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‘Squishy’ Trading Week But Energy, Financials, & Bitcoin Have Their Day

By John F. Heerdink, Jr.
LinkedIn Twitter Disclaimer

I struggled to settle on a word this week that would appropriately describe the markets, but overall it simply seemed ‘squishy’, that is, unless you were invested in the energy sector which rose 3.1%,  the financials sector which increased 2.8% and/or Bitcoin which soared to an all time high now at $55,763. The otherwise ‘squishy’ environment presented as long term interest rates moved higher this week seemingly pulling out the solid rug that so many of us have stood upon for the market’s support. The 2-yr yield moved up 1 basis point to .11, the 10-yr yield jumped 15 basis points to end at 1.35%, & the 30-yr yield ended at 2.134%. Interest rates are still historically low and no the fed did not raise interest rates, in fact the The FOMC’s January minutes released this week confirmed that the Fed’s ongoing commitment to low interest rates, bond buying, & a 2% or better inflation position is still safely in place. Regardless, growth & inflation expectations have increased.  Confirmations of reopening progress exhibited by mostly improving macroeconomic data reports, outside of the increase of jobless claims, coupled with the new understanding that the US had now secured enough COVID-19 vaccinations for all and would be distributed by end of July, applied significant pressure.  Also, the unsettling Gamestop related testimonial circus brought forth further questions about the state of our stock market system by a not so informed political theater, which was also broadcasted worldwide, may have contributed its own kind of pressure in the form of doubt and fear. The highly weighted and highly visible information technology sector also fell 1.9%. However, the markets did manage to find ground on Friday after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated her case for further coronavirus stimulus. 

Over the course of the week all indices reached record highs, but ended overall down week over week except for the Dow as follows:  The S&P 500 closed at 3,906.71 (-.7%, wk/wk) (+4% YTD), the Dow ended at 31,494.32 (+.1% wk/wk) (+2.9 YTD), & the Nasdaq Composite closed at 13,874.46 (-1.6%, wk/wk ) (+7.7% YTD) while the Russell 2000 closed at 2,266.69 (-1%, wk/wk) (+14.8% YTD). 

THE WEEK’s “MACRO”

The macroeconomic schedule also produced a number of reports as follows this week that showed improvement in many cases, but in my opinion still confirmed the case for the stimulus package to be put into place. On Tuesday, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey report confirmed a rise to 12.1 in February (January was 3.5). On Wednesday, the January retail sales report confirmed a jump by 5.3% m/m & when you exclude autos, retail sales moved even higher by 5.9% m/m. The Producer Price Index for final demand moved up 1.3% m/m/ in January. The Industrial production report confirmed a rise by .9% month/month in January. The capacity utilization rate also moved higher to 75.6%. The NAHB Housing Market Index rose to 84 in February. The Business inventories report confirmed a rise by .6% in December. The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index dropped 5.1%. The FOMC’s January minutes confirmed the Fed’s low interest, bond buying, & low inflation position. On Thursday, the Initial jobless claims report for the week ending February 13 confirmed a unexpected rise by 13k to 861k, the Housing Starts report which showed a 6% month/month drop in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.580M units, the Philadelphia Fed Index report confirmed a drop to 23.1 in February. The Import prices report confirmed a rise by 1.4% in January & the Export prices report confirmed a 2.5% rise in January. On Friday, the Existing home sales report showed a rise by .6% month/month in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69M. The Total sales report in January moved up 23.7% from a year ago. The IHS flash Markit Manufacturing PMI casein lower at 58.5  while the flash Services PMI came in a little higher at 58.9.

Next week, we will receive the January leading indicator index, the durable goods orders report, & the personal income and spending reports.

TECH HIGHLIGHTS

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) achieved a new all-time high of $614.90 this week prior to closing at $597.06 on Friday. NVDA has risen greatly during the ongoing “global chip shortage” as their chips power the future of self-driving cars and cloud gaming. The FTC is also investigating their $40 billion acquisition of Arm Ltd. Arm’s tech reportedly is going into chips of billions of devices shipping this year including smartphones, video cameras, hard drives, washing machines, etc.

Peter Thiel co-founded software/data analytics firm Palantir Technologies (PLTR) closed at $29/share, +15.22% Friday, but down from the $31.91/share close last week. This week, PLTR managed to drop for 4-days straight until it was reported that Ark Innovation and Ark Next Generation, ETF’s managed by Cathie Wood, purchased 6.8M shares in total. The Reddit WallStreetBets (GameStop) crowd apparently has embraced PLTR too.

