Thursday’s Markets Pullback As Jobless Claims Fall – $CVS $INVO $ISIG Rise!

 

 

Well folks, the party that we were enjoying for the last 3 days felt as though it was a bit too good to be true, and so it proved to be as the markets pulled back today to close lower across the board. Even though we received more good news on the COVID-19 pandemic front today,  as Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) confirmed that their vaccine booster shots are now available to sixteen and seventeen year olds it was somewhat countered by the Senate’s passing of a resolution to repeal President Biden’s vaccine mandate. The markets also seemed a bit tired after its recent run (the S&P had rushed up by 3.6% this week) and investors received a couple of macroeconomic reports, which placed inflation worries and tomorrow’s CPI report back in view. Today, the jobless initial claims report for the week ending December 4 confirmed a fall by 43k to 184k, while continuing claims for the week ending November 27 rose by 38k to 1.992M. The Wholesale inventories report also confirmed a 2.3% rise M/M in October. The yield curve ticked lower as the 2-yr yield closed flat at .68% & the 10-yr yield fell 2 basis points to 1.49%. The US debt picture improved somewhat as the Senate managed to pass a ‘procedural bill’ that allows the debt ceiling to be increase one time only.  Gold prices fell $7 to closes at $1,776/oz. & silver closed at $21,98, -.47. Bitcoin (BTC) closed at $47,920.59, -5.15%. 

 

Overall, 9 of the 11 sectors closed in the red with the consumer discretionary, the information technology & real estate sectors north of 1% drops leading the way.  The major indices closed lower as follows: the S&P 500 closed at 4,667.45 (-.72%), the Dow 30 closed at 35,754.69 (-.00%), & the Nasdaq closed at 15,517.37 (-1.71%). The small caps on the Russell also took a sizable hit and  closed at 2,220.21 (-2.27%), while the micro caps moved down almost in lock step as the iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) closed at $139.89, -2.18% and liquidity dried up. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) a barometer of the smaller biotech stocks pulled back to close at $111.78, -4.21% after rebounding this week from the 52-wk low of $106.92 and off significantly from the 52-wk high of $174.79. 

 

 

Apple (AAPL) closed at $174.56, -.30%, but is still valued at $2.864T. Tesla (TSLA) closed at $1,003.80, -6.10% and is valued at $1.008T. The Walt Disney Company (DIS) closed at $152.94, -.26% and is valued at $277.993B. Today, Disney appointed Geoff Morrell, who heads communications at BP, to a new position focused on communications and public policy.

 

On the small side, Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to develop innovative proprietary medicines in oncology and infectious disease with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19, rose to an intraday high of $2.26 prior to closing at $2.11, -5.8%. Atossa management recently held a “A Town Hall Q&A Event With Atossa Therapeutics Management Team” via Tribe Public. You can view it clicking here. Atossa also announced earlier this week that it had completed a pre-investigational new drug (PIND) meeting with the FDA to obtain input from the FDA on pre-clinical, clinical, manufacturing and regulatory matters in the U.S. for Atossa’s proprietary Z-endoxifen to treat breast cancer in the neoadjuvant (prior to surgery) setting.

 

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FATE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for patients with cancer, announced that management will host a virtual event entitled “B -cell Lymphoma Franchise Update” on Tuesday, December 14, 2021 at 8:00 AM ET. The event will highlight interim Phase 1 clinical data from the Company’s FT516 and FT596 programs for the treatment of relapsed / refractory B-cell lymphomas. Shares of Fate closed at $53.25, -4.85%. 

 

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM), a leader in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of rare cannabinoids, closed at $1.54, -1.91% after hitting an intraday high of $1.64. Eric A. Adams, InMed President & CEO stated recently, “The first quarter of fiscal 2022 saw positive momentum across all of our programs. With the completion of the BayMedica Inc. (“BayMedica”) acquisition, our integrated teams are working together to identify rare cannabinoids in BayMedica’s pipeline for commercialization in the consumer health and wellness industry. For the duration of fiscal year 2022, we will be focused on growing revenues through the launch of these selected rare cannabinoids, in addition to expanding sales of BayMedica’s Prodiol® CBC (cannabichromene) and progressing our existing programs.”

 

INmune Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: INMB), a clinical-stage immunology company focused on developing treatments that harness the patient’s innate immune system to fight disease, today announced data to be presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium showing mucin 4 (MUC4) expression predicts worse survival and is a treatment resistance factor in women with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). INB03, a DN-TNF therapy, can reverse TNBC treatment resistance by decreasing expression of MUC4 and reducing immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment (TME) by increasing anti-tumor macrophage phagocytosis and increasing lymphocyte function in the TME. The poster will be presented by Dr. Roxana Schillaci, Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental, Buenos Aires, on December 10th. RJ. Tesi, M.D, Chief Executive Officer of INmune Bio, commented, “We are excited to have Dr. Schillaci present these data that expand on her previous findings on the role of MUC4 expression which predicts worse survival and resistance to therapy in HER2+ breast cancer therapy. Now, in both TNBC and HER2+ breast cancer, MUC4 predicts resistance to immunotherapy and an immunosuppressive TME that can be overcome with INB03.” Treatment with INB03 in murine models of breast cancer improves macrophage anti-tumor phagocytic activity, lymphocyte infiltration and function suggesting improved response to combination therapies of INB03 with inmunotherapy. Shares of INMB closed trading today at $12.40, -.96%. 

