Thursday’s Markets Retreat Post Fed’s Induced Surge – $F $PFE $ROKU $T Rise!

 

 

 

The stock markets pulled back across the board as growth stock issues within the information tech and consumer discretionary sectors took nearly a 3 point hit each and just one day after a Fed induced surge. 8 of the 11 sectors finished the day in the red with only the financial, materials and energy sectors moving higher. The energy sector’s strength came once again from oil prices, which rose to $72.36/bbl, +2.1% on the day. The yield curve edged lower and steepened where the 2-yr yield moved down 6 basis points to .61% & the 10-yr yield moved down 5 basis points to 1.42%.

 

The macroeconomic schedule also produced the Housing starts report for November that confirmed a 11.8% rise M/M to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.679M units & building permits increased by 3.6% to 1.712M. The Initial jobless claims report for the week ending December 11 rose by 18k to 206k & continuing claims for the week ending December 4 fell by 154k to 1.845M. The Total industrial production report confirmed a rise by .5% in November, while the capacity utilization rate moved up to 76.8%. The Philadelphia Fed Index for December fell to 15.4. The preliminary IHS Markit Services PMI fell to 57.5 & the preliminary IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI dropped to 57.8.

 

In turn, the major indices closed lower as follows: the S&P 500 closed at 4,668.67 (-.87%), the Dow 30 closed at 35,897.64 (-.08%), & the Nasdaq closed at 15,180.44 (-2.47%). The small caps on the Russell also closed lower at 2,152.46 (-1.95%), while the micro caps moved lower in virtual lock step as the iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) closed at $134.521, -1.67%.  The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), a barometer of the smaller biotech stocks, retraced in positive +4% step up yesterday to close at $110.34. The 52-wk range is $106.88 – $174.79. 

 

The U.S. Dollar Index moved lower .6% to 95.98, gold prices rose $19 to close at $1,799/oz., silver closed at $22.47, +$.38, & Bitcoin (BTC) closed at $47,574.21, -2.46%.

 

 

 

 

Apple (AAPL) closed at $172.26, -3.93%. Tesla (TSLA) closed at $926.9, -5.03%. Ford closed at $20.35, +.79%. Today, Ford Pro™ announced the launch of Ford Pro Charging, a comprehensive solution for commercial electric vehicle charging. While more commercial customers want to switch to electric vehicles to reduce maintenance costs, minimize emissions and drive down total cost of ownership*, the transition from all internal combustion-powered fleets can be complex. Ford Pro Charging will help ease this transition by delivering intuitive software and commercial hardware infrastructure to support charging and energy management.   The Walt Disney Company (DIS) closed at $148.75, -1.10% and is valued at $273.376B. This week, Disney announced that he annual meeting of shareholders of The Walt Disney Company  will be held on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT by virtual meeting and will be made available via webcast at www.disney.com/investors.

 

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 $2.02 prior to closing at $1.90, -3.55% on 2.374M shares of trading volume. Physician-Scientist and CEO of Atossa, Steven Quay, MD, PhD, has published an e-print on his research into a new coronavirus, named BANAL-236, reported by the Institut Pasteur in September 2021. At the time, BANAL-236 was the first bat coronavirus with high homology to SARS-CoV-2 that could directly infect human cells using the same receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses. The new research reports that BANAL-236 has evolved the ability to infect human cells by an unknown mechanism that violates over 40 years of coronavirus research. The COVID-19 e-print is available here and has also been submitted to Nature. “When I read the paper from the Institut Pasteur and looked at the virus, I immediately assumed there was an error in either the way the sequence was assembled or a mix up in the lab with another virus to explain the infectivity,” Quay said. “I contacted the Institut Pasteur with my findings and was deeply disturbed to learn that there was not, in fact, some simple mistake had occurred to explain things. I now knew we were in uncharted waters with a virus that is missing eight key elements that have been shown, over 40 years of research, to be required for growth.” Atossa management also recently presented at  “A Town Hall Q&A Event With Atossa Therapeutics Management Team” with Tribe Public. You can view it clicking here. Atossa also announced recently 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.

