The incentives to invert Now that we have determined that inversions are not in America’s best interest and that multinational corporations are now actively seeking to invert, we must critically consider how to stop inversions. However, it is prudent to first understand the full scope of the incentives to invert. Results have shown that inversion […]
Tax Inversions: Regulation Chasing Corporate Tax Loopholes Part 3
A brief history of corporate tax inversion In 1982, McDermott Inc., an industrial company making nuclear reactor parts for the US Navy as well as deepsea oil and gas production facilities, decided to expatriate to Panama where one of their subsidiaries were located and renamed themselves McDermott International (Hines, 1991). This was done by having […]
Tax Inversions: Regulation Chasing Corporate Tax Loopholes Part 2
Corporate Tax impact on the Economy It is well documented through economic circles that taxes skew relative prices by shifting the supply curve to the left in a standard supply-demand model to create a deadweight loss. The deadweight loss is the area of the subsequent triangle with the endpoints at the pre-tax equilibrium, the supply […]
Tax Inversions: Regulation Chasing Corporate Tax Loopholes Part 1
The following was a research project completed for my Economics of Regulation class about tax inversions, the implications, and proposed solutions. Since this is a large paper, it will be split into 6 parts and published daily. Abstract – Corporate inversions have grown in popularity in recent years, and has drawn quite a bit of […]
December 20 Biotech Update
Well, this has been a strangely interesting day for the week before Christmas. I thought the bulk of news was done but I clearly spoke too soon. There is some good news for the sector as well as some good-well-maybe-bad-let-us-argue news. I am going to go through these as sort of quick hits as none […]
AGIO- Pivot to PKD
Agios Pharmaceuticals came to market in 2013 as a promising cancer metabolism company. Three years later, it has pivoted to rare disease. AG-120, an IDH1 mutant inhibitor being developed for oncology indications, remains the most advanced pipeline compound, but is no longer the main value driver. For that we look to AG-348 and AG-519, mid […]
ASH Update: TGTX
ASH 2016 has turned out to be an important convention for many small biotechs, and will likely be remembered as a break-out event for CAR-T therapies. Results from the Phase 1 TGR-1202/Ibrutinib combination study may prove crucial for the future of TG Therapeutics. Escalating doses of TGR-1202 ranged from 400mg to 800mg with a corresponding 420mg of […]
ASH Update 2: BLCM
Bellicum Pharmaceuticals’ leading clinical candidate is BPX-501, individualized T-cells transduced with a controllable suicide gene. They are being studied for use as an add-back following T-cell depletion during Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT). For individuals with certain hematological disorders, whether malignant or not, stem cell transplants represent the only hope for a cure. Siblings make […]
ASH Update: TRIL
Trillium Therapeutics presented interim data from its ongoing Phase 1 trial of the SIRPaFc TTI-621 at ASH this past weekend. These highly anticipated results gave a deeper look into the molecule’s safety and efficacy profile as well as potential mechanism of action. Trillium is at the forefront of a scramble to target the SIRPa-CD47 checkpoint […]
Dave Trading – Where is the value?
Dave gave me one line when I asked him about value… “not much value. Maybe write about how to make profit in a momo market while not risking too much.” Sure thing Dave! IBB is still well off its highs, but in the large cap space it may not be worth selling puts with such […]
Catatonic Economics – Unpacking a Trump win
On October 9, 2016, I made a prediction about this election that has come true. Hillary would lead the polls by 5 points throughout the election, and Trump would win. Trump’s campaign expressed the anger of the Americans who have been disenfranchised for 20 or so years. It is the opposite pendulum swing of Obama’s […]
Catatonic Economics – No one is talking about the greatest risk to America
Financial markets talk about a lot of headwinds to the economy. China devaluation, negative S&P earnings, presidential race, central bank actions, European banking problems, Japan, oil, etc. One that should be frontline news… more than the Trump tape, more than Kim Kardashian being (fake?) mugged, more than a backup QB kneeling for the national anthem. […]
Dave-Trading – September Edition – 3 shots
*** David Sobek is a disciplined value investor. Using models, research, and fundamental data, David devises a value for biotech stocks, buys when significantly undervalued, and sells when significantly overvalued.*** As a reminder, this is my personal guide. You can alter it in accordance with your risk tolerance. >3 Standard deviations – No position 2-3 […]
BLCM: Staying on the Sidelines
Bellicum is a small biotech developing drugs in the hot field of adoptive cell therapeutics. Their lead candidate is a personalized T-cell product for use after stem cell transplants to prevent early infections. These cells are designed with a safety switch as a safeguard. The early stage pipeline consists of CAR-T and TCR based immunotherapies. BPX-501: To prepare […]
Achillion’s Pivot To Orphan Diseases
Through many years, Achillion focused on HCV, among the biggest prizes in drug discovery. The problem is they entered the field late while working on a very popular target. A nearly one year clinical hold on their protease inhibitor sovaprevir added to their woes. As work continued on HCV, by 2014, Achillion began a parallel development […]
Catatonic Economics – Brexit!
In response to Dave, “someone will nail the impact”… I figured I’d give my shot at it. My prediction last article was that sovereign debt along with other headwinds would cause a correction in the markets before year’s end. It took a lot shorter than I thought it would, and admittedly not for the reasons […]
Dave-Trading – June Edition
*** David Sobek is a disciplined value investor. Using models, research, and fundamental data, David devises a value for biotech stocks, buys when significantly undervalued, and sells when significantly overvalued.*** As a reminder, this is my personal guide. You can alter it in accordance with your risk tolerance. >3 Standard deviations – No position 2-3 […]
Cup O' Joe – SRPT followup
***Joe Gantoss relies on knowing more, either through technical analysis & charts or DD & research.*** Last article, I spoke about the decision tree, and how to play the coming SRPT decision. This is a follow-up, since some important information was disclosed since that trade. The first piece of information is that SRPT received a […]
Catatonic Economics – The Four Letter Word
*** “The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent” – John Maynard Keynes *** Economics is called the dismal science for a reason. The real reason is because Thomas Malthus predicted that the population will grow exponentially while food can only grow additively, and therefore the world will be overpopulated in short […]
Catatonic Economics – Nippon!
*** “I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so.” – Janet Yellen *** All right, so maybe Janet Yellen didn’t say that outside a karaoke bar… but she is turning Japanese monetary policy! (Song by “The Vapors”, have to give credit where it is due) On April 28th, the […]
