Nasdaq, Alphabet, Aclaris Therapeutics & PLUG Power Solidly Outpace The Markets On Tuesday

It was on overall solid day in the markets during the first trading day of this MLK holiday shortened trading week where all indices end in the green. Outpacing the group, the Nasdaq closed at 13,197.18 (+1.53%) & the little guys on the Russell 2000 closed at 2,151.14 (+1.32%). The S&P 500 closed at 3,798.91 (+.81%) & the Dow 30 closed at 30,930.52 (+.38%) as the energy sector led the way with an outweighed +2.1% move. Oil helped power the move in the energy sector as it rose 1.3% to end at $52.96/bbl while industry leaders including Chevron (CVX) closed at $94.51, +2.63%, Exxon Mobil (XOM) closed at $48.84, +1.98%, & highly leveraged Occidental Petroleum (OXY) closed at $23.07/share, +3.04%.

MACRO, JANET & JOE’S STIMULUS

Nothing of substance was reported today from the macro schedule, but tomorrow’s macroeconomic docket includes the MBA Mortgage Applications Index report & the NAHB Housing Market Index report for January.

However, today we heard from Treasury Secretary nominee and former Fed boss Janet Yellen where she stated it was time for congress to “act big” thus further aiding investors belief that President-elect Joe Biden’s recently introduced $1.9T stimulus package could & should have a chance to move forward and she was in support of it. Another interesting tidbit that she shared was that Biden will not be repealing the 2017 tax law prior until the economy is clearly back on the rails.

JOE’s VACCINE PLAN

Biden announced his COVID-19 vaccine distribution “5 point” plan was reveled today and seems to have promise and/or taking a step or steps in the right direction including releasing the “vast majority” of vaccine supply that has been held back by the Trump administration. Here’s the link. 

TECH HIGHLIGHTS

The heavily weighted & popular FAANG’s ended in positive territory across the board with Alphabet & Facebook leading the way today as follows: Apple (AAPL) shares closed at $127.83, +.54%,  Amazon (AMZN) ($3,120.76, +.53%), Alphabet (GOOG) ($1,790.86, +3.15%), Facebook (FB) closed at $261.10, +3.87%, & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $501.77/share, +.76%. 

EV makers Tesla (TSLA) closed at $844.55, +2.23% & Chinese EV concern NIO Limited (NIO) closed at $58.44/share, +3.86%.

Grapevine, TX based GameStop Corp. (GME) closed at $39.36, +10.87%. GameStop reported on Jan. 11, 2021 that worldwide sales results for the nine-week holiday period ended January 2, 2021 reflecting a 4.8% increase in comparable store sales and a 309% increase in E-Commerce sales. The same day they also appointed three new directors, Alan Attal, Ryan Cohen and Jim Grube, who bring significant e-Commerce and technology experience. GameStop is a Fortune 500 company and is a digital-first omni-channel retailer, offering games and entertainment products in its over 5,000 stores and comprehensive E-Commerce properties across 10 countries.

San Francisco based Skillz Inc. (SKLZ), which develops and operates an e-sports platform that connects and hosts mobile games and mobile e-sports tournaments through competitions in the United States and internationally, closed at $28.67, +7.8%.

BIOTECH STOCKS JUMP

iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF jumped 1.93% today as it seems that all was biotech was moving north. A standout performance today came from, Wayne-PA’s Aclaris Therapeutics Inc. (ACRS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drug candidates for immuno-inflammatory diseases, which had a magnificent day closing at $18.83/share up a staggering 220.24% after reaching a new all-time high of $19.95/share. The move came post Aclaris’s announcemnt of their positive preliminary topline results from a 12-week, Phase 2a, multicenter, randomized, investigator and patient-blind, sponsor-unblinded, parallel group, placebo-controlled clinical trial to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ATI-450, an investigational oral MK2 inhibitor, in subjects with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (ATI-450-RA-201). ATI-450 was developed internally utilizing Aclaris’ proprietary KINect™ drug discovery platform. Got to love the world of biotechnology and investing in it on days like this!

GOLD & SILVER

Silver closed closed down at $25.28/oz, +.25 and gold closed at 1,841, +4.

North American Silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) closed at $5.38/share, +1.32%. HL’s 52-week range is $1.4 – $7.06. Last week, Hecla announced its preliminary silver and gold production for the fourth quarter and full year 2020 and year-end cash position and highlighted the following: Silver production of 13.5 million ounces, an increase of 7%, second highest production only to 2016, Gold production of 208,962 ounces, expected lower gold production from the Nevada operation decreased production 23% from 2019, which was Hecla’s highest gold production, Zinc and lead production increased 7% and 41%, respectively, due to the ramp up of the Lucky Friday Mine, Silver equivalent production of 40.7 million ounces and gold equivalent production of 471,413 ounces, Year-end cash position of $131 million with the credit facility undrawn, Net debt reduction of approximately $75 million, or 16%, from March 31, 2020.3, All injury frequency rate (AIFR) of 1.22 for 2020, lowest in the Company’s history and a reduction of 24% over 2019. Hecla’s President and CEO, Phillips S. Baker, Jr. stated, “Despite the challenges of operating during the pandemic, 2020 marked a year of very strong operational performance with silver production significantly exceeding guidance. Our U.S. silver production was 15% higher than the year before and more than 50% higher than 2018, strengthening our position as the United States largest silver producer. The strong performance allowed Hecla to reduce net debt, increase dividends, and double exploration expenditures while more than doubling last year’s cash position. At current prices, we could repeat these results in 2021.”

