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A Wild & Wacky Week In The Markets Tested Our Tolerance For Growth

By John F. Heerdink, Jr.
Wild & Wacky Week

It was certainly a week that tested the best of us and our tolerance for volatility, especially in growth names i.e tech, biotech, and consumer discretionary names, that cascaded at times and provided for some wild and wacky rides. However, if you were invested in the energy sector, which rose 10.1% fueled by oil prices that jumped 7.6% to $66.09 that benefited from OPEC+ production restraints and reopening progress, the financials sector which jumped 4.3%, or the industrials sector which pushed higher by 3.1%, you had quite a different & more pleasant experience.

The main culprits causing the downward pressure & volatility in growth oriented names through Friday morning, before we bounced in to the close, appeared to be a collection circumstances. The issues that grouped together this week included the rising and spiking at times longer term treasury rates, aggressive inflationary fears as the economy reopens (thank you ‘Uncle Jerry’ Powell), irrational investor fears spanning all manner of understanding, algorithmic accelerated selling, anticipated or real margin calls, & of course the lack of approval from the Senate regarding the $1.9T House passed stimulus package. It was a bit much for many to handle and many investors fled the market landscape that is right up until the last few hours of Friday’s session when the markets rose in to the close.

At the end of the day, when you look at the indices week over week, you see that two of them ended in positive territory, one ticked slightly lower and only the Nasdaq realized a significant loss and all indices remained in positive territory year-to-date. The results are as follows: the S&P 500 closed at 3,841.94 (+.8% wk/wk) (+2.3% YTD), the Dow ended at 31,496.30 (+1.8% wk/wk) (+2.9 YTD), the Nasdaq Composite closed at 12,920.15 (-2.1% wk/wk ) (+.2% YTD), & the Russell 2000 closed at 2,192.21 (-.4% wk/wk) (+11% YTD). 

As for as the yield curve that gave many heartburn this week, the 2-yr yield rose to end at .15%, the 10-year yield closed at 1.55%, & the 30-year yield closed at 2.299% still at historical lows.

The U.S. Dollar Index rose from 90.92 last week to close at 91.96 this week.

THE WEEK’s “MACRO”

The macroeconomic schedule also produced a number of reports as follows this week that showed improvement in many cases. On Monday, the macroeconomic schedule produced the ISM Manufacturing Index report for February which confined a move up to 60.8%. The Total construction spending report confirmed a rise by 1.7% month/month in January while the Total private construction spending increased equally by 1.7% month/month. Total public construction spending also rose 1.7%. The February IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI ticked up to 58.6. Tomorrow, the schedule will deliver the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index report for February, the ADP Employment Change report for February, the final IHS Markit Services PMI report for February, the Fed’s Beige Book for March, & the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index report. On Wednesday, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index report confirmed a drop to 55.3% in February but well above the expansion line. The ADP Employment Change report estimated that 117k jobs were added to private-sector payrolls in February. The IHS Markit Services PMI report for February was revised higher to 59.8. The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index report confirmed a rise of .5%. On Friday, the February Employment Situation Report confirmed that payrolls rose however the labor force participation rate was flat at 61.4% & the U-6 unemployment rate 11.1%. The January trade deficit widened to $68.2B. The Consumer credit report confirmed a drop by $1.3B in January.

Next week, we will receive the inflation data report, the initial claims report, & the consumer sentiment report.

TECH HIGHLIGHTS

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) closed at $498.46 down from the $548.58 close last Friday. 

Peter Thiel co-founded software/data analytics firm Palantir Technologies (PLTR) closed at $23.95/share, -3.15% Friday but up from the $22.90/share close last week. 

Leading EV car maker Tesla (TSLA) closed at $597.95, 3.78% Friday, down 11.5% this week & down again from $816.12 that it closed at  three weeks ago. 

The much traded and Reddit followed Gamestop (GME) closed at $137.74 up significantly from $101.74 last week and is valued at a $9.6B market cap. 