Leading EV car maker Tesla (TSLA) closed at $781.30, +.77% Friday, but down again for the second straight week and from the $816.12 close last Friday. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised $850 million in equity funding last week sending the company’s valuation to $74 billion. SpaceX is simultaneously developing and investing in its two ambitious and capital-intensive projects Starlink and Starship rocket. Chinese EV concern NIO Limited (NIO) closed at $55.04, +1.12% on Friday, but down from $59.85/share last Friday. 

The ever so popular FAANG’s ended down across the board as follows: Apple (AAPL) shares closed at $129.87 down last Friday’s close of $135.37, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $3,249.90 down from last Friday’s close of $3,277.71, Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $2,101.14 down  from last Friday’s close of $2,104.11, Facebook (FB) closed at $261.56 down from last Friday’s close of $270.5 & Netflix (NFLX) closed at $540.22 down from last Friday’s close of $556.52/share.

ACROSS THE DOW 30

Reportedly, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed its new stake in Verizon Communications (VZ) with 147.6 million shares, a stake valued at around $8.6 billion at the end of 2020, according to a 13-F securities filing making it the 6th largest position in its portfolio. Berkshire Hathaway also disclosed its new stakes in Chevron (CVX) with 48.5 million shares of Chevron worth $4.1 billion, according to a regulatory filing. The Verizon stake is up sharply from the end of the third quarter when Berkshire owned 58.4 million Verizon shares worth $3.4 billion. The Chevron stake rose more modestly in the fourth quarter, from 44.3 million at the end of the third quarter. The filing further revealed that Berkshire increased its stakes in pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Merck (MRK), positions first disclosed in the third quarter of 2020. Berkshire sold all of its Pfizer shares. The filing shows that Berkshire Hathaway exited its positions in JPMorgan Chase (JPM) & PNC Financial and trimmed its stake in Apple (AAPL) by about 6%, selling 57.16 million shares. However, Apple is still Berkshire Hathaway’s largest stock holding.

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV) has secured a score of 100 on the 2021 Corporate Equality Index, maintaining its position for the sixth consecutive year as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

The Home Depot (HD) to contribute $1 million in charity with its annual Retool Your School program to support campus improvements at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Retool Your School program, established in 2009 program promotes Historically Black Colleges and Universities critical role in the American higher education system.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) closed at $162.98/share, -1.67% Friday & down from last week’s close of $166.58.  Pharmaceutical giant Merck (MRK) closed at $74.31/share, -1.46% Friday and down again from last Friday’s close of $75/share. 

Shares of Coca-Cola (KO) closed at $50.11/share ticking down from last Friday’s close of $50.69/share after recently hiking its dividend and stating that they see a strong recovery after virus hit their better than expected Q4 earnings. Shares of Disney (DIS) closed at $183.65/share, +.36% on Friday, but down from last Friday’s at $187.67/share. Shares of Nike (NKE) closed at $142.02/share down $.10 from last Friday’s close at $142.12/share. Nike will pay a quarterly cash dividend of $.275 per share to all outstanding common stock shareholders of Class A & Class B as of March 1, 2021. The dividend is to be paid on April 1, 2021. Walmart (WMT) closed at $138.34/share slightly up from last Friday’s close of $144.47/share. Walmart reported improved Q4 revenue driven by strong e-commerce growth that increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there was an increase in costs due to a pay hike for its frontline workers.

Shares of Deere (DE) closed at $330/share, 9.91% Friday after Deere lifted its earnings guidance above analyst estimates with elevated crop prices and an improving farm farm economy supporting their outlook, & up again from last week’s Friday close of $313/share. Caterpillar (CAT) closed at $209.91/share, +5% & up again from last Friday’s close of $197.99/share. Caterpillar recently beat Q4 estimates and see a housing boom leading the 2021 sales recovery.