VP WATCH LIST HIGHLIGHTS

• Shares of Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS) closed at $1.41/share, +12.8% and traded 17.10 Million shares after having raised $62.2M in gross proceeds between three equity raises affording the company a significant development runway and many more options to be considering.

• • 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.  

• • Atossa is seeking in the near term to get an FDA nod to move into a Phase 2 trial with its nasal spray COVID-19 therapy.

• Natural-Killer cell (NKcell) focused biopharmaceutical firm Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed at $114.31/share, +.63% today after establishing a new all-time high of  $121.16. Recently, they announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of ~$432 million. Jefferies, BofA Securities, SVB Leerink and Barclays acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.

  • We started with Fate over 3 years ago when it was in the $3 range. Fate’s 52-wk range is $16.75- $103.86. 

  • Recently, Fate presented a patient case study from the Company’s Phase 1 clinical trial of FT596, its universal, off-the-shelf, CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell product candidate, at the 62nd Annual Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition and the street loved it. NK cells are the body’s first line of defense against viral infections and cancerous cells with an innate ability to rapidly seek and destroy transformed cells. NK cell therapy has the potential to 1) target multiple pathogenic antigens with measurably more efficient cytotoxicity, 2) be better controlled to reduce risk of cytokine storms and 3) be produced from a variety of sources without relying on patient-specific immune cells. Dr. Wayne Chu, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development of Fate Therapeutics stated, “The safety, pharmacokinetics and clinical activity observed following both the first and second single-dose treatment cycles of FT596 are compelling, especially when considering that the administered cell dose was significantly lower than the recommended cell dose of FDA-approved autologous CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapies and that the heavily pre-treated patient was refractory to last prior therapy. We are excited the CAR component of FT596 has shown clinical activity at this low dose level, and we continue to enroll patients in dose escalation with FT596 as a monotherapy and in combination with rituximab.”

• Shares of INVO Bioscience (NASDAQ: INVO) closed at $3.14/share, +3.29%. Last week, INVO announced it has entered an exclusive distribution agreement with Galaxy Pharma Ltd. to distribute the INVOcell system within Pakistan. Galaxy Pharma is a leader in providing products and services to the country’s current full-service In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) facilities, and has joint ventures operating an additional 21 facilities focused on administering Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) via OBGYN’s.

• • 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’s Management Issued a letter to shareholders recently that spoke to their key developments and future initiatives that have positioned their product INVOcell® within the severely underserved fertility market. PLEASE READ IT HERE.

• • INVO received BUY Ratings from both Roth Capital ($5 PT) & Collier International Securities ( $5.75 PT) in December, 2020.  

• • 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. 

• Shares of next generation of gene silencing therapies firm NeuBase Therapeutics (NBSE) closed trading at $7.33, +1.95%.

• • 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.

• • Recently, I hosted a FREE Presentation & Q&A Event for our sister organization Tribe Public with the CEO & Founder of NeuBase Therapeutics, Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D., an industry veteran who is considered one of the fathers of the field of precision medicine. The presentation is titled “Accelerating the Genetic Revolution with a New Class of Synthetic Medicines.” You can view the recording at the Tribe Public Channel. 

• • We expect to see the company to announce an update on its work in Huntington’s Disease and also sign a corporate deal of some kind prior to the end of April 2021 based on recent conversations & expectations of management.

• Leading provider of hydrogen engines and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility, Plug Power (PLUG), closed at $66.47/share, +10.536 and off of its recent new all-time high of $73.90 up from its 52-wk low of $2.53.
  • Last week, PLUG announced that they are jointly developing hydrogen-powered light commercial vehicles (LCV) with French carmaker Renault.

• • Recently, Plug and the SK Group also announced that the companies intend to form a strategic partnership to accelerate hydrogen as an alternative energy source in Asian markets. SK Group will make a $1.5 billion (9.9% stake) strategic investment in Plug Power.

• • Recently, PLUG announced that is expanding is relationship with Walmart (WMT) & 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 which brought their capital to the $1.7B range but when you add in the $1.5B announced today that is ~3.2B!

Please review our complete VP Watchlist that includes nine highlighted companies. The pages will allow you to learn more and keep up with these companies daily. 

Also, please make sure that you check out the interesting quotes and selected videos that we have highlighted below. 

Economic Reports

• Nothing hit the tape on Monday.

Investing & Inspiration

“Investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.” Anonymous

“Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.” — Peter Lynch

“Wise spending is part of wise investing. And it’s never too late to start.” –Rhonda Katz

“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