The ever so popular FAANG’s ended down across the board except for Alphabet and Facebook as follows: Apple (AAPL) shares closed at $121.42 nearly seven with last Friday’s close of $121.26, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $3,000.46 down from last Friday’s close of $3,092.93, Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $2,108.54 up from last Friday’s close of $2,036.86, Facebook (FB) closed at $264.28 up from last Friday’s close of $257.62 & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $516.39 down from last Friday’s close of $540.22/share. 

Curiously, General Electric (GE) ($13.60) is outperforming the market and is now up ~25% YTD. The move has been primarily based on the assumption that the company is continuing to turnaround and is being driven forward with the economic recovery.

ACROSS THE DOW 30

Reportedly, Amgen’s (AMGN) and AstraZeneca’s (AZN) experimental drugs have proven to reduce asthma attacks in patients with uncontrolled and severe forms of the respiratory condition in a large study. The medicine, tezepelumab, cut the rate of asthma attacks by 56% among patients when compared to placebo in a year-long late-stage study with 1000 patients already receiving proper standard care. The drug also worked well in a subgroup of volunteers with low levels of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell.

Nike Inc’s (NKE) Ann Hebert, Vice President and General Manager, North America geography, has departed from the company, effective today, March 1. Ann Hebert leaves the company after 25 years of service. The company plans to announce a new head of its North American geography shortly.

Chevron Corporation (CVX) has announced an investment in a Sweden-based private investment company, Baseload Capital AB, building on the development and operation of low-temperature geothermal and heat power assets. The investment includes existing Baseload Capital investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Sweden-based investment group Gullspang Invest AB. Heat power, an affordable form of renewable energy that is harnessed from either geothermal resources or waste heat.

Walt Disney Co’s (DIS) Disney+ streaming service surprisingly has gathered strong interest from adults who do not have kids at home which has substantially increased subscriptions. Disney+ launched in November 2019, has exceeded Wall Street expectations and the company’s forecast. Disney is known for family entertainment, Disney+ also features movies and TV shows from Marvel, “Star Wars” studio Lucasfilm and others.

Walmart Stores, Inc. (WMT) customers now no longer need to meet the minimum order requirement to get the items they need in a hurry, as the retailer removes the $35 minimum order requirement for Express delivery beginning March. Express delivery offers customers to order items from Walmart’s food, consumables, and general merchandise assortments such as produce, pantry staples, everyday essentials, toys, and electronics. Express delivery costs an addition of $10 on top of the existing delivery charge, however, Walmart+ members simply pay the $10 Express fee.

BIOTECH

iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) closed at $150.15 down again ~6 points from last week’s close of $156.93. The NYSE ARCA Biotech Index (^BTK) closed at 5,536.55 down again from last week’s close of 5,744.01. 

I was excited to host Tribe Public’s Webinar Presentation and Q&A Event, this week with David A. Dodd, Chairman, President, CEO & Mark W. Reynolds, CFO of GeoVax Labs (NASDAQ: GOVX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer using a novel patented Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Virus Like Particle (MVA-VLP) based vaccine platform. They delivered a presentation titled “Advancing A Unique Broad-based Vaccine Approach To Fighting COVID-19, Ebola & Beyond!” which was followed by a Q&A session. Please view the event video at the Tribe Public Channel.

On Thursday, Amgen (AMGN) confirmed that it will buy Five Prime Therapeutics (FPRX) for $1.9 billion or $38/share, which sent its shares to $38 up +78.74%. Five Prime has a promising therapy for a type of gastric cancer.

iPSC-Derived Cell Therapy Firm Century Therapeutics announced the closing of a $160 million Series C financing. The financing was led by Casdin Capital https://casdincapital.com and brought together a syndicate of respected healthcare investors including Fidelity Management & Research LLC, the Federated Hermes Kauffmann Funds, RA Capital, Logos Capital, OrbiMed, Marshall Wace, Qatar Investment Authority, Avidity Partners, and Octagon Capital. Founding investors Versant Ventures and Leaps by Bayer also participated. Funds raised will help advance Century’s pre-clinical pipeline, which includes multiple iPSC-derived CAR-iT and CAR-iNK cell products. These products are designed to resist host rejection, enhance cell persistence, and allow repeat dosing to provide durable responses in all patients. The team anticipates beginning clinical testing of its first products in 2022, as well as generating multiple INDs annually in the coming year.