Boeing (BA) closed $217.47, +4.31% on Friday & up from last Friday’s close of $210.98/share. Boeing-backed Aerion Corp, which designs supersonic planes, is reportedly in talks to go public via a merger with Altitude Acquisition Corp (a SPAC listing) which raised $300M in and IPO in December 2020. Also, astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) are conducting series of experiments with an antimicrobial surface coating designed by the joint research project including Boeing (BA) and the University of Queensland to fight the spread of viruses and bacteria, including the Earth- bound SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Iowa is reportedly backing out of a plan to use Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) software for registering and scheduling patients for the Covid-19 vaccinations. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced the news at a conference, this week. He said state officials concluded it would be too hard to combine existing scheduling systems and were also looking to avoid disruptions.

BIOTECH

iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) closed at $166.31 down from last week’s close of $170.72. The NYSE ARCA Biotech Index (^BTK) closed at 6,041.82 up from last week’s close of 6,232.70. 

FINANCIALS

Around the sector, Goldman Sachs (GS) closed trading at $315.62/share, +1.85% Friday & up from last Friday’s close of $306.32/share, American Express (AXP) closed at $131.71/share, +2.51% on Friday & up ~$3 from the $129.62/share close last Friday, Visa (V) closed trading at $204.73/share, -.33% Friday & down from the $209.96/share close last Friday & shares of Morgan Stanley (MS) closed at $76/share, +1.56% Friday & up from last Friday’s close of $74.61/share. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) closed at $148.02, +1.67% Friday & up from the $141.25/share close last Friday & Citigroup (C) $65.78/share up from the close of $63.63/share last week. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) closed at $286.92/share cooling off from last Friday’s close of $298.37/share after recently beating Q4 expectations and Square (SQ) closed at $276.57 up again from last week’s close of $272.75/share after it was reported that they were picking up Cash App users amid the “Robinhood drama”.

GOLD & SILVER MARKETS

Gold prices closed at $1786 down from the $1,826/oz. close last week. This Friday silver prices closed at $27.77/oz. up from the $27.43/oz. close last Friday. Barrick Gold Corp. (GOLD) closed trading at $19.78 down again from last Friday’s close of $22.15/share after reporting an earnings beat. North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) ended the week at $6.09/share slightly down from last Friday’s close of $6.17/share after the company 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. 


SPAC ATTACK 

With over 130 SPACs that have gone public this year compared to a still sizable 250 in 2020 the SPAC attack or boom still seems to have a great deal of steam. Good news from the world of SPACsthis week came from HighCape Capital Acquisition Corp. (CAPA) which announced that it is combining with Quantum-Si, a pioneer in semiconductor chip-based proteomics. CAPA shares closed at $22.41 up 115.90% on Thursday prior to closing at $20.49 on Friday.  

MONEY UPDATE

The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened to end the week at 90.37 marginally down from 90.45 last Friday.  

OIL

Oil prices ended at $59.15/bbl down approximately $.30/bbl week over week. 

TRADING NEXT WEEK 

We are back to 5-trading sessions next week. 


 
VP WATCHLIST UPDATES 


  • Shares of Chinook Therapeutics (KDNY), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing precision medicines for kidney diseases, closed at $15.51 up from the $14.84 close last week. 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.
    • 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 $110.18/share up from $102.45 last Friday but still shy of its recently achieved a new all-time high of $121.16.  Recently, 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 is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders.
    • 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 $3.11/share with an average trading volume of 21.82M shares/day and a $222.6M MKT Cap.  This move came after 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.
    • Atossa recently announced blinded preliminary results from its Phase 1 clinical study using Atossa’s proprietary drug candidate AT-301 administered by nasal spray. AT-301 was found to be safe and well tolerated in this study at two different dose levels in both single and multiple dose forms 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. Learn more now.
    • Atossa announced that it has received $21 million from the exercise of outstanding warrants. The warrants were issued in financings in December 2020 and January 2021. Kyle Guse, CFO and General Counsel stated, “In the past 60 days, we have made great progress in adding substantial cash resources so that we can accelerate development of our COVID-19 and breast cancer therapies. We completed financings with gross proceeds of approximately $60 million and in the past week have added an additional $21 million to our balance sheet through the exercise of outstanding warrants. We look forward to the speed at which we can now advance our programs in 2021.”
    • 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.
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  • Shares of INVO Bioscience (NASDAQ: INVO) closed at $3.77/share. INVO has closed soundly above its 50-day moving average of $3.10. There appears to be a significant gap up to its $5.06 or 200-day moving average when you look at the charts.
    • 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.
    • INVO Bioscience, Inc. (INVO) is 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. 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 Management 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 $10.68 down from $11.69/share last week 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.


