February 1 Biotech Update

Different week but the same market. There remains a bias to the downside, although perhaps an optimist can see a slight outperformance of the sector. At the very least, it seems like the sector is not leading the market lower. We got some news this morning but the key this week will continue to be […]

January 29 Biotech Update

It was obviously another bad day for the sector. The technicals look broken. The headlines are all about pricing. Buyers are on strike. There are no real exciting near term catalyst. Despite all of the negatives, there is some reason for hope at least over the medium term. 1. ISI had an impromptu call yesterday […]

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 […]

January 25 Biotech Update

It is a mixed start to the week but at least we have some biotech news to talk about even if it is not exactly what was expected. That being said I still think we are in a macro driven market and it will be hard for any sector to avoid the headwinds (or tailwinds) […]

January 22 Biotech Update

The market seems to be catching its footing but again if we are bottoming we are in the early stages and confirmation still needs to happen but I am cautiously optimistic that the selling pressure has eased (not really a brave statement to make this morning but given the start to the year you never […]

January 21 Biotech Update

So we have some biotech to talk about (finally) and the sector had a nice rally off the lows yesterday but we are not out of the woods by a country mile. At this point, however, it looks to be setting up as at least a tradable bounce but more ideally we would want it […]

January 20 Biotech Stock Update

Not much news as most people wait on SRPT questions as the panel approaches but even then there will not be a lot of new information in the questions (yes, maybe it signals what the FDA is thinking but that is likely too much to ask for a set of voting questions but not impossible). […]

January 19 Biotech Update

A pretty slow start to the week on the news front, so I will focus on more broad issues as they are likely more important than usual given that we are trading in a macro driven market. Assuming that there is still a lack of news tomorrow, I will finish the broader theme ideas tomorrow. […]

January 15 Biotech Update

I hope everyone enjoyed the move yesterday as it looks like it was only a quick respite to the relentless decline in 2016. Sentiment will eventually change but the hopes of a V shaped recovery are fading fast. If we can avoid making new lows, then there might be some positive to come out of […]

January 14 Biotech Update

So the sector has been struggling a little during JPM. I think many hoped (including me) that good news out of JPM would be a nice catalyst to flip sector sentiment but we essentially saw the opposite with all news (good and bad) being sold. At this point, it is clear that the selling has […]

January 7 Biotech Update

The year is off to an even worst start as all the secondaries are getting bad prices (to varying degrees of bad) and all are breaking those prices. China continues to collapse taking commodities with it as well as strengthening the dollar taking the markets with it. On the encouraging side, the technical analyst at […]

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, […]

January 5 Biotech Update

While the market recovered a little into the end of the day yesterday and had a slight positive bias this morning, it is still not looking too healthy. I am not sure if this is simply people selling or buyers being afraid to step in. In terms of the sector, I still think JPM will […]

January 4 Biotech Update

Well, 2016 is not off to the best of starts and I am of two minds when it comes to the market. First, there are not a lot of reasons to be excited. Earnings will be poor and macro does not seem conducive with China continuing to weaken. So what will be the catalysts that […]

December 31 Biotech Update

I figured there would be a more positive bias as we headed into the end of the year but the market has seen some selling. Obviously volume is low but the new Clinton talk of drug prices plus the low volumes is probably not good for the sector. Just as the drug pricing issue was […]

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. […]

December 29 Biotech Update

I am back and ready to get into the sector again. Some news since I have been gone but for this week I mainly want to focus on 2016 previews and will try to broadly cover both stocks and broader themes. 1. The first topic today is CMRX. That might have been the biggest phase […]

December 15 Biotech Update

The sector is doing better today but I am still not a believer in the market. Perhaps that in and of itself is a sign of a bottom and perhaps the slowing volumes into the end of the year will bias the sector and markets higher. Regardless, we are still in a macro market and […]

December 14 Biotech Update

We are once again in a macro world and the sector will be driven by it. Of course, even if we were not in a macro world the sector would likely still be underperforming as ASH did not inspire a lot of confidence and the sector offers a lot of chances for tax loss selling […]