Nasdaq Hits Record High, Existing Home Sales Drop, & Coronavirus Cases Climb…

Overall the markets today finished in the green with the Nasdaq closing above 10k or 10,056.48, a new record high up 1.11%. The Nasdaq’s move came squarely on the backs of the highly weighted tech sector stocks as the information technology sector rose 1.9%. The FAANG stocks rose across the board as follows: Facebook (FB) closed at $239.22/share up .18%, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $2,713.82 up 1.45%,  Apple (AAPL) closed at $358.87/share up 2.62%, Netflix (NFLX) gained 3.16% closing at $468.04/share, & Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1,451/86/share up 1.41%. The S&P 500 closed up .65% at 3,117.86 with the health care sector falling back  .4% and the financials sector off .5% impeding an even greater move. The Dow gained .59% with the tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) closing at $200.57/share with an outsized gain of 2.8% & Nike (NKE) closing at $99.51/share jumping 3.9%.  The Russell 2000 gained 1.05%.

On a relatively somber note, the May existing home sales report confirmed a 9.7% month/month drop bringing us to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91M. However, with the reopening measures that are taking place, I would suspect that these numbers will likely rebound in June. Also, adding a little more cloudiness to the somewhat crystal blue market picture that was experienced today, was the widely reported recent rise in coronavirus cases here in the US and abroad. However, if you owned many of the players in the COVID treatment and vaccines development game,  then you probably did not worry quite so much as they did fairly well today. One of those players, Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS), closed at $3.65/share up 15.78% today on 2.94 million in trading volume after reaching an intraday new 52-week high of $4.2699/share (52-week low is $76/share,) as interest continues to swell around their breast cancer treatment programs and their COVID-19 drug candidates. Atossa, 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 recently that it has begun the development of a second COVID-19 program using its proprietary drug candidate AT-301, to be administered by nasal spray as is teaming with nasal spray specialist firm Summit Biosciences. AT-301 is Atossa’s proprietary formula intended for nasal administration in patients immediately following a diagnosis of COVID-19 but who have not yet exhibited symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization. Atossa confirmed that it is intended for at-home use to proactively reduce symptoms of COVID-19 and to slow the infection rate so that a person’s immune system can more effectively fight SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus). Atossa also intends to conduct testing to determine whether AT-301 can be used as a prophylaxis to prevent or mitigate SARS-CoV-2, with the goal that it could become a “bridge to the vaccine” and be useful in the next phase of the coronavirus pandemic. CEO of Atossa, Dr. Steven Quay, MD, Ph.D., author, and physician-scientist, recently announced the availability of his 158-page 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.

Gold closed at $1,761 (+10) & silver prices closed at $17.59/oz (-.49). North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) closed at $3.03/share up 6.32% while First Majestic Silver (AG) gained 5.68% closing at $9.12/share.

Oil prices moved higher by 2.2% closing above $40/bbl at $40.60 a mark it has not achieved since before the markets 2020 selloff. Energy leaders Chevron (CVX) closed at $91.59/share up 1.06%, Exxon (XOM) closed at $46.42/share up .96% & highly leveraged Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) closed at $19.91/share up 1.01% as it had somewhat of a mundane day for this volatile stock.

The 2-yr US treasury yield closed flat at .19% & the 10-yr yield added 1 basis point to close at .71%. The U.S. Dollar Index weakened by .6% to end at 97.09. 

MOVERS

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

• Shares of INVO Bioscience (ticker INVO, temporarily INVOD because of a recent reverse split) closed at $3.793/share today up 6.85%. INVO has made a number of moves to build out its organization recently while focusing its efforts to increase access to its INVOcell procedure, a revolutionary in vivo method of vaginal incubation that offers patients a more natural and intimate experience. Their lead product, the INVOcell, is a patented medical device used in infertility treatment and is considered an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). The INVOcell is the first Intravaginal Culture (IVC) system in the world used for the natural in vivo incubation of eggs and sperm during fertilization and early embryo development, as an alternative to traditional In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). Their mission is to increase access to care and expand fertility treatment across the globe with a goal to lower the cost of care and increase the availability of care. On May 26, the company reversed its outstanding share count 1-20 and now has ~7.8M shares with ~15% in the hands of insiders.  The shares are trading under the symbol INVOD until January 22 when it reverts back to INVO. Learn more about INVO by reading my interview: A Vista Partners Interview With Steve Shum CEO of INVO Bioscience Regarding Increasing Access To Care For Fertility Treatment.

• Shares of Fastly, Inc. (FSLY), a cloud platform company that enables customers to create great digital experiences quickly, securely and reliably by processing, serving, and securing their customers’ applications as close to their end-users as possible – “at the edge of the internet,” closed up 15.04% at $73.27/share.

• Shares of Virgin Galatic (SPCE) closed at $17.39 up 15.9% as it announced that it has partnered with NASA for a private orbital astronaut readiness program.

TOMORROW

Tomorrow’s significant economic data report schedule will provide the following:

• The New Home Sales report for May

WATCH LIST

• Shares of Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed at $33.10/share up 4.35%, & still below its recent 52-week high of $37.24, but up from its 52-week low of $12.59. On June 11th NBSE 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. Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (FATE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders. Are you still invested in Fate after meeting them via this newsletter and attending meetings over the last couple of years when it was in the $3-4 range?… Recently, Fate announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for FT538, the first CRISPR-edited, iPSC-derived cell therapy. FT538 is an off-the-shelf natural killer (NK) cell cancer immunotherapy that is derived from a clonal master induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line engineered with three functional components to enhance innate immunity: a novel high-affinity, non-cleavable CD16 (hnCD16) Fc receptor; an IL-15/IL-15 receptor fusion (IL-15RF); and the elimination of CD38 expression. The Company plans to initiate a clinical investigation of three once-weekly doses of FT538 as monotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and in combination with daratumumab, a CD38-directed monoclonal antibody therapy, for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

• Shares of Neubase Therapeutics (NBSE) fell 6.25% today to close at $10.20/share after recently achieving a new all-time high of at $11.78/share prior to closing at $11.51/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,  but it also because it is being added to a Russell index this month. NBSE is now listed on the reconstitution list for the Russell 3000 index now as you can view here. Here are a couple of dates to consider regarding the process:

• • • June 26 – Russell Reconstitution is final after the close of the US equity markets.
    • June 29 – equity markets open with the newly reconstituted Russell US Indexes.

• Shares of Stereotaxis, Inc. (STXS) closed at $5.17/share down 5.48% after hitting an intraday high of $5.58/share. The 52-week range is $1.70 – $5.82/share. The global leader in innovative robotic technologies for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias continues to gain traction after their webcast symposium was held this weekend where they held a live broadcast of their bi-directional TeleRobotic procedures with physicians navigating catheters from hospitals more than 1700 km apart. They are to be added to the Rusell 2000 and the Russell 3000 indexes this month and will be presenting at the Cowen 5th Annual FutureHealth Conference on Tursday, June 25th at 10:15 pm eastern.

• Shares of Aduro (ADRO) closed at $2.33/share down 2.10% today. 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”.

Economic Reports

• On Monday, we received the May existing home sales report which confirmed a 9.7% month/month drop bringing us to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91M.

Investing & Inspiration

“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