 

On Monday, Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FATE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for patients with cancer, showcased positive interim Phase 1 data from the Company’s FT596 program for patients with relapsed / refractory B-cell lymphoma (BCL) at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. FT596 is the Company’s off-the-shelf, multi-antigen targeted, iPSC-derived natural killer (NK) cell product candidate derived from a clonal master induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line engineered with three anti-tumor functional modalities: a proprietary chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) optimized for NK cell biology that targets B-cell antigen CD19; a novel high-affinity, non-cleavable CD16 (hnCD16) Fc receptor that has been modified to prevent its down-regulation and to enhance its binding to tumor-targeting antibodies; and an IL-15 receptor fusion (IL-15RF) that augments NK cell activity. “The interim dose-escalation clinical data from our FT596 program in relapsed / refractory B-cell lymphoma demonstrate that off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived CAR NK cells can bring substantial therapeutic benefit to heavily pre-treated patients in urgent need of therapy, with high response rates and meaningful duration of responses,” said Scott Wolchko, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fate Therapeutics. “We are particularly pleased with the therapeutic profile that has emerged with FT596 in combination with rituximab, where over half of the patients treated with a single dose of FT596 at higher dose levels achieved a complete response with a favorable safety profile that is clearly differentiated from CAR T-cell therapy. We look forward to assessing a two-dose treatment schedule for FT596 to further define its potential best-in-class therapeutic profile and ability to reach more patients, including those earlier in care.” Shares of FATE closed at $51.63, -5.56%. 

 

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM), a leader in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of rare cannabinoids, closed at $1.44, -1.37% after hitting an intraday high of $1.54. 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, recently presented data 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 $1o.25, -6.31%. 

 

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 $3.71, -.81% after hitting an intraday high of $3.89, but well off of its 52-wk high of $12.30. A sell side analyst at Colliers Securities recently published a Buy rating with a $6 Price Target. Today, INVO Bioscience, Inc. announced that it has entered into an expanded agreement with Ovoclinic, a group of clinics specialized in assisted reproductive treatments with four locations across Spain (Madrid, Marbella, Málaga, Ceuta) and collaborating centers around Europe, to accelerate adoption of INVOcell within their markets. The agreement includes the expanded adoption of INVOcell within Ovoclinic locations as well as establishing an INVO Center of Excellence for future training for the European Market. Cristina Gonzalez, embryologist and Quality Manager of Ovoclinic laboratories stated, “After several successful trials implementing the exciting INVOcell fertility treatment, Ovoclinic aims to provide its patients with this effective alternative to the processes used so far in Spain in the field of reproductive medicine. We consider INVOcell to be an effective method of natural reproduction that involves the future mother at the very first moment of the process. We are confident that this innovative treatment will help many patients to choose this new alternative solution to achieve their dream of forming a family by actively participating in the reproductive process.” According to the World Bank, Spain, with total population of approximately 47 million people, has one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe, affecting approximately 15% of the population, or one in seven couples of reproductive ages. According to reports, in 2010, there were approximately one million couples requesting assisted reproductive treatment, however only 22% received one or more assisted reproductive treatment cycles. The average waiting time for an IUI or IVF cycle in a public health facility was 339 days. Ovoclinic reports that they maintain the best technical and human resources to deal with all kinds of infertility problems along with the simplest and most natural treatments to the most complex and advanced techniques pioneered in Spain. Ovoclinic also works in partnership with Ovobank, the first European Donor Egg Bank in Europe.

 

 

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  at $2.60, -8.77%. Dietrich A. Stephan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of NeuBase, presented in person at the Jefferies London Healthcare Conference recently.

 

FURTHER AFIELD

The board of directors of AT&T Inc. (T, $23.71, +6.95%) today declared a quarterly dividend of $.52 a share on the company’s common shares. The board of directors also declared quarterly dividends on the company’s 5.000% Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A and the company’s 4.750% Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series C. The Series A dividend is $312.50 per preferred share, or $0.3125 per depositary share. The Series C dividend is $296.875 per preferred share, or $0.296875 per depositary share. All dividends are payable on February 1, 2022, to stockholders of record of the respective shares at the close of business on January 10, 2022.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE, $61.25, +4.17%) announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued advice on the use of PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir [PF-07321332] tablets and ritonavir tablets), stating that PAXLOVID can be used to treat adults with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe disease. The CHMP also recommend that PAXLOVID should be administered as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of the start of symptoms. The EMA issued this advice under Article 5(3) of Regulation 726/2004 to support authorities of European Union (EU) Member States who may decide to allow the supply and use of PAXLOVID, for example in emergency use settings, prior to EU conditional marketing authorization. PAXLOVID is currently not authorized for use in the EU.

Rivian Automotive, Inc. (RIVN, $108.87, -5.33%) today published a letter to its shareholders containing the company’s third quarter 2021 results. The letter is available on its investor relations website (https://rivian.com/investors).

Roku (ROKU, $219.01, +7.39%) recently announced that it is establishing and investing in an office in the city of Amsterdam. Roku plans to expand its existing presence in The Netherlands to help support its international growth. The Amsterdam office will be located on Weteringschans and offers space for up to 150 employees. Roku is headquartered in Silicon Valley in the United States, in Europe it currently has offices in Denmark, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.