COVID Sentiment Change + Oversold Equities Turn Markets North Tuesday – $INM $INVO $NBSE $MU $NIKE $TSLA Rise!

 

 

Tuesday’s stock market session was met with the President Joe Biden’s message to Americans that we should expect a holiday surge in COVID cases due to the Omicron variant highly transmissible nature, but also that we would not be returning to lockdown measures, which the economy had to endure in the past. Also, that we are prepared with vaccinations, tests and understanding to further combat the virus and any threat it would pose for our economy. With theses assurances, a shift in sentiment prevailed and pointed towards growth & after a 3-day selloff, investors stood ready to scoop up equities and they did. 9 of the 11 sectors rose today with energy popping up 2.9% as oil rose 3.6% to close at $71.11/bbl o the renewed positive growth outlook. The information technology sector jumped 2.6%, the consumer discretionary rose 2.5%, & the financials added 2% to round out the top four sectors.  The yield curve moved higher with the 2-yr yield rising 5 basis points to .67% & the 10-yr yield moved up 7 basis points to 1.49%. The macroeconomic schedule also the Current Account Balance report for Q3 which came in at $214.8B , while the Q2 deficit was revised up to $198.3B. The U.S. Dollar Index moved lower by .2% to 96.49, gold prices dropped $2 to close at $1,790/oz., silver closed at $22.52, +$.26, & Bitcoin (BTC) closed at $49,051.97, +4.17%.

 

In turn, the major indices closed significantly higher as follows: the S&P 500 closed at 4,649.23 (+1.78%), the Dow 30 closed at 35,492.70 (+1.60%), & the Nasdaq closed at 15,341.09 (+2.40%). The small caps on the Russell also had a great day closing at 2,202.95 (+2.95%), while the micro caps moved higher in virtual lock step as the iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) closed at $137.60, +2.57% as bids were a plenty. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), a barometer of the smaller biotech stocks, also closed in positive territory at $116.58, +.68% as it has swung back nearly 10 points from a new 52-wk low established last Monday at $106.88. The 52-wk range is $106.88 – $174.79.

 

Even with today’s more than positive swing, I would suggest that we still have a few more days of volatility left in 2021 as trading volumes will surely decline as usual as we move through the holidays and swiftly towards the end of the year and any tax selling subsides.  Having stated this, I would not be surprised if we see some follow thru trading tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple (AAPL) closed at $172.99, +1.91% & Tesla (TSLA) closed at $938.53, +4.29%. Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company has reported 132 COVID-19 cases at its California headquarters, a fourth of the total number of cases in non-residential locations in Los Angeles County, according to county data. Ford closed at $19.61, +.98%. Last week, Ford Pro™ announced the launch of Ford Pro Charging, a comprehensive solution for commercial electric vehicle charging. While more commercial customers want to switch to electric vehicles to reduce maintenance costs, minimize emissions and drive down total cost of ownership*, the transition from all internal combustion-powered fleets can be complex. Ford Pro Charging will help ease this transition by delivering intuitive software and commercial hardware infrastructure to support charging and energy management.   The Walt Disney Company (DIS) closed at $151.05, +3.13%. Disney has extended Christine M. McCarthy’s contract as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer through June 30, 2024, it was announced today by Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer. Ms. McCarthy is a 22-year veteran of the Company and has served as CFO since 2015. Ms. McCarthy first joined Disney in 2000, and prior to becoming CFO in 2015, she was Executive Vice President, Corporate Real Estate, Alliances and Treasurer. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Procter & Gamble Company and FM Global, and is a Trustee of Carnegie Institution for Science. She has received numerous awards and has been named multiple times to Treasury & Risk’s “100 Most Influential People in Finance,” the Top 100 Irish American Business Leaders, and Business Insider’s “The 15 Most Influential Women in Finance.” In 2015, she was the recipient of Treasury Today’s Adam Smith “Woman of the Year” award. In 2016, she received Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Executive of the Year” award and was honored as one of the Entertainment Diversity Council’s “Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment.” Disney will hold its annual meeting of shareholders on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT by virtual meeting and will be made available via webcast at www.disney.com/investors.

 

On the small side, Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to develop innovative proprietary medicines in oncology and infectious disease with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19, rose to an intraday high of $1.915 prior to closing at $1.86, -.53% on 2.941M shares of trading volume. Physician-Scientist and CEO of Atossa, Steven Quay, MD, PhD, recently published an e-print on his research into a new coronavirus, named BANAL-236, reported by the Institut Pasteur in September 2021. At the time, BANAL-236 was the first bat coronavirus with high homology to SARS-CoV-2 that could directly infect human cells using the same receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses. The new research reports that BANAL-236 has evolved the ability to infect human cells by an unknown mechanism that violates over 40 years of coronavirus research. The COVID-19 e-print is available here and has also been submitted to Nature. “When I read the paper from the Institut Pasteur and looked at the virus, I immediately assumed there was an error in either the way the sequence was assembled or a mix up in the lab with another virus to explain the infectivity,” Quay said. “I contacted the Institut Pasteur with my findings and was deeply disturbed to learn that there was not, in fact, some simple mistake had occurred to explain things. I now knew we were in uncharted waters with a virus that is missing eight key elements that have been shown, over 40 years of research, to be required for growth.” Atossa management also recently presented at  “A Town Hall Q&A Event With Atossa Therapeutics Management Team” with Tribe Public. You can view it clicking here. Atossa also announced recently that it had completed a pre-investigational new drug (PIND) meeting with the FDA to obtain input from the FDA on pre-clinical, clinical, manufacturing and regulatory matters in the U.S. for Atossa’s proprietary Z-endoxifen to treat breast cancer in the neoadjuvant (prior to surgery) setting.