 

Shares of INVO Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: INVO), a medical device company focused on commercializing the world’s only in vivo culture system (IVC), INVOcell®, closed at $3.31, +3.12%. INVO announced last week that the Company has received approval by Medical Devices Control Division for FDA Thailand to import and commercialize INVOcell in Thailand. In April 2021, INVO Bioscience entered an exclusive distribution agreement with IVF Envimed Company Ltd. to distribute the INVOcell system within Thailand. Established in 1993, IVF Envimed Company Ltd. has established a wide network of clinics and hospitals across Thailand primarily focused on fertility solutions. IVF Envimed is a member of the ‘Thai Society of Reproductive Medicine’ which organizes congresses and educational programs where IVF Envimed participates. Shares of INVO closed at the high of the day at $3.25., +1.56%. Recently, Steve Shum CEO of INVO stated, “We continue to execute against our core mission of improving access to advanced fertility services for the many patients around the world through the use of the INVOcell solution. During the quarter, we achieved a significant milestone with the opening of our very first INVO Center, based in Birmingham, where we have commenced initial cycles. Further, we opened clinics in Atlanta, Georgia and Monterrey, Mexico to expand the INVO Center business model and we are working to open the San Francisco Bay Area clinic as soon as possible. We completed the acquisition of a Canadian-based entity that will be used to distribute the INVOcell in Canada and to develop INVO Centers in the region. With our INVO Center strategy now successfully underway, we are optimistic on the prospects for further expansion using this unique and innovative model. As part of a detailed review, we have initially identified more than 20 cities here in the U.S. that we believe have excellent characteristics in terms of demographics and level of current fertility care that would be ideal locations for an INVO Center. As an important development to our ability to expand the INVO Center model, we will regain full U.S. commercialization rights to INVOcell® from Ferring in early 2022, which removes certain limitations we had on expanding this business model in the U.S. Further, it allows us to resume direct sales to IVF clinics in our home territory and further expand our channel development plan. With our strong team of leaders highly experienced in commercializing advanced reproductive technologies, we are optimistic about our prospects as we pursue our multi-channel market expansion strategy. In addition to the opening of our INVO Center in Monterrey, Mexico, we continue to advance our international commercialization plans. Clinical validation of INVOcell® continues to grow with four poster abstracts presented at ASRM this year. We are excited about the recent developments to advance commercialization of the INVOcell® solution. We look forward to leveraging the recent success of our INVO Centers, particularly in the U.S. With a great team, board of directors, and key advisors in place, we believe we have laid a strong foundation to achieve our goal of democratizing advanced fertility treatment with the INVOCell® solution, which should lead to strong revenue growth going forward.”

 

Shares of NeuBase Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NBSE) a biotechnology platform company Drugging the Genome™ to address disease at the base level using a new class of precision genetic medicines, closed higher again today at $3.04, -3.80%, but has traded up to $3.45, +13.49%in the aftermarket. Dietrich A. Stephan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of NeuBase, presented in person a corporate overview at the Jefferies London Healthcare Conference recently.

 

FURTHER AFIELD

CVS Health (CVS) closed at $97.31, +4.52% after updating 2021 Adjusted EPS Guidance to at least $8.00 & Initiating 2022 Guidance for Adjusted EPS of $8.10 – $8.30 and GAAP EPS of $7.04 – $7.24. The confirmed that they will be returning capital to shareholders through a 10% dividend raise and a $10 Billion Share Repurchase Program. CVS also committed to the advancement of their Health Services and Primary Care Capabilities that is believed to augment performance in foundational businesses while creating new opportunities in high-growth markets.

Ford  (F, $19.57, -1.21%) has named Deere & Co. CEO John May to its board of directors.

Shares of Insignia Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISIG), which powered up +84% to close at $19.11, closed at $23.50, +22.97% as a short squeeze of sorts plays out.   On December 6, Insignia announced the commencement of a formal process to explore strategic options to maximize shareholder value. Potential strategic alternatives that may be evaluated include, but are not limited to, an acquisition, merger, business combination, in-licensing, or other strategic transaction. There can be no assurance that this process will result in any transaction. Insignia has not set a timetable for the completion of this review process and does not intend to comment further unless or until the Board of Directors has approved a definitive course of action or it is determined that other disclosure is appropriate. Chardan has been engaged to act as Insignia Systems’ strategic financial advisor to assist the Company in this review process.

TOMORROW

The macroeconomic schedule will deliver the Consumer Price Index report for November, the preliminary University of Michigan Index report of Consumer Sentiment for December, & the Treasury Budget report for November.