“Down Day For Major Indices But Russell Charges Forward, INVO Bioscience Hires, Hecla Prices Debt Offering”

After yesterday’s more than rosy day where we saw the 3 majors indices achieve new record highs we got hit with increased coronavirus fears as increased cases were reported out of China and we saw a bit of a reversal today in the markets.  The S&P 500 closed at 3,373.94, -.16% as the utilities, +1.0%, consumer staples,+0.6%, & real estate, +0.5% sectors led the charge while the industrials sector dropped -.07%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at 9,711.97, -.14%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,423.31, -.43%. The Russell 2000 also moved higher by +.26% ending at 1,693.74.

The FAANG’s finished in the green today. Facebook (FB) closed at $213.14/share, +1.13%, Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1514.66/share, -.24%, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $2,149.87/share, -.47%, Apple (AAPL) closed at $324.87/share, -.71% & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $381.40/share, +.37%.

The “fear gauge” Vix (TVIX) ended at $40/share bumping +3.73% and traded in $39.15 – $41.55.

INVO Bioscience (IVOB), under the guidance of newly appointed CEO Steve Shum (Q4, 2019), continues to make progress towards building a vibrant and growing organization in the fertility space. Today, INVO Bioscience, Inc. (IVOB), a publicly-traded medical device company focused on treating infertility with its FDA-cleared INVOcell® product, announced the appointment of Inger Britt Carlsson, Ph.D., as the Company’s Vice President of Medical Affairs. Dr. Carlsson will be developing and overseeing INVO Bioscience’s educational symposiums, generating scientific abstracts/publications on the INVOcell technology, and building relationships with key opinion leaders around the world. (Read the complete story.)

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) today announced that it has priced its previously announced public offering of senior notes (the “Offering”). The Company has agreed to sell $475.0 million aggregate principal amount of 7.250% Senior Notes due 2028 (the “Notes”). The Offering is expected to close on February 19, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. The Notes will pay interest semi-annually in arrears at a rate of 7.250% per year and will mature on February 15, 2028, unless earlier redeemed or repurchased. The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by certain of the Company’s subsidiaries. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering, together with cash on hand, to redeem all of its outstanding 6.875% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “2021 Notes”) totaling $506M and to pay fees and expenses in connection with the Offering and the redemption of the 2021 Notes. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as the book-running manager for the offering. The offering of the Notes is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained by calling J.P. Morgan Securities LLC collect at (866)-803-9204 or writing to J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717.

Economic Reports

On Monday we did not receive any significant macroeconomic data.

On Tuesday, we received the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index Report for January which showed a move up to 104.3. The December Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Report confirmed that job openings slid to 6.423M.

On Wednesday, the Treasury Budget Report for January which confirmed a deficit of $32.6B. The budget deficit over the last year period is $1.063T versus $1.022T in December. The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index Report showed and move up by +1.1%.

On Thursday, the Consumer Price Index report moved up by +.1% month/month in January. Core CPI rose by +.2%. Total CPI is now up +2.5% year/year. For the week ending February 8, initial claims moved up by 2k to 205,000 while continuing claims for the week ending February 1 moved lower by 61k to 1.698M.

Investing & Inspiration

“There are old traders and there are bold traders, but there are very few old, bold traders.”-Ed Seykota

“Let this scenario play out on its own, in its own fashion. As you watch it unfold, you will soon be grateful that you choose the peaceful path. Remember — those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”

“As long as you enjoy investing, you’ll be willing to do the homework and stay in the game.” -Jim Cramer

“I rarely think the market is right. I believe non-dividend stocks aren’t much more than baseball cards. They are worth what you can convince someone to pay for it.” -Mark Cuban

“Michael Marcus taught me one other thing that is absolutely critical: You have to be willing to make mistakes regularly; there is nothing wrong with it. Michael taught me about making your best judgment, being wrong, making your next best judgment, being wrong, making your third best judgment, and then doubling your money.” -Bruce Kovner

“The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.” -Jawaharlal Nehru

“The only true test of whether a stock is “cheap” or “high” is not its current price in relation to some former price, no matter how accustomed we may have become to that former price, but whether the company’s fundamentals are significantly more or less favorable than the current financial-community appraisal of that stock.” -Philip Fisher

“I learned to avoid trying to catch up or double up to recoup losses. I also learned that a certain amount of loss will affect your judgment, so you have to put some time between that loss and the next trade.” -Richard Dennis

“The four most dangerous words in investing are: ‘this time it’s different.” -Sir John Templeton

“Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.” -Arnold Schwarzenegger

Tomorrow

Tomorrow’s significant economic data report schedule will include the following:

• Retail Sales for January
• Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for January
• Import and Export Prices for January
• Business Inventories for December
• The preliminary University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for February