April 17, 2020 8:31am

Finally good news motivates a positive open as the week ends with upbeat developments counterbalancing Thursday’s ominous economic data’s release

Pre-open indications: 11 BUYs and 5 SELLs

An "intelligence newspaper" identifying sector intel, ideas, fact-based opinions and Insight in a volatile climate and the extenuating factors of share pricing; check the BOTTOM LINE and profit from RMi’s analysis!

Dow future are UP +3.15% (+737 points), S&P futures are UP +2.83% (+79 points) and NASDAQ futures are UP +1.89% (+165 points)

 

U.S. stock futures surged after a report said a Gilead Sciences (GILD) drug showed some effectiveness in treating the coronavirus that could help the country reopen faster from the widespread shutdowns that have plunged the economy into a recession;

  • GILD itself also cautioned that anecdotal reports are not enough to determine yet whether the drug will be an effective treatment.

European markets traded sharply higher after a report that a drug developed by GILD was showing effectiveness in treating the coronavirus with the pan-European Stoxx 600 jumping +3% by late morning;

Asia Pacific markets rose as investors shrugged off data that showed China’s Q1 economy shrunk as Mainland China, Shanghai and Shenzhen composites rose, Japan’s Nikkei 225 led gains among the region and South Korea and Australia advanced as the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose +2.11%.

 

Henry’omics:

Stock-index futures surged, implying that equity gauges may generate gains on Friday attributed to a report that indicated EARLY and promising results from Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) therapeutics used to treat the novel strain of coronavirus.

  • There are no proven treatments or vaccines for the novel coronavirus which has sickened more than two million people world-wide and killed nearly 150,000 people.

More than 22 million Americans have lost their jobs over the past month, according to weekly data from the U.S. Labor Department, likely lifting the unemployment rate to around 15% from 3.5% in February.

Good news is today’s justification for dramatic index, market and sector moves!

 

The BOTTOM LINE: TGIF, this market’s velocity is beyond normal, I am glad the week is over!

The question is HOW we initiate any BUYing into the future as value is still fogged-in. It has been said that, NO matter how high or low we go, unless something dramatic happens (i.e. a vaccine is released or a flare-up races out of control) expect big swings to cancel each other out. Share pricing will decline, incline or move mostly sideways which means deep dips and steep rebounds for the next six months.

When you’re on a roller coaster, the only thing you can be sure of is you’ll end up back where you started!

 

Thursday night’s title: “volatility is a given with the current economic destruction. The real question is how long will risks compared to future driven rewards go unrecognized.”

  • The NASDAQ closed UP +139.19 points (+1.66%);
  • The IBB closed up +2.93% and XBI also closed up +2.70%;
  • The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked down -0.73 points or -1.79% at 40.11;
  • The sector closed negative at 14/20 and 1 flat;
  • The % of the 14-upside were +0.11% (RARE) to +6.88% (BLUE) while the 20-downside ranged from -0.59% (SAGE) to -26.29% (ATHX));
  • 1 out of the 14-upside had higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • 1 out of the 20-downside had higher than the 3-month average volume;

 

Q2:

  • April registered 6 negative, 5 positive closes and 1 holiday.

Q1:

  • March registered 11 negative, 10 positive closes and 1 neutral close.
  • February registered 9 negative, 9 positive closes, 3 vacation days and 1 holiday.
  • January registered 9 negative, 10 positive closes and 2 holidays.

 

Companies in my headlights – It’s your decision; I provide an idea and context:

My focus is indication analysis. An indication can be a development of almost any kind. Specifically, it may be a confirmed fact, a possible fact, or an absence of “something”, a fragment of information or even an observation. The sole provision is that it provides insight to a likely course of action…

Those 11 equities with positive aftermarket indications:

ATHX (+$012 or +5.26%), BLUE (+$1.44 or +2.74%), CRSP (+$0.84 or +1.70%),EDIT (+$0.59 or +2.54%),FATE (+$1.05 or +3.64%), IONS (+$0.44 or +0.83%), NTLA (+$0.04 or +0.30%), SAGE (+$0.22 or +0.76%), SGMO (+$0.05 or +0.69%), STML (+$0.25 or +5.26%) and VSTM (+$0.10 or +3.29%)

Those 5 equities with negative aftermarket indications:

PSTI (-$1.19 or -13.09%), VYGR (-$0.28 or -2.92%), RARE (-$0.46 or -0.81%), GBT (-$0.14 or 0.21%), MESO (-$0.03 or -0.43%),

 

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.