Little Guys On The Russell 2000 Led All Markets On Hump Day As Reopening Was Back in View

The Russell 2000, the small-cap stock market index of the smallest 2,000 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index, led the charge on hump day as it realized a 3.5% gain closing at 1,478.27. The Dow 30 rose .85% closing at 26,870.10.  The Nasdaq added .59% closing at 10,550.49.  The S&P 500 moved up .91% closing at 3,226.56. The industrials sector up 2.6%, the energy sector up 2%, the financials sector up 1.9% & the materials sector up 1.7% helped the optimistically oriented moves today as dreams of increased reopening measures that could take place were in investors hearts and minds.

This renewed reopening hope came after Moderna (MRNA) ($80.22/share, up 6.9%) reported promising data regarding their COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Specifically that their interim analysis of original cohorts of Phase 1 study evaluated two-dose vaccination schedule of mRNA-1273 across three dose levels (25, 100, 250 µg) in 45 healthy adults ages 18-55 years; results reaffirm and expand upon positive interim data announced on May 18th and that this data supports a 30,000 participant Phase 3 study expected to begin on July 27. With much less limelight, Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS) rose to a new 52-week high of $4.69/share after reporting successful results from in vitro testing of AT-301, Atossa’s proprietary COVID-19 nasal spray drug candidate. The preliminary study results show that AT-301 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infectivity of VERO cells in a laboratory culture, which is the standard disease model used for the initial screening of COVID-19 drug candidates. AT-301 is being developed with a nasal spray delivery mechanism because many COVID-19 patients are infected via the nasal passage. Collectively, the components of AT-301 are believed to help maintain a protective mucosal like layer within the nasal cavity with both anti-viral properties and protective mucosal like barrier that may lead to lower infectivity and reduced symptoms in COVID-19 patients due to their interference with the spike protein of the virus in the nasal cavity and upper respiratory tract. Atossa’s nasal spray formulation AT-301 is being designed to contain ingredients that can potentially block SARS-CoV-2 viral entry gene proteins in nasal epithelial cells by interfering with spike protein activation by host proteases, by masking receptor binding domains (RBD) via electrostatic mechanisms, and by providing a generalized mucoadhesive epithelial barrier.

On the macroeconomic front, we also received a handful of somewhat positive reports as follows:

• The total industrial production report confirmed a rise of 5.4% month/month in June whie the capacity utilization rate rose to 68.6%.
• The Empire State Manufacturing Survey for July moved significantly higher to 17.2.
• Import prices moved up 1.4% in June and when excluding oil, prices rose .3%.
• Export prices moved up 1.4% in June and when you exclude agriculture prices rose 1.4%.
• The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index jumped 5.1%.

Gold closed above the $1800 mark again at $1,811(+1) & silver prices closed above $19again  at $19.75/oz (+.20). North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) closed at $4.42/share up another 4.49% after establishing another new 52-week high of $4.43/share. HL’s 52-week low is $1.38.

Oil prices moved up 2.2% closing at $41.13/bbl. Energy leaders Chevron (CVX) closed at $88.89/share up .61%, Exxon (XOM) closed at $44.63/share up 1.27% & highly leveraged Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) closed at $17.18/share up 3%. Midstream player, Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), closed trading at $17.81/share up 4.21% and is currently sporting an attractive $1.78/share dividend or 10.42%.  

The 2-yr US treasury yield closed down 1 basis point at .14% while the 10-yr yield closed moved up 2 basis points at .63%. The U.S. Dollar Index weakened by .2% to end at 96.06. 

TODAY’S MOVERS 

Here’s a number of other equities that moved significantly higher today:

• Shares of Genetic Technologies (GENE) skyrocketed 150.88% closing at $5.67/share after the Melbourne-based firm provided an update to the market on the development of the Company’s COVID-19 Severity Risk Test.

• Shares of Bloom Energy (BE) closed at $17.65/share up 34.84% after reaching a new 52-wk high of $18.26/share in intraday trading. BEB announced its initial strategy for the hydrogen market.

• Shares of Sunrun Inc. (RUN) added another 6.02% (~+19% in 2 days) closing at $35.82/share. Recently, Sunrun and Vivint Solare announced that they would be merging.

