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“Global Pandemic, Shutdowns, Quarantines, & Market Crashes” Vista Partners Daily – March 11, 2020

By John F. Heerdink, Jr.

The world moved back to its aggressive selling ways today after yesterday’s brief relief in the markets. Both fears & realities of the growth of coronavirus, cities & schools shutting down, quarantines being implemented, and global growth being halted were flying about wildly and unchecked by any rational solutions. Needless to say that with the resulting & significantly negative sentiment & realities facing us, the stock market crashed again today. The S&P 500 dropped by -4.89%, the Dow dropped by -5.86%, the Nasdaq dropped by -4.7% & the Russell dropped by -6.41%. The FAANG stocks took the day on the chin too. Facebook (FB) closed at $170.24/share, -4.46%, Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1,215.41/share, -5.08%, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $1,820.86/share, -3.75%, Apple (AAPL) closed at $275.43/share -3.47%  & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $349.92/share, -3.9%. With the negative trading session, the Velocity Shares Daily 2x VIX Short-Term ETN (TVIX), a leveraged “bet” against the market rising, closed at $270.73/share & charged up +24.84%.

Oil prices also dropped -3.7% and closed at $33/bbl as Saudi Arabia is boosting production by 1M barrels/day to 13M barrels/day and worries of global growth. However, US treasury yields recovered a bit again today as the 2-yr yield closed 3 basis points higher at .5% while the 10-yr yield closed 7 basis points higher at .82%. The U.S. Dollar Index also strengthened by +.1% to close a 96.45.

A few economic points surfaced today as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) revealed a move higher by +.1% month/month in February & the core CPI moved higher by +.2%. The Treasury Budget report for February also confirmed a deficit of $235.34B vs. a deficit of $233.98 bln a year ago so, not a great deal of change. The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index report showed a massive +55.4% increase with the lowering of interest rates.

A bright note was served from San Francisco’s Vir Biotechnology (VIR) which rose +12.91% to close at $33.77/share. Vir announced a research collaboration agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Vaccine Research Center (VRC) to advance characterization and development of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19. The joint project, which will begin this week, will augment ongoing efforts by both parties to identify antibodies that can be used to prevent or treat the infection with existing and emerging viruses and help inform the development of vaccines. Under the terms of the agreement, Vir and NIAID will work together to identify and optimize combinations of antibodies against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, SARS, and MERS, as well as antibodies that may be effective across additional types of coronaviruses. The two parties will exchange antibodies and other materials for testing in combination and individually and, by mutual agreement, will perform in vivo animal studies to analyze immune responses.

Another bright note came from INVO Bioscience (IVOB) who over the last year has been making a number of moves to build out its organization while focusing its efforts to increase access to its INVOcell procedure globally. INVO’s lead product, the INVOcell® (pictured), is a patented medical device used in infertility treatment and is considered an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). ART includes all fertility treatments in which both eggs and embryos are handled outside of the body. In general, ART procedures involve removing mature eggs from a woman’s ovaries using a needle, combining the eggs with sperm in the laboratory, and returning the embryos to the woman’s body or donating them to another woman. The main type of ART is in vitro fertilization (IVF). INVO’s INVOcell is the first Intravaginal Culture (IVC) system in the world used for the natural in vivo incubation of eggs and sperm during fertilization and early embryo development, as an alternative to traditional In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). INVO’s mission is to increase access to care and expand fertility treatment across the globe with a goal to lower the cost of care and increase the availability of care. The Company believes the worldwide fertility treatment market to be severely underserved with only 1% to 2% of the estimated 150 million infertile couples being treated. Since January 2019, INVO Bioscience has signed commercialization agreements in the United States, as well as parts of Africa, Eurasia for the INVOcell device. On January 16, 2020, INVO and Medesole, a leading supplier of healthcare products in India and the Middle East, announced the signing of a joint venture to operate dedicated INVOcell clinics in India. According to the Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction, between 10% and 14% of Indians struggle with their fertility. In 2015, 27.5 million couples in India seeking children experienced difficulty conceiving. In urban areas, one out of six couples is impacted. According to market research, the India IVF market is expected to reach $1.45 billion by 2026, a 14.7% increase from 2019. This double-digit growth of infertility in India has made it a personal, as well as public health issue. Social stigma apart, infertility leads to tremendous financial and emotional stress for couples with the cost being a limiting factor for many couples who want to opt for this procedure. 

Today, INVO announced that Yve Lyppens has been appointed Director of Business Development Asia Pacific. Yve Lyppens comes to INVO Bioscience with more than a decade of experience in sales and distribution management. From 2016 to the present, he served as Asia Pacific Sales Director for Biomedic Hong Kong Ltd., a medical device distributor in Mainland China. Prior to that, from 2011 to 2016, Mr. Lyppens served as a Director, Shareholder and Sales Manager at F Care Systems Hong Kong Ltd., a developer, and exporter of medical aesthetics equipment. Based in Hong Kong, Mr. Lyppens will work with the company’s COO and VP of Business Development, Michael Campbell, in developing the Company’s sales and distribution network throughout Asia. He will be responsible for developing and implementing a regional business strategy to expand the companies INVO solution through joint venture partnerships and/or distribution relationships. He will also be identifying and solving all potential issues working with cross-functional development teams. He will be attending industry symposiums, seminars and training sessions necessary to promote the technology. Read More.

Economic Reports

On Monday, we did not receive any economic data. 

On Tuesday, we received the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for February, which confirmed a higher move to 104.5.

Investing & Inspiration

 

 

 

“The riskiest thing we can do is just maintain the status quo.
I get up at 4:30 in the morning, seven days a week, no matter where I am in the world.
I think it is important for people who are given leadership roles to assume that role immediately.
What I’ve really learned over time is that optimism is a very, very important part of leadership.” Bob Iger, Ceo of Disney

“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:

  • The Producer Price Index for February
  • The weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report

Videos

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