Monday’s Markets Provide A Wild Ride As A New Corona Strain + Lockdowns Progress

As the world further digested to the idea and reality that a new strain of the coronavirus that can spread a whopping 70% faster is now growing in the UK and may come to visit the rest of us sometime soon, the markets in turn took a wild ride today. It fact it dipped as much as a 2% out of the gate and things looked bleak but then fond a way to recover for the most part for the balance of the trading session.

On the bright side of things, at least in the US, it appears that our politicians have stopped squabbling and positioning for a few minutes and are now moving forward with a ~+900B stimulus package. So expect some form of check in your mailboxes soon after the Christmas holidays.  We are also seeing further distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine this week but lockdown procedures are increasing.

The Dow 30 closed at 30,216.45 (+.12%) with two components making nice moves as Microsoft (MSFT) closed at $222.59,+1.8% & Nike (NKE) $144.02, +4.9%. The small caps on the Russell 2000 closed in the green at 1,970.33 (+.02%). The S&P 500 also moved up through the day after its 2% dip in early trading but closed at 3,694.92 (-.39%). The financials sector rose +1.2% to lead all sectors & the information technology sector bumped up +.1%. On the downside, the energy sector dropped -1.8% as oil prices closed $47.79/bbl,  -2.6% with further growth concerns entering the markets psyche. The other losers included:  the utilities sector,- 1.3%, the consumer staples sector, -1.1%, & the health care sector, -1.0%. The Nasdaq closed ticked lower today at 12,742.52 (-.10%).

PLEASE JOIN ME TOMORROW

Tomorrow, I will be hosting a FREE Tribe Public Presentation & Q&A Event with the CEO & Founder of NeuBase Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NBSE), Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D., an industry veteran who is considered one of the fathers of the field of precision medicine, next Tuesday, Dec. 22nd (8:30am PT / 11:30am ET). The presentation is titled “Accelerating the Genetic Revolution with a New Class of Synthetic Medicines.” You can register now at NeuBase22.TribePublic.com to join me for this limited seating event. 

FAANGS, EV, PLUG, Etc.

The heavily weighted & popular FAANGs ended mostly in the green today as follows: Apple (AAPL) ($128.23, +1.24%) as it announced that it is targeting 2024 for an autonomous car for consumers, Amazon (AMZN) ($3,206.18, +.14%), Alphabet (GOOG) ($1,739.37, +.48%), Facebook (FB) ($272.79, -1.31%) & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $528.91/share, -1.04%. 

Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) closed at $649.86/share, -6.49%. Chinese EV concern NIO Limited (NIO) closed at $48.95/share, +4.77%.  

Leading provider of hydrogen engines and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility, Plug Power (PLUG), closed at $32.37/share, +2.36%. Last week, PLUG announced that is expanding is relationship with Walmart (WMT). 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 $41.76/share, -1.76%. In Q3, Jumia’s total payment volume on their JumiaPay was up 50%Y/Y.

fuboTV Inc. (FUBO), a media streaming network, closed at $49.48/share up a whopping 26.06% today after establishing a new all-time high of $51.64. The CEO appeared on CNBC and the company reported that it’s examine sports content deals. The stock has moved up from a 52-wk low of $5. 

GOLD, SILVER, & NUCLEAR

 Silver prices closed a US $26.38/oz, +.45 & gold prices closed at US $1,881/oz, -3.

North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) closed at $6.22/share (+1.97%). 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 $23.02/share, -1.07%.

MONEY

The 2-yr treasury yield closed at .12% while the 10-yr yield closed at .94%. The U.S. Dollar Index stregthened  today closing at 90.17. 

TODAY’S MACRO

Nothing was reported today!

TOMORROW’S MACRO

The Macro schedule will deliver the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index report for December, the Existing Home Sales report for November, & the third estimate for Q3 GDP.

WATCH LIST

• Shares of Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS) closed at $.86/share up 1.22% on 4.42 Million shares of trading volume after recently announcing that they received  $37M gross proceeds between two equity raises over the last couple of weeks.
  •  Atossa is 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.

• • Atossa recently announced blinded preliminary results from its Phase 1 clinical study using Atossa’s proprietary drug candidate AT-301 administered by nasal spray. AT-301 was found to be safe and well tolerated in this study at two different dose levels in both single and multiple dose forms over 14 days. AT-301 is being developed for at home use for patients recently diagnosed with COVID-19. There are currently no FDA-approved therapies to treat COVID-19 at home. 

• Shares of INVO Bioscience (INVO) closed trading at $3.09/share.
  • 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.

• • Last week, Colliers International Securities analyst Kyle Bauser, Ph.D. initiated coverage on INVO with a BUY rating and a $5 Target Price. His report is titled “A More Affordable Option Than Traditional In-Vitro Fertilization.” You can contact him at kyle.bauser@colliers.com.

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

Economic Reports

• On Monday, no reports came forward.

Investing & Inspiration

“It amazes me how people are often more willing to act based on little or no data than to use data that is a challenge to assemble.” ― Robert Shiller

“A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends.” — Barton Biggs

“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