Slowing Economic Signs, Rising Oil Prices Cloud The Stock Market This Week – $AAPL $ATOS $DIS $IYH $MCD $XBI Rise!

Happy Sunday!

I hope that you had a wonderful week and are out enjoying you time off with friends and family during this holiday weekend. I happy to report that I have travelled to Arizona to enjoy the holiday and have welcomed the hot, dry and ‘no-wind’ atmosphere, especially after the long rainy season that we have endured in San Francisco uncharacteristically this year. I am also using this trip to reconnect with a number of people in the Phoenix that are members of our sister organization, Tribe Public. If you are not familiar with Tribe Public, please note that it hosts CEO Presentation and Q&A Events in the U.S. where Tribe members (Portfolio Managers, Family Offices, Investment Advisors, Accredited Investors, Retail Investors, Sell-side Analysts, & Members of Media) join together, for free, to collectively request and attend efficient corporate sponsored luncheon presentation events, which allows them to meet the heads of companies they care about and network within their community. The members primarily express their interest via the Tribe’s ‘Wishlist Process’ where they add the names of the the companies they care about at the website or send an email to research@tribepublic.com. The Tribe also hosts webinar-based events for its global community of members that spans across 27-countries. Please consider joining the Tribe and submit your interest and join us in  learning this process as well. 

As for the broad markets this week, the holiday shortened 4-day week saw stocks overall experience a negative week as macroeconomic reports surfaced showing signs of a slowing U.S. economy, while oil prices moved significantly higher ($80.46, +6.3% this week) after last weekend’s OPEC+ announcement that our ‘good friends’ in the Middle East would be restricting production significantly beginning this May and would continue do so for the balance of 2023. 

The S&P 500 closed at 4,105 (-.01%) for the week and is now up 6.9% YTD with the utilities and health care sectors leading the way with a 3.1% gain followed by the energy sector’s 3% positive move. The industrials sector took the target hit falling 3.4% & the consumer discretionary sector’s 3% decline. The 6.82% weighting of the shares of Apple (AAPL) provided relative strength this week as it closed at $164.66, +1.42% over the last 5-days, however EV giant Tesla (TSLA) closed at $185.06, dropping a solid 5.23% over the course of the week after record EV deliveries and slashed EV prices did not satisfy. 

The Dow 30 rose to close at 33,485 (+.6%) +1% and is now up 1% YTD.  The Walt Disney Company (DIS) closed at $99.97, +1.91% over the last 5-days. Nike (NKE) closed at $120.22, up .10% over the last 5-days after beating quarterly expectations on Tuesday. Burger chain giant McDonald’s (MCD, $282.89, +1.84% over the last 5-days) announced job cuts and other changes across their company. 

The Nasdaq exhibited relative weakness and closed the week at 12,088 (-1.1%) for the week, but remains up a solid 15.5% YTD.  

The small caps on the Russell 2000 closed at 1,754.46 (-.79%) for the week & is now down .39% YTD. The MicroCaps also bounced solidly this week as the iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) closed at $101.66 dropping 1.06% this week & is now down 5.72% YTD.  

Biotech stocks moved up overall this week again. On the larger side of things, the Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) moved up and closed at $131.05, +3% over the last 5-days and is down a mere .18% YTD, the NYSE ARCA Biotech Index (^BTK) closed at 5,391.84, +3.21% over the last 5-days and is now up +2.10% YTD, & the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed at $76.87 up 2.95% over the last 5-days & is now down 7.39% YTD. The 52-week range is is now $61.78-$95.18. 

 The iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH) closed at $281.27,+4.27% over the last 5-days and is now down .86% YTD. 

The CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX) closed at $18.40,-3.26% over the last 5-days.

Shares of InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INM), a leader in the research, development and manufacturing of rare cannabinoids, closed at $1.17.

• On March 28, InMed announced it has concluded enrollment of its Phase 2 clinical trial using investigational drug INM-755 cannabinol (“CBN”) cream for the treatment of patients with epidermolysis bullosa (“EB”), a rare genetic skin disease. The Phase 2 study, called INM-755-201-EB, enrolled 19 patients. All four subtypes of inherited EB, including EB Simplex, Dystrophic EB, Junctional EB, and Kindler Syndrome were accepted into the trial. The clinical trial is evaluating the safety of INM-755 cannabinol cream and its preliminary efficacy in treating symptoms of itch, pain, and wound healing in patients with epidermolysis bullosa. The study used a within-patient, double-blind design whereby matched index areas are randomized to INM-755 (cannabinol) cream or vehicle cream as a control. Results from this Phase 2 study of INM-755 CBN cream are expected to be released early calendar Q3 2023. “Enrollment completion of this Phase 2 clinical trial of a cannabinol formulation represents an important milestone for InMed and the scientific community studying rare cannabinoids,” said Eric A. Adams, InMed’s President and CEO. “As a class of compounds, we believe cannabinoids hold tremendous therapeutic potential for their innate interaction with the body, however, to date there have been limited evidence-based studies investigating their effects. Taking a rare cannabinoid formulation through several Ph 1 and Ph 2 clinical trials has been a major undertaking. We look forward to the data read-out in the summer, so we can evaluate our strategic options and next steps.”