Based on our recent success in investing in NKCell firm Fate Therapeutics (FATE) ($88.49, mkt cap $8.03B) over the last three plus years, Vista Partners along with a group of investors made an investment at the end of 2020 into a firm called Cytovia Therapeutics.  Cytovia is developing allogeneic “off-the-shelf” gene-edited Natural Killer (NK) and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-NK cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Cytovia aims to accelerate patient access to transformational cell therapies and immunotherapies, addressing several of the most challenging unmet medical needs in cancer. Cytovia focuses on Natural Killer (NK) cell biology and applies precision engineering to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to develop the safest, most effective, most broadly-available Natural Killer cell therapy as a first line of defense against cancer. Cytovia’s proprietary multi-specific antibody platform has been customized to engage and activate Natural Killer Cells (NK Cells) at the tumor site. Both platforms offer optionality to clinicians and can also be used synergistically. Cytovia’s R&D laboratories and GMP manufacturing facility are augmented by scientific partnerships with Cellectis (CLLS), CytoImmune, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, INSERM, the New York Stem Cell Foundation, STC Biologics, and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).

GOLD & SILVER MARKETS

Gold prices closed at $1702 down again from the $1,738/oz. close last week. This Friday silver prices closed at $25.33/oz. down from the $26.75/oz. close last Friday.

North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) ended the week at $5.89/share up from last Friday’s close of $6.53/share. Hecla recently announced Q4 and full year 2020 financial and operating results. Phillips S. Baker, Jr., President and CEO of Hecla stated, “The COVID pandemic provided significant challenges to Hecla and the mining industry; however, due to our people and the jurisdictions we operate in, Hecla exceeded the high end of our pre-COVID silver guidance by 1.4 million ounces. We saw modest disruptions in Quebec and Mexico; however, these did not materially impact our business. During the year we refinanced our long-term debt now due in 2028, and through solid free cash flow generation, added cash to the balance sheet, reduced our net debt, and increased dividends. As we look to 2021, we see three significant value drivers. First, with Lucky Friday running at full production, positive results from the work at Casa Berardi, and the continued consistency of Greens Creek, we expect to grow silver production and generate significant free cash flow. Silver production from our United States silver mines is expected to go from 8 million ounces in 2018 to almost 15 million ounces by 2023, further increasing Hecla’s position as the most significant US silver producer. Second, we start the year with the 3rd highest reserves in our history despite disruptions to our planned exploration and definition drilling programs due to COVID‑19, and we expect reserve growth in 2021 from a normal drilling program. Finally, Hecla’s 2021 exploration program is following up on high-grade intercepts that have the potential to expand existing or develop new high-quality deposits in some of the world’s best mining jurisdictions. Examples of this are Midas’ Green Racer Sinter target where we have made a multi-ounce gold discovery in a never before drilled target and at San Sebastian’s El Bronco vein where we are seeing high-grade over significant widths.”

Recently, Phillips S. Baker, Jr., President, and CEO of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL), discussed “The Silver Squeeze” while addressing questions from the Tribe Public where he offered valuable insights on silver prices throughout history and the recent volatility that helped move silver related stocks & silver prices. Please view the event video here now. 


TRADING NEXT WEEK 

We are back to 5-trading sessions again next week. 



 
VP WATCHLIST UPDATES 
 

Please consider reviewing our complete VP Watchlist that includes 10 highlighted companies that includes Apple (AAPL), Disney (DID), Tesla (TSLA). The pages will allow you to learn more and keep up with these companies daily. Here is an update for five of the companies from the VP Watchlist. 



