Greenwich LifeSciences Makes Superman-Like Move On Breast Cancer Data, DASH IPO Pops, But Market Indices Falter

Out of the gate today the market indices hit new record highs, but soon thereafter investors were swimming in a sea of red for the balance of the day. The S&P 500 moved lower closing at 3,672.82 (-.79%) as the popular names in the information technology sector dropped 1.9%,  the communication services sector dropped 1.2% & the real estate sector lost 1.0%. The Nasdaq also closed lower at 12,338.95 (-1.94%) & the small caps on the Russell 2000 finished at 1,902.15 (-.82%) while the Dow 30 closed at 30,068.81 (-.35%). 

MACRO

The macroeconomic scheduled delivered the Job openings report which confirmed a rise to 6.652M in October. The Wholesale inventories report also confirmed a rise by 1.8% in October.

Politicians continued their tit-for-tat approach to negotiating over further stimulus as the coronavirus pandemic races forward and roll backs and shutdowns continue and communities suffer. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin brought forth a new $916B stimulus bill sans enhanced unemployment benefits today and the Democrats declined to move forward on it.

BIOTECH BLASTS

Shares of Greenwich LifeSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GLSI) amazingly rose from yesterday’s close of $5.20 a share to as high as $158.07/share today prior to closing at $57.10 up +998.08%. Greenwich is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of GP2, an immunotherapy to prevent breast cancer recurrences in patients who have previously undergone surgery, today announced the publication of a poster for the GP2 Phase IIb clinical trial final efficacy analysis at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Kaplan Meier analysis of disease free survival for patients treated with GP2 immunotherapy shows 100% survival (0% breast cancer recurrences, p = 0.0338) following surgery and Herceptin treatment over median 5 years of follow-up.

GeoVax (GOVX) shares also surged today as at closed at $5.73/share up +79.06% on 30.09M shares of trading after reaching $7.50 in intraday trading. No news was released today, but the company announce a license agreement nine days with the NIH to support continued advancements in vaccine development against numerous pathogens. 

Curis, Inc. (CRIS), a biotech firm focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, announced positive preliminary data yesterday from an ongoing Phase 1 Study of CA-4948 Monotherapy in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndromes. Shares of Curis skyrocketed to a new 52-week high of $8.36/share prior to settling at $7.69/share up an amazing 420% in 2 days. Curis also announced a pricing of a public offering of 25,652,174 shares of common stock at $5.75/share for gross proceeds of ~$147.5M.

In the white-hot NK cell space, San Francisco-based Nkarta, Inc. (NKTX) was up another 12.57% as it closed yet another all-time high at $70.02/share and now enjoys its own $2.28 billion market cap.

Fate Therapeutics (FATE) pulled back 5.46% today closing at $86.60/share after reaching and all-time high this week of $96/share after revealing impressive Phase 1 data on FT596 at ASH on Sunday. 

Cytovia Therapeutics, another emerging NK cell therapeutics company, announced that it plans to file with the FDA in 2021 an Investigational New Drug (IND) application and initiate clinical trials in hematological and solid tumors with its Universal iPSC NK cell therapy (U-iNK). Cytovia’s CEO, Dr. Daniel Teper commented: “Cytovia is among a select group of biotech companies developing Gene Edited iPSC NK and CAR NK cell therapeutics. We are aiming to be, in 2021, the second company to initiate clinical trials with an iPSC NK product. We are enthusiastic about the potential of U-iNK to prevent relapse in Acute Myeloid Leukemia, and in combination with PD1/ PDL-1 inhibitors and our own NK engager bispecific antibodies, to improve outcomes in solid tumors starting with hepatocellular carcinoma.”  Cytovia will participate in the RBC Capital Markets Healthcare Private Company Conference on December 15-16, 2020. Daniel Teper, PharmD, CEO, Wei Li, PhD, CSO and Kaouthar Lbiati, MD, VP, Product Strategy will take part in a Fireside chat with RBC’s Senior Analyst, Gregory Renza, MD, on December 16, 2020 at 10am ET. A link to the discussion will be available on Cytovia’s website and social media channels.

Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19, announced today the pricing of an underwritten public offering with expected total gross proceeds of $20.0 million before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company.
The securities offered by the Company consist of (i) 14,575,000 Units, each consisting of one share of common stock (the “Common Stock”), and 0.75 Warrants (“Warrants”) to purchase one share of Common Stock at a price of $1.00 per Unit and (ii) 5,425 Units, each consisting of one share of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Preferred Stock”) with a stated value of $1,000 per share and convertible into 1,000 shares of Common Stock together with Warrants to purchase 750 shares of Common Stock at a purchase price of $1,000 per Unit. The Warrants will have an exercise price of $1.00 per share, will be immediately exercisable and will expire four years from the date of issuance. Shares of Atossa closed at $.8701/share on 28.14M shares of trading volume.

AROUND TECH

A food delivery company that has been growing significantly during the pandemic era, DoorDash (DASH), began trading today after pricing its NASDAQ IPO of 33 million shares at $102/share raising $3.37B. Shares of Dash closed trading at $189.51/share popping +85.8% after reaching $195.50/share.

The heavily weighted & popular FAANGs ended mixed as follows:  Apple (AAPL) ($121.78, -2.09%), Amazon (AMZN) ($3,104.20, -2.3%), Alphabet (GOOG) ($1,784.13, -1.89%), Facebook (FB) ($277.92, -1.93%) & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $493.60/share, -3.72%. Of note, the FTC & 48 U.S. attorney generals officially filed lawsuits against Facebook as they seek to break them up as they believe they are violating antitrust law, buying up competitors and depriving  consumers of alternatives that would protect their privacy.

Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) closed at $604.48/share, -6.99%. Chinese EV concern NIO Limited (NIO) closed at $44.01/share down 5.48%.  

Leading provider of hydrogen engines and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility, Plug Power (PLUG), closed at $26.74/share pulling back 6.96% from yesterday’s 16.12% jump. Recently, PLUG confirmed that they had sold 38M shares priced at $22.25/shares raising a whopping $845.5M which represented about 9.1% of the shares outstanding and brings their capital to the $1.7B range. 

The leading pan-African e-commerce platform Jumia Technologies (JMIA) closed at $33.47/share, -5.72% almost giving back yesterday’s gains. 

GOLD, SILVER, OIL…

Silver prices closed a US $24.65/oz, +.01 & gold prices closed at US $1,870/oz, +5. North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) closed at $5.32/share (-.37%). HL’s 52-week range is $1.40 – $6.79. Recently, Hecla announced Q3 2020 financial and operating results. Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla’s President and CEO stated, “Because of our strong operating performance and higher prices, Hecla had record adjusted EBITDA, generated the most free cash flow in a decade and repaid our revolver in full. These accomplishments were achieved because of our workforces’ resiliency and our commitment to health and safety. With the Lucky Friday ramp-up ahead of schedule, the expected improvements at Casa Berardi, and our modest planned capital expenditures, we are well positioned to further strengthen our balance sheet, increase exploration activities, and pay our enhanced dividend.” Barrick Gold Corporation (GOLD) closed at $23.90/share, -.21%.

Oil prices pulled back .3% again to day to end at $45.50/bbl. Dow 30 component and energy giant Chevron (CVX) closed at $90.44/share down 1.20%.

MONEY

The 2-yr treasury yield edged higher ending at .15% while the 10-yr yield added 3 basis points to end at .94%. The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened closing at 91.03. 

TOMORROW

The Macro schedule will deliver the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index, the JOLTS – Job Openings report for October, & Wholesale Inventories report for October.

WATCH LIST

• Shares of INVO Bioscience (INVO) closed trading at $3.14/share up 1.62%. 
  • INVO is a medical device company focused on creating alternative treatments for patients diagnosed with infertility and developers of INVOcell®, the world’s only in vivo Intravaginal Culture System. Industry forecasts suggest that only 1% to 2% of the estimated 150 million infertile couples worldwide are currently being treated. INVO’s mission is to increase access to care and expand infertility treatment across the globe with a goal of improving patient affordability and industry capacity. Since January 2019, INVO Bioscience has signed commercialization agreements in the United States, India, as well as parts of Africa and Eurasia and Mexico for the INVOcell device.

• • Recently, INVO filed an 8k highlighting three new partners that they have established to distribute or develop invocell only clinics in Malaysia and North Macedonia. 

