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 […]

Dave-Trading BIIB

  *** 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.*** Before we get to the meat of the trade, I want to address a recent question. How do I know how much capital to […]

January 28 Biotech Update

The market and sector did not like the FOMC decision or perhaps the wording of the decision. The sector remains in a precarious position. It has already fallen a lot but it remains at critical long term trend lines and if they break we could only be halfway through the decline. There was some talk […]

January 27 Biotech Update

The sector finally caught a break with the macro headwinds seeming to pause only to get sector specific headwinds with Donald Trump talking about drug pricing. It was not clear exactly what he meant as the numbers he threw around for the savings from Medicaid were more than the Medicaid yearly drug expense (keeping in […]

December 30 Biotech Update

Nothing newsworthy for the sector has happened in the past day. We had a nice rally the other day and perhaps that continues with a positive bias into the end of the year as investors and traders finish up the year but with volumes drying up it is really a toss-up how it will trade. […]

October 21 Biotech Update

The sector continues to be under pressure, although we seem to be staying above the recent lows which remains critical. We are entering earnings season and it will be interesting to see if earnings without M&A is enough to spark buying. My base case is good earnings will be enough to stop the decline but […]

October 9 Biotech Update

I would say after yesterday that the sector looks a little better but I think more to the point it seems that volatility is the best word that describes the trading action. The biased bull in me sees this volatility as slowly healing the charts and putting in a bottom. The bear in me sees […]

September 14 Biotech Update

Talk about a slow start to the week. Nothing really new, which probably means all eyes will remain on the Fed. I have no idea whether the Fed is going to raise rates or not or whether the market moves higher or lower if the rates are raised or not. In some ways, the best […]

September 11 Biotech Update

Macro seems to be slowly fading into the background but note that I said slowly as it will likely take more time and it should remain meaningful in the short term. Of course, fading into the background does not mean all is clear for the next move higher as I read the market as simply […]

August 26 Biotech Update

The market had a rough day yesterday where the rally from the “lows” earlier in the week faded at the end of the day. That is never a good sign and at this point we need to ignore the gaps higher until they strengthen into the end of the day as opposed to fade. I […]

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 30 Biotech Update

The sector is pretty weak, which is a continuation of the past couple of days. It is not immediately clear to me the reason for the weakness as earnings have been almost universally good (notable exception being BIIB). Given the lack of news, I will spend today brainstorming some ideas for the weakness as well […]

July 29 Biotech Update

The sector was a strong performer after the bell but it did not seem to last long. The sector should be strong given the bulk of the earnings but I cannot shake the feeling that sentiment has slipped. Perhaps it is the broader market acting as a drag but I am not convince the sector […]

July 28 Biotech Update

The sector looked like it would be off to a good start but it faded quickly. I would still argue that any movement before the GILD earnings can be quickly changed, so the trading action tomorrow is much more important than anything today. Not a ton of major news but a decent amount of tidbits, […]

July 27 Biotech Update

The market looks bad and it is bringing down the sector although I think BIIB has done a pretty good job at reversing some bullish biotech sentiment. That being said the sector might be outperforming the broader market a little as there was a nice big deal announced this morning. When all is said and […]

July 24 Biotech Update

Unlike earlier this week where bad news was shrugged off, it looks like we are going to see selling on the bad news. This pullback should eventually generate nice bargains if it picks up steam but it might not be an immediate buy the dip as earning have been relatively mixed, so money may be […]

July 23 Biotech Update

A good start to the day with earnings almost universally beats and raises. Given the strength the sector showed yesterday, this should move the group higher and increase expectations for those companies that have not yet reported but perhaps we are in an opposite mode and will sell good news and buy bad. 1. BMY […]

July 22 Biotech Update

The sector is a little weak this morning, which is to be expected but not nearly as weak as I thought it would be going into the open. There has been some negative news (or mixed depending on your view) and I figured this would weigh more heavily on the group. It is obviously still […]

July 6 Biotech Update

A pretty quiet start to the week (at least in terms of bio news). Obviously we have all the Greek drama but despite fears of the worst, the opening was not too bad and stocks seem to be rallying with bios taking the lead. While it is way too early to read into the price […]