April 23, 2020 8:49am

Following fluctuations in share pricing, thinning volume and volatile advance/decline lines?  The XBI and IBB have flipped along with percentage (%) changes keeping the sector closes’ sliding positive and slipping negative in alternating sessions

The biggest economic factor unemployment - the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans applying for state unemployment benefits totaled 4.427 million last week.

What I provide is an “intelligence daily” to ensure that shareholders are kept apprised based on a 24-hour surveillance of “our” universe, the RegMed/cell and gene therapy sector and its surrounding market. Check the BOTTOM LINE <read more>

 

Dow future are DOWN -0.01% (-2 points), S&P futures are UP +0.25% (+7 points) and NASDAQ futures are UP +0.29% (+25 points)

 

U.S. stock futures were up, down, flat and slipping on Thursday as investors took a breather after the turbulence of the prior three regular sessions;

  • Violent fluctuations in the price of oil have kept markets on edge this week as a slide in demand the result of the coronavirus and persistent oversupply keep pressure on crude.

European stocks were mixed as the coronavirus pandemic and oil prices remained in focus for investors, while promising corporate earnings were offset by harrowing economic data with the pan-European Stoxx 600 reversed early gains to slip 0.2%;

Asia Pacific markets posted moderate gains as oil prices continued their overnight rebound that recouped some recent losses as Japan’s Nikkei 225 led gains, Mainland Chinese stocks dipped other than the  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index adding about 0.3%, while South Korea’s Kospi closed higher and Australia dipped, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index +0.45% higher.

 

Data docket: The Labor Department’s latest report on jobless claims. Combined with the prior four jobless claims reports, the number of Americans who’ve filed for unemployment over the last five weeks is 26.45 million.

That number exceeds the 22.442 million jobs added to payrolls since November 2009, when the U.S. economy began to add jobs back after the recession.

  • In the UK’s IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures both the services industry and manufacturing, dropped to 13.5 in April, according to preliminary data. In March, the same index had already recorded its biggest ever single monthly drop to 29.7. A contraction in PMI figures — a figure below 50 — indicates a likely fall in economic growth overall;
  • France’s April composite PMI dropped to 11.2 from 28.9 in March, marking the lowest reading since the benchmark began in 1998. Germany suffered a similar fate, plunging from 35.0 in March to 17.1 in April, also a record low.

 

Henry’omics:

It took only five weeks for the U.S. economy to wipe out all the job gains it added over the last 11 years as investors catch a glimpse of economic reality beyond the tall buildings on Wall Street.

0 dark 100 seem to be my busiest morning start as the morning’s readings on the European economy were grim.

The RegMed/cell and gene therapy sector has shed little light on development programs unless they highlighted COVID-19 applications but, they  couldn’t be more essential in adding to the healthcare industry’s strength … even if it isn’t recognized by FY19 and won’t be in Q1’s earnings’ LPS (loss-per-share) “numbers”.

 

Wednesday night’s title: “the sector is back in an upside groove.”

  • The NASDAQ closed UP +232.15 points (+2.81%);
  • The IBB closed up +0.95% and XBI also closed up +1.91%;
  • The % of the 29-upside were +0.34% (ADRO) to +16.67% (BSTG) while the 6-downside ranged from -0.10% (FATE) to -3.02% (SLDB); 
  • 6 out of the 29-upside had higher than the 3-month average volume;
  • 2 out of the 6-downside had higher than the 3-month average volume;

Q2:

  • April registered 7 negative, 8 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: 

*** Let your portfolio roll and SELL all NEW highs of substance – dice are ice cold***

 

The BOTTOM LINE: There’s no way to sugarcoat what’s happened these past few weeks and month on all fronts in our lives – what was, is OVER; sector and markets are about to re-open and re-enter a new world which will include a whole new set of ways and means in operating as well as who and how companies will be judged.

What really bothers me is that some companies are STEALING from the mouths of those most in need by manipulating the government PPP system – Athersys (ATHX) in particular.

 

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.