• On March 13, InMed announced that a peer-reviewed scientific study entitled “Rare phytocannabinoids exert anti-inflammatory effects on human keratinocytes via the endocannabinoid system and MAPK signalling pathway” has been published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.This is the second such Company-sponsored study to demonstrate the anti-inflammatory effects of rare cannabinoids and their potential application for the treatment of skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, pruritus, and acne. The study, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Mauro Maccarrone at the Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, investigates the anti-inflammatory effects of the rare cannabinoids, cannabichromene (CBC), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), cannabigerol (CBG) and cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) on inflamed human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) and elucidates the potential mechanism of action associated with these compounds in the skin.

• On Feb. 17, InMed announced financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 which ended December 31, 2022 and highlighted that they closed calendar year 2022 with strong cash position of $11.5 million, that they are approaching completion of enrollment for Ph 2 clinical trial in EB, & that they are adavincing research using rare cannabinoids in treating glaucoma and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s.

• On Jan. 10. InMed issued a press release that outlined their key accomplishments from 2022 and provided business update and catalysts for 2023 including the following interesting milestones for 2023: Complete Phase 2 clinical trial enrollment in Epidermolysis Bullosa in 1Q 2023, Progress preclinical research in glaucoma in preparation for human trials, & Advance research using rare cannabinoids in treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s. Please read our latest PROGRESS REPORT by clicking here.

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 and let’s find ways to crush it again this year!

Investing & Inspiration

1. “The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.” – Robert Kiyosaki
2. “O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?” – Percy Bysshe Shelley
3. “Patience is a virtue, and I’m learning patience. It’s a tough lesson.” – Elon Musk
4. “Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.” – John Boyle O’Reilly
5. “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” – Norman Vincent Peale
6. “Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.” – Boris Pasternak
7. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein
8. “It is the fight alone that pleases us, not the victory.” – Blaise Pascal
9. “Do exactly what you would do if you felt most secure.” – Meister Eckhart
10. “Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.” – Leo Buscaglia
11. “Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.” – Wordsworth
12. “Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” – Mary Tyler Moore
13. “A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.” – Tecumseh
14. “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
15. “There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.” – Louis XIV
16. “The limits of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke
17. “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” – Mother Teresa
18. “The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.” – Barack Obama
19. “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” – Confucius
20. “No man was ever wise by chance.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
21. “Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity.” – Thor Heyerdahl
22. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” – William Shakespeare

23. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

24. “I want to put a ding in the universe.” – Steve Jobs

25. “Research is creating new knowledge.” – Neil Armstrong

26. “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” – Jonas Salk
27. “Man is a creative retrospection of nature upon itself.” – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
28. “There’s something about taking a plow and breaking new ground. It gives you energy.” – Ken Kesey

29. “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” – William Feather

30. “The essential conditions of everything you do must be choice, love, passion.” – Nadia Boulanger

31. “More business is lost every year through neglect than through any other cause.” – Rose Kennedy

32. “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” – Archimedes

33. “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.” – Mark Twain

34. “The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost

35. “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi

36. “Without labor nothing prospers.” – Sophocles

37. “Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.” – Albert Einstein

38. “This is the precept by which I have lived: Prepare for the worst; expect the best; and take what comes.” – Hannah Arendt

39. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller

40. “He who is brave is free.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

41. “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk

42. “I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don’t need.” – Auguste Rodin

43. “Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.” – Robert Green Ingersoll