  • Clean hydrogen solution provider Plug Power (PLUG) closed at $55.89/share down from $63.19 last Friday and shy of its recently established all-time high of $75.49. It’s 52-wk low is $2.53 so it has been an amazing ride none the less. Tuesday, Madrid, Spain’s ACCIONA S.A. (BME: ANA), a global leading supplier of sustainable infrastructure solutions, and Plug Power announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to launch a 50-50 joint-venture (JV) headquartered in Madrid. This JV will be a leading green hydrogen platform serving clients in Spain and Portugal, providing cost-efficient and competitive green hydrogen to multiple end markets. Plug reports Q4 2020 and Year end results on February 25th.
    • It has been a nice ride from the Fall 2020 in the $10.50 range when we identified it. With the significantly bolstered balance sheet, the Biden push for clean energy alternatives and a number of new corporate relationships & initiatives this company continues to impress.
    • PLUG recently announced the completion of its previously announced upsized offering of 32,200,000 shares, which includes the underwriters option to purchase an additional 4,200,000 of its common stock. The shares were sold at a price to the public of $65 per share with net proceeds in excess of $2B. This transaction signifies the largest bought deal in the cleantech sector. This offering represents the third largest follow-on primary block trade with Morgan Stanley as a sole bookrunner in any market sector historically. Proceeds from this transaction, and final closing of the partnership with SK Group, will bring the total cash balance to over $5B. This liquidity positions Plug Power to execute and accelerate it’s green hydrogen and overall growth strategy.
  •  
Please review our complete VP Watchlist now that includes nine highlighted companies. The pages will allow you to learn more and keep up with these companies daily. 


QUOTE OF WEEK

“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



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. “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
  2. “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
  3. “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” — Robert Arnott
  4. “Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!” — John Bogle
  5. “No Price is too low for a bear or too high for a bull.” — Anonymous
  6. “Investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.” — Anonymous
  7. “Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.” — Peter Lynch
  8. “Wise spending is part of wise investing. And it’s never too late to start.” –Rhonda Katz
  9. “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
  10. “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
  11. “A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends.” — Barton Biggs
  12. “The investor’s chief problem — even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself.” — Benjamin Graham
  13. “No profession requires more hard work, intelligence, patience, and mental discipline than successful speculation.” – Robert Rhea
  14. “The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself.” — Peter Thiel
  15. “Money is like a sixth sense – and you can’t make use of the other five without it.” – William Somerset Maugham
  16. “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein
  17. “The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” – Warren Buffett
  18. “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
  19. “Investing puts money to work. The only reason to save money is to invest it.” – Grant Cardone
  20. “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” – Jim Rohn
  21. “You cannot save time for your future use however you can invest time for your future.” – John F. Heerdink, Jr. 
  22. “We always live in an uncertain world. What is certain is that the United States will go forward over time.” – Warren Buffett
  23. “Never test the depth of the river with both of your feet.” – Warren Buffet
  24. “Know what you own, and know why you own it.” – Peter Lynch
  25. “Liquidity is only there when you don’t need it.” -Old Proverb
  26. “There is no such thing as no risk. There’s only this choice of what to risk, and when to risk it.” – Nick Murray
  27. “If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.” – Richard Branson
  28. “Fear incites human action far more urgently than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.” – Jeremy Siegel
  29. “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott
  30. “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” – Charlie Munger
  31. “The entrance strategy is actually more important than the exit strategy.” – Edward Lampert
  32. “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
  33. “It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different from the majority.” – John Templeton
  34. “Inaction and patience are almost always the wisest options for investors in the stock market.” – Guy Spier
  35. “Remember that the stock market is a manic depressive.”  – Warren Buffett
  36. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
  37. “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
  38. “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
  39. “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
  40. “If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion.
    -George Bernard Shaw
  41. “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
  42. “In the short run, the market is a voting machine. But in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” – Ben Graham
  43. “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” -Robert Arnott
  44. “The fundamental law of investing is the uncertainty of the future.” -Peter Bernstein
  45. “How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts?” -Robert G Allen
  46. “Greed is all right, by the way. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.”-Ivan Boesky
  47. “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
  48. “The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.” -Jawaharlal Nehru
  49. “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
  50. “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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