Broad Market Rally-Russell 2000 up 1.69*% ,small caps soar off bottom.
Update-4 March 17 Strong week trading rally favors beaten down momentum stocks: CRSP, CYRX, TDOC, PACB, VCYT. And led by momentum small cap ETFs like ARKG and XBI. Evolent Health (EVH) is up 20% since we picked it months ago. Bought some EDIT yesterday at $15+ now at $17.27. Added to XBI at $89 but still very risky.
Large cap biopharmas continue to run with our top picks; ABBV, BMY, REGN,SGEN, VRTX even IBB up 2%.New buy MRNA lags.
Sector leaders : Energy 3.44%, consumer discretionary 1.67%,materials 1.92% healthcare 1.58%.
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Update-4 Mar 16 11:30 EDT Growth stocks and Tech resume rally from yesterday, Healthcare lags and SMID trade is on: CRSP, CYRX, EDIT, PACB,VCYT among big movers. MRNA new long still on a roll at $165 level because of COVID resurgence? FED day so watch volatility. JNJ down 2% on Bernstein downgrade.
Update-3 Mar 13 1:30 P EDT…No change in playbook with risk-off situation. Focus on large cap biopharma and healthcare per previous posts: ABBV, JNJ, REGN, PFE, RHHBY, SGEN, UNH, VRTX. MRNA off bottom today could be worth a trade. NASDAQ off 2.13%.
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Update-2…March 11 2P EST YoYo market vacillating around S&P 4200 level. SmallMid-cap growth underperforming but CRSP is up16% this week. Large Cap biopharma finds bids: BMY MRK PFE REGN (breakout at $644?) RHHBY. IBB and IBB holding up this week. ABBV near all-time highs of $151. Energy flat at $77 (XLE) .
Update-1…March 9 Big Up day with 3+% Gains S&P and NAZ Despite Wariness from Volatility and Macro News.Strongest sectors ar Tech (XLK) and Financial (XLF) but stocks are strong across the screen. Crude down 11% to $110. Energy, Defense and commodity stocks are weak.IBB and XBI both strong with XBI in a nice lift-off from the bottom. A lot of help from Cowen Healthcare Conference in biotech and healthcare .EVH up 4.85% headed toward $30.Best day since May 2020. New buy SGEN up 7% this week. Small caps looking better (IWM).
Tough Slogging Ahead But Healthcare Stocks Should Be OK
- Stocks down about 2% (as of 12:50 P EST) with talk of price targets coming down.S&P at 4240.
- COWEN Healthcare Conference should provide trading opportunities.
- Bear market malaise.
The war in Ukraine will dominate the news this week with its impact on energy prices and the commodity markets. Sanctions are hitting the Russian economy hard with some in Congress pushing for more sanctions on Russia for oil and gas exports the primary source of hard currency. But Germany needs Russian gas,Uncertain geopolitical times lie ahead. Last week commodities soared led by wheat and corn, crude and gasoline with copper silver and gold all among top winners .The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 13% and the S&P 500 energy sector rose 9.26%. The S&P 500 Healthcare sector was up 1.17%. Clearly disruptions caused by the war as well as post-pandemic inflation are behind the the market volatility and sector rotation.
The weighting of energy in the S&P is still very low about 4%. This will certainly go higher as energy stocks soar. Technology is about 27% and Healthcare is about 14%.
Chairman Powell has committed to a 0.25% FED rate increase for this round with quarter point increases ahead. But some FED watchers think concerns about being ‘behind the curve” with inflation will be swayed by the need for liquidity in a war economy. Nonetheless rates are going up.
Speculative small/mid cap biotech stocks hit new lows this past week with the XBI at a “triple bottom” about the $84 level only 10 points above the March 2020 lows.
The Cowen Healthcare Conference is this week so expect news and a boost to selective stocks. We will update healthcare stocks tomorrow. Notable Movers up as of 11:45 EST: CRSP, EVH, LGND. MDGL,SGEN, SRPT
IBB down 0.9% at $121, XBI flat at $84,