“SCWorx Scores With COVID-19 Order, FAANGs Jump, But Markets Drift Lower” – Vista’s Daily – April 13, 2020

A big story today came out of the COVID-19 testing market as SCWorx Corp. (WORX) whose shares closed at $12.02/share up a remarkable +424.89% as they announced that it had received a committed purchase order from Rethink My Healthcare, a U.S.-based virtual healthcare network, for two million COVID-19 Rapid Testing Units, with provision for additional weekly orders of 2 million units for 23 weeks, valued at $35M per week. Under the Order, SCWorx will supply Rethink My Healthcare with IgM/IgG Rapid Detection Kits. SCWorx anticipates receiving the first 2 million rapid detection kits within approximately two weeks. “Widespread testing for COVID-19 disease in the United States is absolutely critical for saving lives and reopening our economy. Our substantial purchase order from Rethink My Healthcare will significantly increase the availability of rapid-test kits in the United States. Additional purchase orders currently under negotiation with certain other parties could further increase the U.S. supply of these important tests in the near term” stated Marc Schessel, CEO of SCWorx.

Other big winners came from members of the beloved FAANG stocks. Amazon (AMZN) closed at $2,168.87/share, up by +6.17% as we all are ordering more online across the board & Netflix (NFLX) jumped +7.01% closing $396.72/share as video-streaming demand continues to spike during the COVID-19 crisis. Rounding out the results, Facebook (FB) closed at $174.79/share, off -.23%, Apple (AAPL) closed at $273.25/share adding +1.96%,  & Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1,217.56/share gaining .5%. 

As for the markets, they drifted lower accept for the Nasdaq which notched a small win. The S&P 500 closed down by -1.01% with the real estate sector leading the down day dropping -4.6%. The Dow closed lower by -1.39% with Dow component Caterpillar (CAT) closing at $114.14, off -8.7% after BofA/Merrill downgraded CAT to an Underperform.  The Nasdaq gained +.48% & the Russell 2000 lost -2.78%.

Oil prices tried to regain momentum today as Sunday produced an agreement between OPEC, Russia & other oil-producing nations to cut output by approximately 10% of global supply, however, it dropped -2% closing at $22.42/bbl as global growth concerns prevailed.  Dow 30 energy components had a great day as Chevron (CVX) closed at $84.91/share up +.71% and Exxon (XOM) closed at $42.76/share down .86%. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) closed at $15.33/share down by -.20%.

The 2-yr yield rose by 1 basis point to .23% & the 10-yr yield moved higher by 2 basis points to .75%. The U.S. Dollar Index weakened by .01% to 99.42.   

Gold prices closed higher at 1,730/oz & silver prices dropped to $15.54/oz.

We did not receive any significant economic reports today.

A few stocks in focus today:

Shares of Neubase Therapeutics (NBSE) rose to $8.57/share (an all-time new High) prior to closing at $8.48/share up +4.18% today. Neubase recently 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.” Investment banks BTIG, HCW, Oppenheimer & Guggenheim maintain analyst coverage with BUY ratings on NBSE that include a price target that ranges in a $13-$15/share target price range.

Shares of Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS) bumped up +4.05% today closing at $1.54/share. Recently, Steven Quay M.D., Ph.D., the founder, Chairman & CEO of Seattle-based Atossa was interviewed by Fox News before the market opened regarding his COVID-19 Hope Trial where he is seeking to study the use of two approved drugs to rapidly find a viable coronavirus treatment. Here’s the link to the interview in case you missed it earlier today: https://video.foxnews.com/v/6147410883001#sp=show-clips  Dr. Quay received his M.D. and Ph.D. from The University of Michigan, was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT with Nobel Laureate H. Gobind Khorana, a resident at the Harvard-MGH Hospital, and was on the faculty of Stanford University School of Medicine. His contributions to medicine have been cited over 9,600 times. He has founded six startups, invented seven FDA-approved pharmaceuticals, and holds 87 US patents. Over 80 million people have benefited from the medicines he invented. His current passion is the prevention of the two million yearly breast cancer cases worldwide.

Shares of North American silver and gold producer, Hecla Mining Company (HL),  closed up +10.48% at $2.32/share. Hecla recently announced actions taken in response to COVID-19, cash balances and preliminary silver and gold production results at the end of the first quarter. Learn more here.

Economic Reports

On Monday, we did receive any significant economic reports.

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:

• The March PPI
• The Core PPI
• The weekly Initial Claims
• The Continuing Claims
• The February Wholesale Inventories
• The preliminary reading of the Michigan Consumer Sentiment for April