 

On Monday, Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FATE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for patients with cancer, showcased positive interim Phase 1 data from the Company’s FT596 program for patients with relapsed / refractory B-cell lymphoma (BCL) at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. FT596 is the Company’s off-the-shelf, multi-antigen targeted, iPSC-derived natural killer (NK) cell product candidate derived from a clonal master induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line engineered with three anti-tumor functional modalities: a proprietary chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) optimized for NK cell biology that targets B-cell antigen CD19; a novel high-affinity, non-cleavable CD16 (hnCD16) Fc receptor that has been modified to prevent its down-regulation and to enhance its binding to tumor-targeting antibodies; and an IL-15 receptor fusion (IL-15RF) that augments NK cell activity. “The interim dose-escalation clinical data from our FT596 program in relapsed / refractory B-cell lymphoma demonstrate that off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived CAR NK cells can bring substantial therapeutic benefit to heavily pre-treated patients in urgent need of therapy, with high response rates and meaningful duration of responses,” said Scott Wolchko, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fate Therapeutics. “We are particularly pleased with the therapeutic profile that has emerged with FT596 in combination with rituximab, where over half of the patients treated with a single dose of FT596 at higher dose levels achieved a complete response with a favorable safety profile that is clearly differentiated from CAR T-cell therapy. We look forward to assessing a two-dose treatment schedule for FT596 to further define its potential best-in-class therapeutic profile and ability to reach more patients, including those earlier in care.” Shares of FATE closed at $63.30, +5.29%. 

 

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM), a leader in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of rare cannabinoids, closed at $1.47, +4.26% after hitting an intraday high of $1.51. Today InMed announced that a peer-reviewed scientific article entitled “Cannabinol Modulates Neuroprotection and Intraocular Pressure: A Potential Multi-Target Therapeutic Intervention for Glaucoma”, has been published in Biochimica et Biophysical Acta (BBA – Molecular Basis of Disease), a leading international journal focused on biochemistry and molecular genetics of disease processes and models of human disease in the area of aging, cancer, metabolic-, neurological-, and immunological-based diseases. The peer-reviewed article highlights research evaluating the use of cannabinol, or CBN, as a potential treatment option for glaucoma. Several studies were conducted to evaluate the survival of retinal ganglion cells, modulation of intraocular pressure and its effects on extracellular matrix proteins using in vitro and in vivo glaucoma models. These studies resulted in two key findings: first, CBN may promote neuroprotection of cells in the retina that are responsible for vision; and second, CBN may normalize intraocular pressure by attenuating changes in the extracellular matrix proteins. The article also reports on the comparison of CBN with other cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), with results indicating that CBN has a stronger effect and broader neuroprotective therapeutic range. These observations elucidate the therapeutic potential for CBN in the treatment of glaucoma.

 

INmune Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: INMB), a clinical-stage immunology company focused on developing treatments that harness the patient’s innate immune system to fight disease, recently presented data at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium showing mucin 4 (MUC4) expression predicts worse survival and is a treatment resistance factor in women with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). INB03, a DN-TNF therapy, can reverse TNBC treatment resistance by decreasing expression of MUC4 and reducing immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment (TME) by increasing anti-tumor macrophage phagocytosis and increasing lymphocyte function in the TME. The poster will be presented by Dr. Roxana Schillaci, Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental, Buenos Aires, on December 10th. RJ. Tesi, M.D, Chief Executive Officer of INmune Bio, commented, “We are excited to have Dr. Schillaci present these data that expand on her previous findings on the role of MUC4 expression which predicts worse survival and resistance to therapy in HER2+ breast cancer therapy. Now, in both TNBC and HER2+ breast cancer, MUC4 predicts resistance to immunotherapy and an immunosuppressive TME that can be overcome with INB03.” Treatment with INB03 in murine models of breast cancer improves macrophage anti-tumor phagocytic activity, lymphocyte infiltration and function suggesting improved response to combination therapies of INB03 with inmunotherapy. Shares of INMB closed trading today at $1o.54, -1.13%. 