  • Shares of Chinook Therapeutics (KDNY), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing precision medicines for kidney diseases, closed at $17.31 up from the $14.84 close from 3 weeks ago. Chinook is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering, developing and commercializing precision medicines for rare, severe chronic kidney diseases, a severe and growing worldwide problem with a lack of effective treatments often leading to dialysis, transplantation, and high costs to health care systems. In the U.S. alone, kidney diseases affect an estimated 37 million people and account for over $120 billion in annual costs.
    • This week, Chinook and and Evotec SE announced a strategic collaboration focused on the discovery and development of novel precision medicine therapies for patients with chronic kidney diseases. Based on Evotec’s proprietary comprehensive molecular datasets from thousands of patients across chronic kidney diseases of multiple underlying etiologies, Chinook and Evotec will jointly identify, characterize and validate novel mechanisms and discover precision medicines for PKD, lupus nephritis, IgA nephropathy and other primary glomerular diseases. The collaboration will also involve further characterization of pathways and patient stratification strategies for programs currently in Chinook’s clinical and preclinical pipeline. “We are excited to embark on this strategic collaboration with Evotec, the leading drug discovery alliance and development partner in nephrology,” said Andrew King, D.V.M., Ph.D., Head of Renal Discovery and Translational Medicine at Chinook. “Gaining access to the NURTuRE cohort study and other proprietary patient biobanks, along with Evotec’s multi-omics integration platform, will enable us to define the molecular drivers of kidney diseases, identify novel targets for drug development in selected patient sub-populations and continue to build the foundation for our precision medicine approach. With a focus on comprehensive molecular disease classification, combined with prospective clinical outcomes, Chinook has the opportunity to potentially deliver targeted therapies to the right patient populations.”
    • Andrew King, D.V.M., Ph.D., Head of Renal Discovery and Translational Medicine, presented on behalf of Chinook at the 3rd Annual Chronic Kidney Disease Drug Development (CKD3) Summit delivering a presentation titled “Selective ETA receptor antagonist atrasentan for the treatment of primary glomerular diseases” on Thursday, March 4th at 1
    • Recently, Chinook announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted rare pediatric disease designation for CHK-336, an investigational oral small molecule inhibitor of lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) for primary hyperoxaluria (PH). PH is a group (PH1, PH2 and PH3) of ultra-rare genetic diseases caused by enzyme mutations that result in excess oxalate production in the liver, and in its most severe forms, can lead to end-stage kidney disease at a young age. Inhibition of LDHA with CHK-336 allows for the potential to treat all forms of PH and other disorders arising from excess oxalate, while its liver-targeted tissue distribution profile enables maximal inhibition of liver oxalate production with minimal systemic exposure. Please read the story here.
    • I hosted Chinook’s President & CEO Eric Dobmeier at our sister organization Tribe Public’s Presentation and Q&A event, Tuesday, Jan. 26th which you can watch now at Tribe Public YouTube Channel. Mr. Dobmeier previously was the President and CEO of Silverback Therapeutics, a Seattle-based biotechnology company in the immuno-oncology space. Prior to that, he spent more than 15 years at Seattle Genetics, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, where he oversaw business development, corporate communications, manufacturing, program/alliance management activities and corporate strategy initiatives. While at Seattle Genetics, Eric was also directly involved in raising more than $1.2 billion in equity capital, and led negotiation and completion of multiple corporate alliances with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Earlier in his career, he represented technology companies in connection with public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate partnering transactions. Eric has a J.D. from University of California, Berkeley School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. He is also a director of Atara Biotherapeutics and Adaptive Biotechnologies.
    • Chinook has well-funded development programs with participation in a $115 million private placement financing concurrent with the close of a merger with Aduro Biotech in Q4 2020 from top-tier healthcare investors including, EcoR1 Capital, OrbiMed Advisors, funds managed by Rock Springs Capital, Fidelity Management and Research Company LLC, Avidity Partners, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Ally Bridge Group, Monashee Investment Management LLC, Northleaf Capital Partners, Janus Henderson Investors, Sphera Biotech and others.


