“Reopening Moves” Empower Markets

We now have more than 3,055,651 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world & more than 211,065 worldwide deaths while the US has 1,004,942 confirmed cases with 56,527 deaths and counting and we still do not have a reliable treatment or vaccine. Nevertheless, we now have nine states, not to mention Italy, Spain, and other countries, which are “reopening” and the market is liking it. Many more states are getting restless. as well, as they are sending smoke signals that they may be jumping the containment ranks with them soon. Hopefully, they are all making the right moves, and our respective communities, economies, and earnings for companies that many of us work for and/or are invested in will progress. Finally, I wish for the good of us all that we will discover a treatment for COVID-19 and gain a considerably more and consistent understanding of our plight and the death tolls subside.

At the end of the day today, the S&P 500 closed up by +1.47% as financials were up +3.6% & materials were up +2.6% as these sectors led the way.  The Dow added +1.51% as Caterpillar (CAT) closed at $115.20/share up +1%, the Nasdaq gained +1.11% & the Russell 2000 jumped +3.96% doing its best to play catch up as the “smalls” had trailed during the recent large-cap rally. With the strength of the risk assets today the US treasury yields rose. The 2-yr US treasury yield rose by 3 basis points to .23% & the 10-yr yield added 6 basis points to end at .66%. The U.S. Dollar Index weakened by -.3% to end at 100.07. 

Alternatively, the popular FAANG stocks ended mostly off as follows: Facebook (FB) closed at $187.50/share, down by -1.35%, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $2,376/share, down by -1.42%,  Apple (AAPL) closed at $283.17/share bumping up +.07% as it looks to report on Thursday after news that they would be delaying 5G iPhone production for a month, Netflix (NFLX) decreased by -.85% closing $421.38/share, & Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1,278.88/share down by -.27%. 

Oil prices also dropped significantly today falling -23.8% as it closed at $12.97/bbl. A few of the major energy producers closed up despite the drop. Chevron (CVX) closed at $89.71/share up +3.1%, Exxon (XOM) closed at $43.94/share up +.48% & Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) closed at $14.15/share up +2.46% while the energy sector rose +2.1%.

Gold prices ended lower today at $1,720/oz (-15) while silver prices closed at $15.39/oz (-.13). North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) added +1.21% to end the day at $2.50/share.

MOVERS TODAY

Shares of Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (AXSM) rose +24.35% today closing at $95/share after establishing an all-time high of $109.53. Axsome is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for the management of central nervous system (CNS) disorders that announced that AXS-05, a novel, oral, investigational NMDA receptor antagonist with multimodal activity, met the primary endpoint in the ADVANCE-1 Phase 2/3 trial and rapidly, substantially, and significantly improved agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease as compared to placebo. The ADVANCE-1 (Addressing Dementia via Agitation-Centered Evaluation) study was a randomized, double-blind, controlled, multicenter, U.S. trial, in which 366 Alzheimer’s disease patients were randomized to treatment with AXS-05 (dextromethorphan/bupropion modulated delivery tablet, dose-escalated to 45 mg/105 mg twice daily), bupropion (dose-escalated to 105 mg twice daily), or matching placebo, for 5 weeks. There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for Alzheimer’s disease agitation.

Today, Seattle-based Atossa Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ATOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need, announced that it has contracted with NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan in New York City to conduct the NY HOPE Study of Atossa’s proprietary combination drug therapy called AT-H201. The NY HOPE Study will evaluate AT-H201 in COVID-19 patients on ventilators with the goal of reducing the amount of time on ventilators. The NY HOPE Study is currently pending IRB approval and will not commence without IRB and all necessary regulatory approvals, including FDA. Atossa has filed comprehensive provisional patent applications related to AT-H201. The NY HOPE Study will assess the safety and efficacy of AT-H201 administered via inhalation in COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation support. Subject to FDA and IRB input, the study is currently designed as follows: Thirty-nine patients will be enrolled in the active treatment group and compared to the outcomes of 66 patients in a matched retrospective control group. Patients will be dosed with AT-H201 each day in addition to the standard of care, while on mechanical ventilation for up to seven days and will be followed up during hospitalization and for 28 days after discharge. The primary objectives are to determine the number of ventilator-free days after patients are removed from ventilators following the initial airway intervention; oxygenation levels; and survival rates. Secondary efficacy endpoints include a variety of lung function parameters and time in ICU. Secondary safety endpoints include markers of coagulation and system function. Atossa’s shares have been on an upward trend lately after touching a low of $.76/share during the recent market selloff. Recently shares spiked to an intraday high of $3.11/share. Today ATOS shares closed trading at $2.28/share up +4.59% and hit an intraday high of $2.47. I would expect the company to release more clarity and further updates on the progress of the trial opportunity in the near term as I would hope that it would be expedited trial during the COVID-19 crisis.  Maxim Group’s Sell-side Biotech Analyst Jason McCarthy issued an update report today on Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATOS) titled “Taking AT-H201 Trial Straight to the Hardest Hit Patients in the Hardest Hit Area, New York.” He maintains a Buy Rating with a $4/share 12-month price target. View Maxim’s report here.

LATE IN THE DAY

NeuBase Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBSE), a preclinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation therapies to treat rare genetic diseases caused by mutant genes, announced today that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of shares of common stock. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed or as to the actual size or terms of the offering. In addition, the Company intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares of common stock sold in the public offering on the same terms and conditions. All of the shares of common stock in the offering will be sold by NeuBase. Oppenheimer & Co. and BTIG are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering, and National Securities Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NHLD) is acting as co-manager. NeuBase intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes and to advance the development of its product candidates and expand its pipeline. Shares of NBSE closed $8.17/share up +5.69%. If there is weakness in the shares tomorrow morining it may make an interesting bounce play at least assuming the deal is prices lower and significant capital is added to the balance sheet. Recently, Neubase announced positive preclinical data from its pharmacokinetics studies in non-human primates (“NHPs”) and in vitro pharmacodynamics data in patient-derived cell lines. NeuBase believes these data validate the key advantages of the proprietary NeuBase peptide-nucleic acid (“PNA”) antisense oligonucleotide (PATrOL™) platform and support the Company’s decision to advance the development of its Huntington’s disease (“HD”) and myotonic dystrophy type 1 (“DM1”) programs, as well as the potential expansion of its therapeutic pipeline into other indications. Dr. George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and member of the National Academy of Sciences, stated, “Given the activity and broad biodistribution observed in these studies and the potential for easier target definition, I believe the PATrOL™ technology may have a potent impact on the future of drug development and treatment of genetic diseases.”

TOMORROW

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

• The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for April
• The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for February
• The Advance March reports for International Trade in Goods, Retail Inventories, & Wholesale Inventories

Economic Reports

• On Monday, we did receive any significant economic reports.
• On Tuesday, we received the existing home sales report which confirmed a drop by -8.5% month/month in March while total sales increased by +.8% year-over-year.
• On Wednesday, a couple of economic reports surfaced today. The FHFA Housing Price Index for April confirmed a move higher by +.7% & the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index confirmed a drop by -.3%.
• On Thursday, we received the initial claims report for the week ending April 18 which confirmed a decline by 810k to 4.427M, while continuing claims for the week ending April 11 rose a record to 15.976M. We also learned that new home sales declined by  15.4% month/month in March and on a year/year basis it was down by 9.5%

Investing & Inspiration

“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

Tomorrow

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

• • Durable Goods Orders for March
  • The revised University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for April