 

Shares of INVO Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: INVO), a medical device company focused on commercializing the world’s only in vivo culture system (IVC), INVOcell®, closed at $3.90 after hitting an intraday high of $4.0586, but still well off of its 52-wk high of $12.30. A sell side analyst named Kyle Bauser, PhD. at Colliers Securities recently published his Buy Rating Report with a $6 Price Target. Last week, INVO Bioscience, Inc. announced that it has entered into an expanded agreement with Ovoclinic, a group of clinics specialized in assisted reproductive treatments with four locations across Spain (Madrid, Marbella, Málaga, Ceuta) and collaborating centers around Europe, to accelerate adoption of INVOcell within their markets. The agreement includes the expanded adoption of INVOcell within Ovoclinic locations as well as establishing an INVO Center of Excellence for future training for the European Market. Cristina Gonzalez, embryologist and Quality Manager of Ovoclinic laboratories stated, “After several successful trials implementing the exciting INVOcell fertility treatment, Ovoclinic aims to provide its patients with this effective alternative to the processes used so far in Spain in the field of reproductive medicine. We consider INVOcell to be an effective method of natural reproduction that involves the future mother at the very first moment of the process. We are confident that this innovative treatment will help many patients to choose this new alternative solution to achieve their dream of forming a family by actively participating in the reproductive process.” According to the World Bank, Spain, with total population of approximately 47 million people, has one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe, affecting approximately 15% of the population, or one in seven couples of reproductive ages. According to reports, in 2010, there were approximately one million couples requesting assisted reproductive treatment, however only 22% received one or more assisted reproductive treatment cycles. The average waiting time for an IUI or IVF cycle in a public health facility was 339 days. Ovoclinic reports that they maintain the best technical and human resources to deal with all kinds of infertility problems along with the simplest and most natural treatments to the most complex and advanced techniques pioneered in Spain. Ovoclinic also works in partnership with Ovobank, the first European Donor Egg Bank in Europe.

 

Shares of NeuBase Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NBSE) a biotechnology platform company Drugging the Genome™ to address disease at the base level using a new class of precision genetic medicines, closed  at $2.87, +1.06%, and has rose to $3 in the aftermarkets. Dietrich A. Stephan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of NeuBase, presented in person at the Jefferies London Healthcare Conference recently.

 

FURTHER AFIELD

Sanofi (SNY) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Amunix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an immuno-oncology company leveraging its proprietary, clinically validated XTEN® and innovative universal protease-releasable masking technology platform, Pro-XTENTM, to discover and develop transformative T-cell engagers (TCE) and cytokine therapies for patients with cancer. Amunix’s pipeline, which includes lead candidate, AMX-818, a masked HER2-directed TCE, offers a strong strategic fit with Sanofi’s focus on developing potentially transformative cancer therapies in immuno-oncology. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi will acquire Amunix for an upfront payment of approximately $1 billion and up to $225 million upon achievement of certain future development milestones. The acquisition supports Sanofi’s efforts to accelerate and expand its contributions to innovative medicines for oncology patients, with approximately 20 molecules currently in development. “This acquisition demonstrates our ongoing commitment to investing in promising research and discovery platforms,” said John Reed, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head of Research & Development, Sanofi. “The Amunix technology platform utilizes a next generation smart biologics approach to precisely tailor-deliver medicines to become active only in tumor tissues while sparing normal tissues, thus bringing the promise of more effective and safer treatment options for cancer patients. We are excited to rapidly advance Amunix’s promising pipeline and to combine their innovative candidate medicines with complementary molecules in Sanofi’s immuno-oncology portfolio.”

On Monday, Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) announced results for its first quarter of fiscal 2022, which ended Dec. 2, 2021. Revenue of $7.69 billion versus $8.27 billion for the prior quarter and $5.77 billion for the same period last year. GAAP net income of $2.31 billion, or $2.04 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income of $2.47 billion, or $2.16 per diluted share. Operating cash flow of $3.94 billion versus $3.88 billion for the prior quarter and $1.97 billion for the same period last year. “Micron delivered solid fiscal first quarter results led by strong product portfolio momentum,” said Micron Technology President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “We are now shipping our industry-leading DRAM and NAND technologies across major end markets, and we delivered new solutions to data center, client, mobile, graphics and automotive customers. As powerful secular trends including 5G, AI, and EV adoption fuel demand growth, our technology leadership and world-class execution position us to create significant shareholder value in fiscal 2022 and beyond.”

On Monday NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) reported fiscal 2022 financial results for its second quarter ended November 30, 2021. Second quarter reported revenues were $11.4 billion, up 1 percent compared to prior year and flat on a currency-neutral basis. NIKE Direct sales were $4.7 billion, up 9 percent on a reported basis and up 8 percent on a currency-neutral basis. NIKE Brand Digital sales increased 12 percent, or 11 percent on a currency-neutral basis, led by 40 percent growth in North America. Gross margin increased 280 basis points to 45.9 percent. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $0.83, up 6 percent. “NIKE’s strong results this quarter provide further proof that our strategy is working, as we execute through a dynamic environment,” said John Donahoe, President and CEO, NIKE, Inc. “We are now in a much stronger competitive position today than we were 18 months ago. And I want to thank our roughly 75,000 global teammates for all their work to provide consumers with the compelling new product, innovation and experiences that only NIKE can deliver.”

It is interesting to note that S&P 500 Q3/2021 stock buybacks came in at $234.6B & up 18% from Q2/2021.