  • Shares of Natural-Killer cell (NKcell) focused biopharmaceutical firm Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed at $.83.65/share down from $89.72 last Friday but still shy of its recently achieved a new all-time high of $121.16.  On Jan. 8, FATE announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of ~$432 million at $85.50. Jefferies, BofA Securities, SVB Leerink and Barclays acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.  We started with this one folks over 3 years ago when it was in the $3 range.
  •  
    • Fate announced that the Company will host a conference call and live audio webcast on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. ET to report its fourth quarter and full year 2020 financial results and provide a corporate update. Learn more here. 
    • Recently, Fate presented a patient case study from the Company’s Phase 1 clinical trial of FT596, its universal, off-the-shelf, CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell product candidate, at the 62nd Annual Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition and the street loved it. NK cells are the body’s first line of defense against viral infections and cancerous cells with an innate ability to rapidly seek and destroy transformed cells. NK cell therapy has the potential to 1) target multiple pathogenic antigens with measurably more efficient cytotoxicity, 2) be better controlled to reduce risk of cytokine storms and 3) be produced from a variety of sources without relying on patient-specific immune cells. Dr. Wayne Chu, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development of Fate Therapeutics stated, “The safety, pharmacokinetics and clinical activity observed following both the first and second single-dose treatment cycles of FT596 are compelling, especially when considering that the administered cell dose was significantly lower than the recommended cell dose of FDA-approved autologous CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapies and that the heavily pre-treated patient was refractory to last prior therapy. We are excited the CAR component of FT596 has shown clinical activity at this low dose level, and we continue to enroll patients in dose escalation with FT596 as a monotherapy and in combination with rituximab. Our recent Phase 1 clinical data with FT516 in combination with rituximab, which demonstrate the potential of our novel hnCD16 Fc receptor to potentiate ADCC and drive complete responses, support our belief that the multi-antigen targeting functionality of FT596 may offer best-in-class potential for patients with B-cell malignancies.” 
    • We have made another investment in a private company called Cytovia Therapeutics that owns its own NK cell platform that some investors are calling “FATE 2.0”. They are seeking to go next year in Q2/Q3 as there is room in the markets for another NK cell company. Their website is www.cytoviatx.com.


  • Shares of Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS), 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, closed at $2.23/share.
    • Recently Atossa announced final results from its Phase 1 double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study using Atossa’s proprietary drug candidate AT-301 administered by nasal spray. AT-301 was considered to be safe and well tolerated in healthy male and female participants in this study at two different dose levels over 14 days. AT-301 is being developed for at home use for patients recently diagnosed with COVID-19. There are currently no FDA-approved therapies to treat COVID-19 at home. Steven Quay, M.D., Ph.D., Atossa’s President and CEO stated, “The results from this study are very encouraging and we look forward to quickly commencing the next study of AT-301. We recently received input from the FDA on this program and based in part on that input, we are now preparing to conduct an additional pre-clinical study, which we expect to start this quarter. Following that, we expect to apply to the FDA to commence a Phase 2 study here in the United States.” Learn more here.
    • Atossa recently announced updated findings following 26 months of Expanded Access (or “compassionate use”) single-patient studies of Atossa’s Endoxifen. “To date, the patient has not had a recurrence of breast cancer, as assessed by clinical breast examination and mammography; has not had treatment-related changes in periodic laboratory blood tests and general clinical examinations; and, the treatment has been well tolerated, including an absence of typical vasomotor symptoms commonly associated with tamoxifen (for example, night sweats and hot flashes), an FDA-approved drug frequently prescribed for breast cancer treatment,” commented Sidney Goldblatt, M.D., Principal Investigator. “This patient, like many breast cancer patients, was reluctant to take tamoxifen because of the well-documented side effects associated with that drug and because she lacked the proper liver enzymes to properly metabolize tamoxifen. We are very encouraged by this patient’s experience with our Endoxifen over the past two years. Her experience serves as a model for ongoing development efforts,” commented Steve Quay, Ph.D., M.D., Atossa’s President and CEO.  
    • Recently, I hosted Tribe Public’s Webinar Presentation and Q&A Event with Steven Quay, MD, PhD, CEO & Founder & Kyle Guse CFO of Atossa Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ATOS) who delivered a presentation titled The Important Role of COVID-19 Therapeutics In A Post-Vaccine World.” They also addressed Q&A session at the end of the presentation. Please view it here.
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    • Atossa raised ~$81M in gross proceeds between Dec. 2020 and Jan. 2021 affording the company a significant development runway and many more options to be considering. 
    • Atossa is seeking in the near term to get an FDA nod to move into a Phase 2 trial with its nasal spray COVID-19 therapy.
  •  
  • Shares of  IVO Bioscience, Inc. (INVO), a medical device company focused on creating alternative treatments for patients diagnosed with infertility and developers of INVOcell®, the world’s only in vivo Intravaginal Culture System, closed at $3.38/share.
    • I am expecting INVO management to announce 1-2 agreements regarding the opening of INVOcell only clinics still in Q1 per the CEO’s shareholder letter. 
    • This week, INVO announced the Company has received approval by COFEPRIS to import INVOcell into Mexico. In late 2020, INVO Bioscience established a joint venture focused on establishing fertility centers dedicated to offering INVOcell, with the initial center, called Positib Fertility, to be located in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. Steve Shum, CEO of INVO Bioscience, commented, “We are extremely pleased to have received approval by COFEPRIS to begin importing INVOcell into Mexico. This was a key step in the process to open our first joint venture owned clinic in the large and growing Mexico market for infertility services. Our internal team along with our JV partners have and continue to work aggressively and with a relentless focus to bring the INVOcell treatment option to the many patients in need of care within Mexico.”
    • Recently, INVO announced it has advanced its commercialization efforts into the European fertility market by securing initial orders of INVOcell in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain. INVOcell will initially be available at three separate existing fertility clinics which have placed orders and commenced training. Please read the story here.
    • Industry forecasts suggest that only 1% to 2% of the estimated 150 million infertile couples worldwide are currently being treated. INVO’s mission is to increase access to care and expand infertility treatment across the globe with a goal of improving patient affordability and industry capacity. Since January 2019, INVO Bioscience has signed commercialization agreements in the United States, India, as well as parts of Africa and Eurasia and Mexico for the INVOcell device.
    • INVO’s CEO Steve Shum Issued a letter to shareholders recently that spoke to their key developments and future initiatives that have positioned their product INVOcell® within the severely underserved fertility market. PLEASE READ IT HERE.
    • INVO received BUY Ratings from both Roth Capital ($5 PT) & Collier International Securities ( $5.75 PT) in December, 2020.  
    • INVO recently announced that it has entered an exclusive distribution agreement with Galaxy Pharma Ltd. to distribute the INVOcell system within Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with approximately 212 million people. Galaxy Pharma is a leader in providing products and services to the country’s current full-service In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) facilities, and has joint ventures operating an additional 21 facilities focused on administering Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) via OBGYN’s.