• • This week, there was an 8k filed that stated, “On December 2, 2020, we entered into a Distribution Agreement with Tasnim Behboud Arman (“Distributor”) to distribute the INVOcell system to the Islamic Republic of Iran under which Distributor was appointed as the exclusive distributor in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The agreement is for an initial term of one year and can be renewed upon the mutual agreement of the parties. We also granted Distributor a non-exclusive right to the INVO trademarks in Iran in connection with the sale of products in Iran.”

• Shares of NeuBase Therapeutics (NBSE) closed at $7.83/share, -2.37%. Its 52-week high is $11.78/share.
  • NeuBase is developing the next generation of gene silencing therapies with its flexible, highly specific synthetic antisense oligonucleotides. The proprietary NeuBase peptide-nucleic acid (PNA) antisense oligonucleotide (PATrOL™) platform allows for the rapid development of targeted drugs, increasing the treatment opportunities for the hundreds of millions of people affected by rare genetic diseases, including those that can only be treated through accessing of secondary RNA structures. Using PATrOL technology, NeuBase aims to first tackle rare, genetic neurological disorders.

• • NeuBase is continuing its progress towards developing treatment candidates in Huntington’s Disease (HD) and Myotonic Dystrophy (DM1) and is expected to release further data prior to year end 2020.

• • Recently, NeuBase announced the appointment of Curt Bradshaw, Ph.D., as its new Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Bradshaw is a proven drug developer in the field of precision genetic medicines, coming to NeuBase from his most recent role as Chief Scientific Officer at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (ARWR) ($64.72/share +3.32%) ($6.65B mkt cap). In his new role, Dr. Bradshaw will be responsible for leading and expanding NeuBase’s PATrOL-enabled anti-gene pipeline and will serve as a key member of its executive management team. Learn more.

Economic Reports

• On Monday, we received the Consumer credit report which confirmed a rise by $7.2B in October.
• On Tuesday, we received the Productivity report for Q3 which confirmed a rise by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.6%. Unit labor costs were confirmed to have dropped at an annual rate of 6.6% as the economy continued to recover during this period. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index report confirmed a drop to 101.4.
• On Wednesday, the Job openings report confirmed a rise to 6.652M in October. The Wholesale inventories report also confirmed a rise by 1.8% in October.

Investing & Inspiration

“The investor’s chief problem — even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself.” — Benjamin Graham

“No profession requires more hard work, intelligence, patience, and mental discipline than successful speculation.” – Robert Rhea

“Money is like a sixth sense – and you can’t make use of the other five without it.” – William Somerset Maugham

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein

“Never count on making a good sale. Have the purchase price be so attractive that even a mediocre sale gives good results” — Warren Buffett

“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” – Warren Buffett

“Thousands of experts study overbought indicators, head-and-shoulder patterns, put-call ratios, the Fed’s policy on money supply…and they can’t predict markets with any useful consistency, any more than the gizzard squeezers could tell the Roman emperors when the Huns would attack.” – Peter Lynch

“Investing puts money to work. The only reason to save money is to invest it.” – Grant Cardone

“You cannot save time for your future use however you can invest time for your future.” – John F. Heerdink, Jr. 

“Know what you own, and know why you own it.” – Peter Lynch

“Liquidity is only there when you don’t need it.” -Old Proverb

“If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.” – Richard Branson

“Fear incites human action far more urgently than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.” – Jeremy Siegel

“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” – Charlie Munger

“The entrance strategy is actually more important than the exit strategy.” – Edward Lampert

“The rivers don’t drink their own water; Trees don’t eat their own fruits. The sun does not shine for itself, And flowers do not spread their fragrance For themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature” – Pope Francis

“It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different from the majority.” – John Templeton

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin.

“I believe the returns on investment in the poor are just as exciting as successes achieved in the business arena, and they are even more meaningful!” -Bill Gates

“Every portfolio benefits from bonds; they provide a cushion when the stock market hits a rough patch. But avoiding stocks completely could mean your investment won’t grow any faster than the rate of inflation.” – Suze Orman

“The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility, and flow of risk capital… the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.” – John F. Kennedy

“If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion. -George Bernard Shaw

“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