The Daily Look, 5/11/11, Mid-Week, Cause and Affect

The 6 W’s:  Who, what, where, when, why and what of it…  

 

Regenerative medicine/stem cell universe stocks were down in early trading since the day started on Wednesday (5/11/11) with 10 downs and 6 ups and a number of flats. The NASDAQ was down -10.12 (-0.35) (Yesterday close: +28.64) to 2861.13. The Dow was down -85.82 (-0.67%) (Yesterdays close: +75.68 or 12,760.35) to 12,676.54. By the end of the day, the NASDAQ was down -26.83 (0.93%) to 2,845.06 and the Dow was down -130.33 (-1.02%) t0 12,630.03. The day ended with 4 advancers versus 13 decliners and 3 flats. So, what’s drove the regenerative medicine – stem cell market today … beyond the obvious …

In the am, US equities were under pressure as worries of a slowing economy in China, uncertainty surrounding a near-term bailout for Greece, and disappointing earnings from Disney (DIS) cause the markets to retrace recent gains. All sectors are trading lower with commodity producers and industrials leading declines.

Overall, US equities came under pressure on Wednesday, snapping a 3 day winning streak. The risk-off trade was back in focus today as the commodity complex sold off sharply, with weakness exacerbated by a rally in the dollar, while the deeper cyclical and high-beta pockets of the equity market also suffered outsized losses. There was no overriding catalyst behind today’s price action, though a confluence of factors weighed on global risk appetite. Mixed takeaways from a batch of April macro data out of China played into concerns about further tightening measures, as well as a hard landing scenario, while a government economist even suggested that the central bank may have to shift to an easing cycle in 2H to combat waning growth momentum. In Europe, officials downplayed the near-term prospects ( no decision will be made at next week’s meeting) for additional support for Greece following recent reports of a new aid package worth €60B to help cover the country’s financing needs over the next couple of years. This dynamic, along with concerns about the need for more aggressive Greek austerity measures and the overhang surrounding the Finnish parliament’s vote on Portugal, helped drive a meaningful pullback in the euro. Along with the related growth, risk and currency headwinds and renewed concerns about overcrowded macro trades, commodities were also hit by some bearish takeaways from the May WASDE report and the EIA inventory data for the week-ended 6-May.

Advancing companies (4):

• Bioheart (BHRT.OB) up $0.050 (33.33%) at $0.20;
• BioMimetic (BMTI) up $0.54 (33.33%) to $9.20;
• Neuralstem (AMEX:CUR) up $0.10 (7.30%) to $1.47;
• Opexa (OPXA) up $0.06 (3.33%) to $1.86

Trading down companies (13):

• Aastrom (ASTM) down -$0.09 (-3.24%) to $2.69;  
• Athersys (ATHX) down -$0.04 (-1.38%) to $2.86;
• BioTime (AMEX: BTX) down -$0.16 (-2.34%) to $5.84;
• Cytori (CYTX) down -$0.21 (-3.31%) to $6.13;  
• Geron (GERN) down -$0.09 (-1.80%) to $4.91;
• ImmunoCellar Therapeutics (OTCPK:IMUC) down -$0.08 (-4.26%) to $1.80;
• NeoStem (AMEX: NBS) down -$0.09 (-5.14%) at $1.66;
• Osiris (OSIR) down -$ 0.22 (-3.10%) to $6.88;
• Pluristem (PSTI) down -$0.06  (-2.17%) to $2.70;
• ReNeuron Group (RENE.L) down -$0.08 (-1.45%) to $5.27;
• StemCells (STEM) down -$0.025 (-4.20%) to $0.779;
• Tengion (TNGN) down -$0.06 (-2.42%) to $2.42; and
• ThermoGenesis (KOOL) down -$0.08 (-3.43%) at $2.25.

Flat (3):

• Advanced Cell Technology (OTC: ACTC) flat at $0.204;
• Brainstorm (BCLI) flat at $0.262;
• International Stem Cell (OTCQB:ISCO) flat at $1.10.

The Bottom Line: Yet again, our universes’ have been suffering their worst selloff in months.  Reiterating, on Wednesday … depreciation ruled the day … Regenerative medicine/stem cell universe stocks were lower since the day started on Thursday (5/11/11).