of …”
- Reiterating, “It’s just a merry-go-round of share pricing – get on and when the music changes get off – to get back on when the tune changes!”
Sector enthusiasm remains pessimistic …
- Once a week, when sector equities become elevated; it seems recently it doesn’t take much to tip them over the edge into an oversold position.
Even we are agonizing over a depreciating plummet, with seemingly no external causes.
- That’s not to mention all the genuine external market pressures. Those include elevated antagonism between the U.S. and North Korea, which recently threatened to detonate a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean sometime soon, and a Federal Reserve attempting a historic right-sizing of its asset portfolio even as our President blasts “disrespectful” NFL protests increasing the divide of perception.
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 -0.40% on Friday and is indicating is NEGATIVE -0.21% in Monday’s pre-market;
- The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed Friday down -0.80% and is NOT indicating in Monday’s pre-market%;
- The Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) closed flat 0.0% on Friday and NOT indicating in Monday’s pre-open;
- The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) closed up +0.42% on Friday and is indicating a NEGATIVE -0.06% in Monday’s pre-open
Companies in my headlights – my six (6):
Athersys (ATHX) closed up +$0.08 to $2.55 with 957.7 K shares traded after Thursday’s +$0.04 to $2.47 with 1.297 M shares traded <3 month average = 916.4 K shares>. September started at $1.75 with a low of $1.75 and a high of $2.55. As I stated again on Friday, I am NOT a believer and ATHX is overbought on that basis; they also can’t replicate a manufacturing batch for clinical trial proof of concept – Maintaining SELL;
Bellicum Therapeutics (BLCM) closed up +$0.12 to $11.41 with 501.6 K shares traded <3 month average =789.1 K shares>. The aftermarket indication is a negative -$0.18 or -5.58% - SELL;
BioLife Solutions (BLFS) closed up +$0.31 to $5.39 with 132.1 K shares traded after Thursday’s +$0.07 to $5.09 with 81.4 K shares traded after Wednesday’s -$0.13 to $5.02 with 183 K shares traded <3 month average = 169.1 K shares>. September started at $4.86 with a low of $4.72 and a high of $5.29. What is the strategy here and the stop-gap tactic to keep the share sustainable or is it just a free floating rubber duck in an equity pool ready to dip in any wave t over and over again – a traders play thing. - Maintaining SELL;
bluebird bio (BLUE) closed up +$0.90 to $128.75 with 480.8 K shares traded <3 month average = 912.2 K shares>. Dow, day, up sessions – evert high is suspect in a complacent and evasive sector/market- SELL;
Capricor (CAPR) closed up +$0.14 to $2.14 with 1.86 M shares traded after Thursday’s -$0.03 to $2.00 with 2.736 M shares traded <3 month average = 2.1 M shares> after Wednesday’s -$0.22 to $2.03 with 6.256 M shares traded after Tuesday’s $2.25 (+$0.93) with 33.3 M shares traded. All I can see is Icarus flying too close to the sun. I have also awarded CEO Linda Marban, the designation or moniker of a “rocket woman” CEO who will lead CAPR to destruction. The aftermarket indication is a negative -$0.02 or -0.93% – Maintaining SELL;
Pluristem (PSTI) closed down -$0.02 to $1.54 with 427.22 K shares traded <3 month average = 345.3 K shares>. There is just NO consistency to this equity, it floats on the wind. - Maintaining SELL;
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.