44. “He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.” – Lao Tzu

45. “Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart Udall

46. “In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.” – Dalai Lama

47. “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.” – Bob Dylan
48. “Inflation destroys savings, impedes planning, and discourages investment. That means less productivity and a lower standard of living.” – Kevin Brady
49. “If we give something positive to others, it will return to us. If we give negative, that negativity will be returned.” – Allu Arjun
50. “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” ~ George S. Patton
51. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.”- Eleanor Roosevelt
52. “Success is dependent on effort.” – Sophocles
53. “Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” – George Halas
54. “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
55. “And when I breathed, my breath was lightning.” – Black Elk
56. “Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues.” – Joseph Hall
57. “You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.” – Maya Angelou
58. “If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.” – Clint Eastwood
59. “We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.” – Ray Bradbury
60. “If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.” – Confucius
61. “I’d rather attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed.” – Robert H. Schuller
62. “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Desmond Tutu
63. “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” – Thomas Sowell
64. “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha”
65. Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.” –  Boris Pasternak
66. “Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.” – Khalil Gibran 
67. “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” – Bruce Lee
68. “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
69. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” –  Colin Powell
70. “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” – Mahatma Gandhi
71. “Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.” – Allen Klein
72. “Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.” – W. Clement Stone
73. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
74. “In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” – Albert Einstein
75. “Life is too short for long-term grudges.” – Elon Musk
76. “There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.” – Henry Kissinger
77. “Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.” – Oliver Goldsmith
78. “The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.” – Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
79. “Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living.” – Omar N. Bradley
80. “Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.” – Rumi
81. “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” – Ernest Hemingway
82. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
83. “Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.” – Nelson Mandela
84. “The social object of skilled investment should be to defeat the dark forces of time and ignorance which envelope our future.” – John Maynard Keynes
85. “A successful society is characterized by a rising living standard for its population, increasing investment in factories and basic infrastructure, and the generation of additional surplus, which is invested in generating new discoveries in science and technology.” – Robert Trout
86. “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” – Albert Einstein
87. “It is the fight alone that pleases us, not the victory.” – Blaise Pascal
88. “If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.” – W. Edwards Deming
89. “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
90. “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” – Abraham Lincoln
91. “Without investment there will not be growth, and without growth there will not be employment.” – Muhtar Kent
92. “You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.” – Abraham Lincoln
93. “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” – John F. Kennedy
94. “Delete the negative; accentuate the positive!” – Donna Karan
95. “It’s crazy how fast time flies and how things progress.” – Nathan Chen
96. “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” – Albert Einstein
97. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
98. “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius
99. “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” – John C. Maxwell
100. “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” – Helen Keller
101. “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin
102. “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo
103. “Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity.” – Thor Heyerdahl
104. “I like to encourage people to realize that any action is a good action if it’s proactive and there is positive intent behind it.” – Michael J. Fox
105. “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” – Audrey Hepburn
106. “But investment in space stimulates society, it stimulates it economically, it stimulates it intellectually, and it gives us all passion.” – Bill Nye
107. “Bitcoin, in the short or even long term, may turn out be a good investment in the same way that anything that is rare can be considered valuable. Like baseball cards. Or a Picasso.” – Andrew Ross Sorkin
108. “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.” – Charlie Chaplin
109. “No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you’ll find the positive side of things.” – Demi Lovato
110. “Infrastructure investment in science is an investment in jobs, in health, in economic growth and environmental solutions.” – Oren Etzioni
111. “Educating our children and giving them the skills they need to compete in a global economy is a smart investment in our country’s future.” – Sheldon Whitehouse
112. “Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” – Sun Tzu
113. “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
114. “Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late some day.” – Franz Liszt
115. “The sofa is a really important investment for anybody, and I don’t mean financially. You need to find a really great sofa that can transition with you, and you can build from there.” – Jeremiah Brent
116. “There is no investment you can make which will pay you so well as the effort to scatter sunshine and good cheer through your establishment.” – Orison Swett Marden
117. “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie
118. “There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.” – Louis XIV
119. “In tennis, you strike a ball just after the rebound for the fastest return. It’s the same with investment.” – Masayoshi Son
120. “A camel makes an elephant feel like a jet plane.” – Jackie Kennedy
121. “The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don’t really even notice it, so it’s part of everyday life.” – Bill Gates
122. “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.” – Confucius, Chinese 
123. “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” – Edward Everett Hale
124. “Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.”– Albert Einstein
125. “Education is not only a ladder of opportunity, but it is also an investment in our future.” – Ed Markey
126. “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” – Samuel Johnson
127. “In my view, the biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital. Not only is the mere drop in stock prices not risk, but it is an opportunity. Where else do you look for cheap stocks?” – Li Lu
128. “A successful society is characterized by a rising living standard for its population, increasing investment in factories and basic infrastructure, and the generation of additional surplus, which is invested in generating new discoveries in science and technology.” – Robert Trout
129. “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
130. “Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.” – Elie Wiesel
131. “Investing in women’s lives is an investment in sustainable development, in human rights, in future generations – and consequently in our own long-term national interests.” – Liya Kebede
132. “Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace.” – Mike Ditka
133. “No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one.” – Jessica Savitch 
134. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”– Arthur Ashe
135. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
136. “The amount of work and the amount of both physical and emotional investment it takes to get to the top.” – Drew Bledsoe