Monday’s Markets Digest Pfizer’s Vaccine News – Energy, Financials & Russell 2000 Pops!

All indices jumped considerably today except for the tech heavy Nasdaq which dropped a significant 1.53%. The overall positive move in the markets came after investors received the amazing and unexpected news this morning that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (PFE) ($39.20, +7.7%) & BioNTech’s (BNTX) ($104.80, +13.9%) COVID-19 vaccine candidate was reported to be found to be >+90% effective in patients without evidence of prior infection. the news also suggested that they are apparently planning to request FDA emergency use authorization for later this month not to mention that the elections were over essentially reducing or eliminating another uncertainty.

The overall market’s move was led by the cyclicals where the energy sector shot up a 14.2% as oil prices closed at $40.31/bbl, +8.5% and the financials sector which jumped 8.2%. Many popular names also found on the Nasdaq & the consumer discretionary sector dropped -1.6% & information technology sector lost .7%.

The FAANGs enjoyed another great day ending as follows:  Apple (AAPL) ($116.32, -2%), Amazon (AMZN) ($3,143.74, -5.06%), Alphabet (GOOG) ($1,763, +.07%), Facebook (FB) ($278.77, -4.99%) & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $470.50/share ,-8.59%.  

One of the crown princes of equities in the tech sector during the coronavirus pandemic has been a company called Zoom Video Communications (ZOOM), dubbed  a”stay-at-home stock,” proceeded to drop a sizable 17.37% to close at $413.24/share today and the beaten down sectors of travel and entertainment notably moved higher.

The macroeconomic schedule did not produce anything of significance today. 

The indices closed as follows: S&P 500 closed at 3,550.50 (+1.17%) , the Dow 30 closed at 29,157.97 (+2.95%) as McDonald’s (MCD) closed at $213.22, -1.5% after beating beat Wall Street’s EPS estimates & the tech heavy Nasdaq closed at 11,713.78 (-1.53%). The small caps on the Russell 2000 outperformed all indices closing at 1,705.04 (+3.7%).

EV manufacturer Tesla (TSLA) closed at $421.26/share, -2.02% & Chinese EV concern NIO Limited (NIO) kept up its recently ridiculous momentum oriented ways as it closed at $44,02/share popping up another 5.74% after establishing yet another new all-time high of $45.29 today. Leading provider of zero emission hydrogen engines and fueling solutions, Plug Power (PLUG), closed $20.31/share up 7.69% after establishing a new 52-week high of $21.89/share after beating the street’s Q3 estimates. PLUGs move has been more than a double from this Fall’s Vista highlight after the company raised $300M at $10.25/share!

Precious metals dropped significantly today. Silver prices closed a US $ 24.10/oz down $1.52 & gold prices closed at US $1,863.22/oz down $88.67. North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) closed at $5.19/share (-7.16%). HL’s 52-week range is $1.40 – $6.79. Today, 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 $26.90/share down 6.82%. 

The 2-yr US treasury yield closed up 2 basis points at .18% while the 10-yr yield rose 11 basis point to end at .96%. The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened closing at 92.82. 

TOMORROW

Tomorrow’s macroeconomic calendar will deliver the JOLTS – Job Openings report.

WATCH LIST

• Atossa Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ATOS) closed at $1.37/share, -12.18%. 
  • 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, recently announced it has completed enrollment in its Phase 1 clinical study using Atossa’s proprietary drug candidate AT-301 administered by nasal spray. Steven Quay, M.D., Ph.D., Atossa’s President and CEO stated,  “Completing enrollment is a significant milestone and comes at a time when we are seeing a new wave if infections in certain geographies and an increased focus on developing therapies to treat COVID-19. While the virus presents significant danger overall, the vast majority of people testing positive for COVID-19 do not require hospitalization and instead quarantine at home while they manage their symptoms and attempt not to infect those around them. As there are no currently FDA-approved treatments to help these patients, we are developing AT-301 for at home use so that they can recover faster.”

• Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (FATE) closed at $50.69/share +4.99% today after establishing a new-alltime record high of $52.48/share today.
  • Fate is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders.

• • Last week, Fate reported business highlights and financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020. Scott Wolchko, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fate Therapeutics stated, “The clinical data across our iPSC product platform continue to solidify our conviction that multiple doses of iPSC-derived NK cells can be administered off-the-shelf in the outpatient setting, are well-tolerated, and can drive anti-tumor activity, including in combination with monoclonal antibody therapy. We have now expanded the scope of clinical investigation for FT516 to solid tumors as well as for FT596 to chronic lymphocytic leukemia after observing clinical activity in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma at the first dose level. In addition, we have initiated first-in-human investigation of the first-ever CRISPR-edited, iPSC-derived cell therapy FT538, which incorporates three engineered elements to enhance multiple mechanisms of innate immunity, in acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma.”

• Shares of INVO Bioscience (INVO) closed at $3.56/share on Friday, Nov. 6 and today opened trading post a 5-8 reverse stock split and closed at $5.75/share and current trading under the symbol INVOD as it prepares to qualify for a Nasdaq Uplisting. 
  • 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.

• • INVO recently announced that it has teamed up with Dr. Francisco Arredondo, MD, a respected and experienced board certified reproductive endocrinologist, and Dr. Ramiro Ramirez, MD, a physician and owner of several successful enterprises in Mexico, to establish a joint venture through its wholly-owned subsidiary INVO Centers, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“INVO Centers”), focusing on developing the Mexico market for INVOcell. The new jointly-owned operation, named Positib Fertility, S.A. de C.V. (“Positib Fertility”), is a Mexico registered company that will focus on establishing fertility centers dedicated to offering INVOcell, with the initial center to be located in the city of Monterrey, Mexico.

• Shares of NeuBase Therapeutics (NBSE) closed at $8.10/share, +3.32% after recently reaching a new 52-week high recently of $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. 

• Chinese EV concern NIO Limited (NIO) kept up its recently ridiculous momentum oriented ways as it closed at $44.02/share popping up another 5.74% after establishing yet another new all-time high of $45.29 today.

• Leading provider of zero emission hydrogen engines and fueling solutions, Plug Power (PLUG), closed $20.31/share up 7.69% after establishing a new 52-week high of $21.89/share after beating the street’s Q3 estimates. Thats more than a double from this Fall’s Vista highlight after the company raised $300M at $10.25/share!

Economic Reports

• On Monday we did not receive any significant reports.

Investing & Inspiration

“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