TOMORROW

The macroeconomic calendar will deliver the weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report, the Retail Sales for June, the Philadelphia Fed Index for July, the NAHB Housing Market Index for July, the Business Inventories for May, & the Net Long-Term TIC Flows for May.

WATCH LIST

• Atossa Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ATOS) closed at $3.96/share up 10.92% today. 

• • Interest continues to swell around both their breast cancer treatment and two COVID-19 drug programs.

  • ATOS’ stock has seen positive trading volatility this year and has moved up from $.76/share on significantly increasing trading volume and established a new 52-week high of $4.69/share.

  • Today ATOS reported successful results from in vitro testing of AT-301, Atossa’s proprietary COVID-19 nasal spray drug candidate. The preliminary study results show that AT-301 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infectivity of VERO cells in a laboratory culture, which is the standard disease model used for the initial screening of COVID-19 drug candidates. AT-301 is being developed with a nasal spray delivery mechanism because many COVID-19 patients are infected via the nasal passage. Collectively, the components of AT-301 are believed to help maintain a protective mucosal like layer within the nasal cavity with both anti-viral properties and protective mucosal like barrier that may lead to lower infectivity and reduced symptoms in COVID-19 patients due to their interference with the spike protein of the virus in the nasal cavity and upper respiratory tract. Atossa’s nasal spray formulation AT-301 is being designed to contain ingredients that can potentially block SARS-CoV-2 viral entry gene proteins in nasal epithelial cells by interfering with spike protein activation by host proteases, by masking receptor binding domains (RBD) via electrostatic mechanisms, and by providing a generalized mucoadhesive epithelial barrier.

  • Next, we are seeking to see if ATOS successfully advances one or both COVID-19 programs by receiving IRB and FDA approval to move in tot he clinic.

  • Last week ATOS announced that it hired key personnel in clinical, regulatory, and chemistry manufacturing and controls (CMC). The new hires include Heather Fraser, Ph.D., as vice president of clinical, regulatory, and CMC; Natalie Farris, MS, as senior director of CMC; and Devon Payne as director of clinical operations. “Hiring of these talented and accomplished individuals will help accelerate the advancement of our development pipeline, which includes programs in breast cancer and COVID-19. We welcome Heather, Natalie, and Devon to Atossa and look forward to their important contributions as we execute on our value-creation strategy,” commented Steven Quay, M.D., Ph.D., president, and CEO of Atossa.  

• • Dr. Quay was recently interviewed on FOX 26 Houston this week and the show was titled “Company developing nasal spray to treat COVID-19.” Again as I mentioned yesterday, I believe it is worth the time for all to view this story here as it sheds a great deal of light on the 4 stages of COVID-19 and their potential treatments.
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  • Dr. quay has also recently published the following book “Your COVID-19 Survival Manual: A Physician’s Guide to Keep You and Your Family Healthy During the Pandemic and Beyond,” in paperback and eBook format on his website, www.DrQuay.com. Proceeds from the book will go to military veterans performing COVID-19 relief work in their communities.  You may order it here.

• Shares of Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed at $34.87/share up 2.50% and up from its 52-week low of $12.59 but lower than the recently achieved new all-time high of $38.52/share.

• Fate is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders

• July 14th, FATE announced that the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with Baylor College of Medicine covering alloimmune defense receptors, a first-in-class approach that renders off-the-shelf allogeneic cell products resistant to host immune rejection. Preclinical studies published in the journal Nature Biotechnology (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-020-0601-5) demonstrate that allogeneic cells engineered with a novel alloimmune defense receptor (ADR) are protected from both T- and NK-cell mediated rejection, and provide proof-of-concept that ADR-expressing allogeneic cell therapies can durably persist in immunocompetent recipients.

• On July 9 Fate announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the Company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for FT819, an off-the-shelf allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting CD19+ malignancies. FT819 is the first-ever CAR T-cell therapy derived from a clonal master induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line, and is engineered with several first-of-kind features designed to improve the safety and efficacy of CAR T-cell therapy. The Company plans to initiate clinical investigation of FT819 for the treatment of patients with relapsed / refractory B-cell malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

• On June 11th, FATE announced that it had closed an underwritten public offering of 7,108,796 shares of its common stock, which included 927,324 shares that were issued pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, at a public offering price of $28.31 per share. Aggregate gross proceeds from this offering, including the exercise of the option, were approximately $201.3 million, prior to deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. 