  • Shares of NeuBase Therapeutics (NBSE) closed trading this week at $8.82/share after recently establishing a new all time high of $12.89. Recently, Neubase reported its financial results for the three-month period ended December 31, 2020. Review the story here.
    • Oppenheimer’s analyst Hartaj Singh has reiterated his OUTPERFORM Rating and his Price Target of $17.
    • NBSE recently announced the execution of a binding agreement to acquire infrastructure, programs and intellectual property for several peptide-nucleic acid (PNA) scaffolds from Vera Therapeutics, formerly known as TruCode Gene Repair, Inc. The technology has demonstrated the ability to resolve disease in genetic models of several human indications. The acquisition was reported to bolster NeuBase’s capabilities and reinforces the Company’s position as a leader in the field of genetic medicine. Read the complete story.
    • The company expects to successfully negotiate a corporate licensing deal of some kind prior to the one-year anniversary of their April, 2020 equity financing as stated in a recent interview.
    • NeuBase is developing the next generation of gene silencing therapies with its flexible, highly specific synthetic antisense oligonucleotides. The proprietary NeuBase peptide-nucleic acid (PNA) antisense oligonucleotide (PATrOL™) platform allows for the rapid development of targeted drugs, increasing the treatment opportunities for the hundreds of millions of people affected by rare genetic diseases, including those that can only be treated through accessing of secondary RNA structures. Using PATrOL technology, NeuBase aims to first tackle rare, genetic neurological disorders.

Please review our complete VP Watchlist now that includes 10 highlighted companies. The pages will allow you to learn more and keep up with these companies daily.

QUOTE OF WEEK

“The secret to investing is to figure out the value of something – and then pay a lot less.” – Joel Greenblatt



Thanks again for your attention this week. Please continue to share your thoughts, questions, & ideas as we move forward. 

