May 5 Biotech Update

We saw more of the same selling yesterday. It was across the market but it certainly felt like the sector led to the downside and failed to bounce when the market came back a little. Today is off to a better start but at this point I am not sure anyone thinks it will stick […]

April 4 Biotech Update

It is a pretty quiet start to the week (again) but a little less so than previous weeks. At least we have a GILD deal to think about, although not the one everyone was expecting (hoping for). While I certainly would like to see the sector rocket higher, there is something to be said for […]

March 28 Biotech Update

We start the week with some biotech news although not the M&A that many expect. I will be interested to see how MDVN trades given its takeover speculation at the end of last week. In any case, we got real news and for the most part it is positive, so the key now is for […]

March 9 Biotech Update

Yesterday was certainly a blast from the past with small caps getting crushed and large caps outperforming but only because they are down less than SMID. After the recent run it is not surprising that the run pauses and reverses at resistance. As one could imagine the bears will highlight this as the start of […]

February 22 Biotech Update

It is a good start to the week as the markets open green and everything seems to be heading higher. One could argue that the trend of selling the rallies has broken but I still think we need to decisively put in a higher low and higher high before we can get any confidence in […]

February 19 Biotech Update

We are getting the pullback after that quick rip your face off rally and so now is the real moment of truth. Did the rally simply reset the relative strength to allow another leg lower or will buyers step in and buy this pullback? As I noted before there is no way of knowing and […]

February 3 Biotech Update

The market remains tied to oil and while sentiment remains negative on oil it still has not made a new low. This is not to say that a new low is not coming but as long as it does not make a lower low, it is at least some positive for the market. Ultimately, we […]

January 6 Biotech Update

The year is really off to a bad start and I am not sure what will reverse it. You have continued bad news with China, which is continuing the rout in commodities and strengthening the dollar killing emerging markets and it seems like the US market. Outside of some bright spots in the service sector, […]

December 2 Biotech Update

The sector was weak yesterday and this morning at the open. It is not clear to me if the weakness is just a give back from the low volume rallies last week or something news related. There was some noise out of DC about GILD and the pricing of Sovaldi. There was a massive report […]

November 13 Biotech Update

It has been a tough couple of days with pretty broad weakness but we will see how we end the week as many stocks have had a decent run so a pause is not unexpected (or bearish- yet). I am still not convinced the rallies have not been short covering and if we are to […]

November 9 Biotech Update

My daughter made it through surgery with flying colors, so I have time for a quick note. I do not want to focus on individual companies but a broader theme that could be developing. Are we seeing the end of biotech leadership, why, and what does it mean? 1. Broadly speaking, I would argue that […]

October 12 Biotech Update

Another start to the week and another week without the M&A that many think is needed to move the sector higher. I worry a little about that argument as one would like to see the sector move higher off of fundamentals and not adding more and more takeover premiums into stocks. That being said I […]

September 28 Biotech Update

The market has been ugly and rough and at times like this you simply want to throw up your hands and walk away but this is where values develop, so it is worth staying engaged even if we are not at the bottom. I think it is a legitimate question as to whether we are […]

September 16 Biotech Update

The market has done well recently but it is all meaningless for the most part until we get the Fed decision. To be honest, I do not know whether to root for a hike or no-hike. I can come up with what I think are reasonable cases for why the market would rally on either […]

August 31 Biotech Update

Looks like a slightly lower start to the week. Macro still obviously matters but the size of the moves seems to be decreasing. I find it interesting that the weakness comes after Fisher had a relatively hawkish Fed talk at Jackson Hole, where he noted that the Fed could raise rates before they saw inflation. […]

August 28 Biotech Update

I was busy for a day and the market does great but I come back and we have a gap lower. Sorry. In all seriousness, however, the snap back rally needs to pause but given the sell-off, I think we need to see the market shake off the gap lower and end higher today. We […]

August 10 Biotech Update

We are getting a spurt of IO collaborations this morning but no major news or M&A. After the sell off Friday (and come back), I would not be surprised to see that positive momentum continue this morning. Worst case scenario would be early strength and then faded all day. Best case, obviously, would be early […]

July 31 Biotech Update

Not a lot of news so I want to round out a couple of issues this morning and close it out for the week. I am finding it more and more difficult to note whether the sector is strong or weak, which makes me think the best description is choppy. Overall it seems like modest […]

July 21 Biotech Update

The sector was green again yesterday and this morning but it does not seem to be a broad based move. The small caps appear to be underperforming and among the large caps it seems isolated to CELG with AMGN and GILD being relatively weak. This narrowing of the move tells me that we are much […]

July 7 Biotech Update

There is a little more news today but still relatively quiet. The market seems to be looking for a direction but the sector seems to be outperforming to the upside. Yesterday was certainly better than expected but it also did not end in an exceptionally bullish manner. That is why I still think the market […]