Iran responded and it went about as well as we could have hoped. The administration has a chance to de-escalate today and given the limited damage done with the attack last night, it should be a day of slowly decreasing tensions. Of course, what should happen and what actually happens can be different. I would […]
February 5 Biotech Update
There might be reason for optimism in the sector. The XBI seems to be breaking above its recent range and the $80 level might have been support for this new move. That would certainly be the best case scenario as it would be a higher low ($80) and one that is a little higher than […]
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 […]
November 4 Biotech Update
The sector certainly seems to be getting it legs back. The SMID are finally starting to get a bid (even if it is partly driven by short covering but it has to start somewhere). In addition, earnings have been good and now we are entering a period of both data catalysts and a seasonally positive […]
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 […]
13F Analysis of Best Performing Healthcare Hedge Funds (Q1 2015)
13F filings have arrived and it’s like Christmas day for me. I’ve been pouring through the filings, tweeting the interesting ones, and probably annoying everyone on twitter. These filings are a great idea generation tool, a starting place for due diligence, and way to get a peek at the focus of the best minds in […]
February 25 Biotech Update
I am back but have not really followed the market the past couple of days. My sense is that it has been relatively weak and could be setting up for a near term pullback. That is likely healthy in that the sector has had a good run and is getting a little stretched. Outside of […]
January 30 Biotech Update
I want to write this quick to get it out as I spent the morning taking the children to the dentist, so I have a late start. The market is bad (again) but this is really nothing new. This churning is really giving gristle to the bulls and bears. Bears are going to argue it […]
January 26 Biotech Update
It has been a mixed start to the week both in terms of the macro background and also stocks within the sector. It seems like both are looking for new leadership (to the upside or downside) and I still lean towards the next move being higher but it remains a low conviction view. On the […]
January 20 Biotech Update
Not the way you want to start the week with the sector going down with the rest of the market after a weak gap higher. Even more problematic is the severe weakness in the high flying momentum stocks like KITE and BLUE. The fact that these are underperforming can be read as an early warning […]
January 15 Biotech Update
I am back from JPM and will be highlighting what I learned over the next couple of days. I do want to reinforce what I was noting before and that is this market action speaks of a black swan coming. The quick drop in oil put a lot of pressure on positions. The action with […]
January 8 Biotech Update
A great continuation for the markets but I do not see a lot of great action in the biotech sector. We spiked higher but those original moves have not held and we seem to be retracing the gaps. If those gaps in the sector cannot hold with the markets running, then that is certainly an […]
January 7 Biotech Update
A much better market today than the past couple of days. Over the near term I suspect the market is set up for a fairly significant bounce. Of course, the normal caveats all apply and we need to see follow through this afternoon but my base case is a nice recovery for the market which […]
January 6 Biotech Update
A good start to the day with the market slightly higher but as always we need to see how they end as yesterday was a rough day and odds are more selling is on its way. That being said the sector held up exceptionally well and was a clear outperformer. I suspect the excitement heading […]
December 30 Biotech Update
A drifting day in the market but with a negative bias to start. It is hard to read too much into the movement as the volume is low and there is little news out there. I am going to spend the next couple of notes previewing 2015 to a certain extent. I will start with […]
December 29 Biotech Update
The sector has recovered from the brutal sell off in no small part related to a recovery in GILD. As I noted last week, the sector needs GILD to stabilize/recover to move higher and so I am not surprised to see biotechs move higher in sympathy with GILD. Why is there such a relationship? GILD […]
December 23 Biotech Update
The sector is certainly having problems. As I noted yesterday, you should be biased towards raising cash (and going short if you are interested in running more of a market neutral book). Even ABBV who is the hep-C “winner” cannot catch a bid as the market is reasonably discounting not the fact that ABBV will […]
December 18 Biotech Update
Another rally in the making as we are snapping back from the oversold conditions. It was only a matter of time for this snap but the bigger question is how the market builds upon it. Ideally, this gets the market to new highs with the worst case scenario being we put in a lower high. […]