• Shares of Neubase Therapeutics (NBSE) closed at $8.11/share up 2.14% today after reaching a new 52-week high recently of $11.78/share.

  • RBC Capital Markets recently initiated coverage of NBSE today with an Outperform, Speculative Risk rating & a $16 price target. 

  • As we have been stating, we are following Neubase Therapeutics (NBSE) for a number of reasons including its development of a modular antisense peptide nucleic acid (PNA) platform with the capability to address rare genetic disease caused by mutant proteins with a single, cohesive approach.

  • NBSE was added to the Russell 3000 recently.

• Shares of Aduro (ADRO) closed at $2.83/share today up 4.43% after touching $2.91%.

• • On June 2nd, Aduro Biotech, Inc.(ADRO) and Chinook Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of precision medicines for kidney diseases, today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Aduro will acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Chinook in exchange for shares of Aduro common stock representing approximately 50 percent of Aduro’s outstanding common stock immediately following completion of the transaction. The combined company is expected to have approximately $200 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities at closing, including $25 million in additional financing committed by Chinook’s existing investors. Following closing, which is expected to occur in the second half of 2020, Aduro will be renamed Chinook Therapeutics, Inc., and is expected to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “KDNY”.

• • Recently, ADRO announced that the first patient with IgA nephropathy has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial of BION-1301, an investigational humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibody that blocks APRIL binding to both the BCMA and TACI receptors. “We are thrilled to have dosed the first patient with IgA nephropathy in the Phase 1 clinical study of our investigational anti-APRIL antibody, BION-1301,” said Dimitry S.A. Nuyten, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of Aduro. “The data Aduro recently presented from Parts 1 and 2 of this study in healthy volunteers at the 57th ERA-EDTA Virtual Congress indicated BION-1301 was well-tolerated, had a half-life of approximately 33 days, achieved over 90% target engagement with a single 450 mg dose of BION-1301 and demonstrated dose-dependent and durable reductions in IgA and IgM levels, and to a lesser extent, IgG levels. We look forward to hopefully replicating this effect in addition to exploring BION-1301’s disease-modifying potential in patients with IgA nephropathy in Part 3 of the ongoing Phase 1 clinical study.”

• Shares of INVO Bioscience (INVO) closed at $3.72/share.

• • 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. 

• • Recently, a spotlight report was published by Birmingham, Alabama-based America Institute of Reproductive Medicine (AIRM) highlighting the success achieved in their practice utilizing INVOcell. INVO’s INVOcell® is the world’s only in vivo Intravaginal Culture System. “The AIRM clinic became an early adopter and advocate for the use of INVOcell shortly after we received FDA-clearance. We appreciate their willingness to share their story of that successful implementation of INVOcell within their clinical practice, which highlights important aspects of our INVOcell technology solution,” stated Steve Shum, CEO of INVO Bioscience. You can review the report here. 

• • I am expecting to see the company begin to push forward with new market supportive initiatives as they have recently been fueled up by financing that may result in further adoption in the US clinics and establishing new joint ventures, partners, and distributors throughout the world.

• • I would also expect to see updates on the INVO’s registration process and commercialization process in the 6 six countries that they signed agreements in during Q4 2019 as it was expected to take approximately 6 months to maneuver through the procedure and which could add incremental revenue in the back half of 2020.

• TransEnterix (TRXC) closed trading at $.3185/share up 4.56%.

• • TRXC is a medical device company that is digitizing the interface between the surgeon and the patient to improve minimally invasive surgery.

• • Last week, TRXC announced the closing of $15M registered direct common share offering at $.35/share.

• • The stock has already bounced once post the deal above the $.42 cent level and also swiftly came down from the dollar level prior to the deal. 

Economic Reports

• On Monday, we received the Treasury Budget which was confirmed to have experienced an $864.1B deficit for the month of June as tax the filing deadline had been extended to July 15th & COVID-19 shutdown stimulus measures pushed forward

Investing & Inspiration

”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” – PopeFrancis

“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

“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