Biopharma Stocks Breeze through ‘Quadruple Witching Day”…9/16

Healthcare stocks (XLV) were one of the leading sectors on a down day up a tiny bit to $72. The IBB held, up 0.57% to the $291 mark and up 4.75% for the week. The more volatile XBI was a tad weaker down 0.3% on the day. Large caps held with ALXN, CELG and REGN leading up over 1%. Gilead Sciences (GILD) raised $5B in a bond offering speculating that their huge ~$29B cash position is for near term M&A.

A green screen was dominant in biopharma today with many notable movers : ARIA up 3.59%,CLVS still on a tear up 5.94%, INCY up 2.23%, KITe up 4.09%, RARE up 3.95%,TSRO up 5.39%.

The broader market was hurt by concerns about crude supply down 1.62% to $43.80 and there was a lot of chat about a “bond bubble” taking the Ten Year Treasury to 1.67%.

 

Biopharma Stocks Bounce 3.4% Over Five Days

Traders “whipsawed” biotech stocks but still the IBB managed to hold onto short-term gains of 10 points over the intermediate support of $280. The more volatile equal balanced XBI did even better up 7.95% over five days. Many smaller cap speculative plays had crazy moves on good volume showing strong investor appetite for biotech stocks: Aerie Pharmaceuticals (AERI) soared 44.87% today on positive Phase 3 trials for a glaucoma drug; Dermatology developer Vitae Pharmaceuticals (VTAE) rocketed 197% this week on a buyout from Allergan (AGN) and AcelRx (ACRX) rose 9.78% today on positive Phase 3 results for its pain relief drug.

Rayno Biopharma Portfolio stocks had a good week thus far:

Large cap laggards Bristol Myers (BMY) and Gilead Sciences (GILD) showed good support near their technical bottoms with good 2%+ yields. IBB is our core pick.

Our latest pick Amgen (AMGN) was up 1.47% also has a 2+% yield.

bluebird bio (BLUE) skyrocketed 11% to $70 on a Goldman Sachs recommendation. BLUE recently announced news on its LentiGlobin gene therapy drug for thalassemia. bluebird bio was put on the Rayno Portfolio at a price of $43.75 on 2/3/16.

Disclosure long: ABBV, BLUE, BMY, FBIOX, GILD, RHHBY

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