In the meantime, please enjoy the balance of the weekly newsletter’s videos, quotes, updates. 

Investing & Inspiration

  1. “The secret to investing is to figure out the value of something – and then pay a lot less.” – Joel Greenblatt
  2. “We don’t have an analytical advantage, we just look in the right place.” – Seth Klarman
  3. “Men, it has been well said, think in herds. It will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.” – Charles Mackay
  4. “It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.” – George Soros
  5. “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” — Robert Arnott
  6. “Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!” — John Bogle
  7. “No Price is too low for a bear or too high for a bull.” — Anonymous
  8. “Investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.” — Anonymous
  9. “Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.” — Peter Lynch
  10. “Wise spending is part of wise investing. And it’s never too late to start.” –Rhonda Katz
  11. “If there is one common theme to the vast range of the world’s financial crises, it is that excessive debt accumulation, whether by the government, banks, corporations, or consumers, often poses greater systemic risks than it seems during a boom.” — Carmen Reinhart
  12. “It amazes me how people are often more willing to act based on little or no data than to use data that is a challenge to assemble.” ― Robert Shiller
  13. “A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends.” — Barton Biggs
  14. “The investor’s chief problem — even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself.” — Benjamin Graham
  15. “No profession requires more hard work, intelligence, patience, and mental discipline than successful speculation.” – Robert Rhea
  16. “The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself.” — Peter Thiel
  17. “Money is like a sixth sense – and you can’t make use of the other five without it.” – William Somerset Maugham
  18. “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein
  19. “The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” – Warren Buffett
  20. “Thousands of experts study overbought indicators, head-and-shoulder patterns, put-call ratios, the Fed’s policy on money supply…and they can’t predict markets with any useful consistency, any more than the gizzard squeezers could tell the Roman emperors when the Huns would attack.” – Peter Lynch
  21. “Investing puts money to work. The only reason to save money is to invest it.” – Grant Cardone
  22. “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” – Jim Rohn
  23. “You cannot save time for your future use however you can invest time for your future.” – John F. Heerdink, Jr. 
  24. “We always live in an uncertain world. What is certain is that the United States will go forward over time.” – Warren Buffett
  25. “Never test the depth of the river with both of your feet.” – Warren Buffet
  26. “Know what you own, and know why you own it.” – Peter Lynch
  27. “Liquidity is only there when you don’t need it.” -Old Proverb
  28. “There is no such thing as no risk. There’s only this choice of what to risk, and when to risk it.” – Nick Murray
  29. “If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.” – Richard Branson
  30. Fear incites human action far more urgently than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.” – Jeremy Siegel
  31. “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott
  32. “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” – Charlie Munger
  33. “The entrance strategy is actually more important than the exit strategy.” – Edward Lampert
  34. “The rivers don’t drink their own water; Trees don’t eat their own fruits. The sun does not shine for itself, And flowers do not spread their fragrance For themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature” – PopeFrancis
  35. “It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different from the majority.” – John Templeton
  36. “Inaction and patience are almost always the wisest options for investors in the stock market.” – Guy Spier
  37. “Remember that the stock market is a manic depressive.”  – Warren Buffett
  38. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
  39. “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
  40. “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
  41. “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
  42. “If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion.
    -George Bernard Shaw
  43. “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, Former Ceo of Disney
  44. “In the short run, the market is a voting machine. But in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” – Ben Graham
  45. “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” -Robert Arnott
  46. “The fundamental law of investing is the uncertainty of the future.” -Peter Bernstein
  47. “How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts?” -Robert G Allen
  48. “Greed is all right, by the way. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.”-Ivan Boesky
  49. 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
  50. “The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.” -Jawaharlal Nehru
  51. “I talk about macro themes a lot because they are fun to talk about, but it is the risk management that is the most important thing. The risk control is all bottom-up. I structured the business right from the get-go so that we would have lots of diversification.” -Michael Platt
  52. “Blaming speculators as a response to financial crisis goes back at least to the Greeks. It’s almost always the wrong response.” -Larry Summers

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