Global Market Comments
February 16, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trades:
(WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION DEBT?),
($TNX), (TLT), (TBT)
Mad Hedge Biotech and Healthcare Letter
February 15, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(AN EMERGING LEADER IN THE HEALTHCARE REVOLUTION)
(CRSP), (VRTX), (EDIT), (NTLA), (PFE), (NVS), (GILD), (RHHBY), (BMRN), (QURE), (SGMO), (CLLS), (ALLO), (BEAM)
Mankind has always imagined a future filled to the brim with technological advancements serving as the panacea to all our ills.
One of the prevailing ideas focuses on the developments found in the healthcare sector.
Movies, television shows, graphic novels, and books have all pictured a world with such revolutionary technologies capable of not only diagnosing but also curing any and all types of diseases.
Since the introduction of these ideas, many have believed that these would remain in the fictional universe. However, these “ideas” have slowly transformed into reality.
One of the biggest indicators that we’re heading in that direction is the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier. The two were recognized for their pioneering work in CRISPR-Cas9.
Basically, Crispr-Cas9 functions like molecular scissors.
What makes this technology incredible is that Crispr-Cas9 can classify a single address out of 3 billion letters within the genome by using only a particular sequence. With this, we can repair thousands of genetic conditions and even offer more potent ways to battle cancer.
This Nobel Prize led to commercializing the 2012 discovery, Crispr-Cas9, at breakneck speed, with gene-editing companies like CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Editas Medicine (EDIT), and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) gaining a considerable boost in their values.
Surprisingly, the trajectory of these gene-editing stocks took a tragic turn in 2021.
In fact, the once-upon-a-time-market-darling CRISPR Therapeutics saw its market capitalization brutally shaved off from $8.7 billion to $4.55 billion in the past months.
No matter how we look at it, there’s genuinely no way to sugarcoat the reality: the market has been second-guessing CRISPR Therapeutics’ ability to truly deliver on its promise.
That is, investors have started to wonder whether the company’s early stage success would amount to anything commercially.
CRISPR Therapeutics is currently working on a treatment that would implant tumor-targeting immune cells on cancer patients. The company is also prioritizing therapies that could edit cells to treat diabetes.
So far, it has made significant progress in developing treatments for a genetic disorder called sickle cell.
In the US alone, at least 100,000 people suffer from sickle cell disease, with 4,000 more born every year. Conservatively, we can estimate at least 3,000 patients availing of this one-time treatment at over $1.6 million a pop.
To date, CRISPR Therapeutics has five candidates under clinical trials for diseases like B-thalassemia, sickle cell disease, and other regenerative conditions.
It has four more queued, which target diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Compared to its rivals in the space, it’s clear that CRISPR Therapeutics is ahead when it comes to product development and trials.
Two of its candidates, transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia treatment CTX001 and sickle cell disease therapy CTX110, have already been submitted for clinical tests for safety and efficacy.
Recently, Vertex (VRTX) boosted its 2015 agreement with CRISPR Therapeutics by 10%, with the deal reaching $900 million upfront to push for quicker results in developing CTX001.
This is a crucial move for Vertex, but more so for CRISPR Therapeutics as CTX001 holds a highly lucrative addressable market.
The additional funding significantly widened the gap between the Vertex-CRISPR team and bluebird bio (BLUE) in the race to launch a new gene-editing therapy targeting sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.
To sustain its growth, CRISPR Therapeutics’ strategy is to develop drugs that only require mid-level complexity but can rake in generous financial rewards.
This is a similar tactic used by bigger and more established biotechnology companies like Pfizer (PFE), Novartis (NVS), and Gilead Sciences (GILD).
Evidently, this strategy is a great way to ensure cash flow.
Aside from its earnings from the commercialization of these products, CRISPR Therapeutics can also attract larger companies to buy the intellectual property of their breakthrough treatments.
After all, startups generally get 100% premiums in contracts with Big Pharma.
Good examples of this are Novartis that bought AveXis and Roche’s (RHHBY) purchase of Spark Therapeutics.
The Roche-Spark agreement led to the first ever FDA-approved treatment since gene therapy trials started in the 1990s. It was for the genetic blindness therapy Luxturna, which received the green light in 2017.
The second approved treatment was a muscle-wasting disease therapy Zolgensma, which was the fruit of the Novartis-Avexis acquisition.
Both conditions are rare, but the financial rewards are impressive.
At $2 million for each treatment, Zolgensma sales reached $1.2 billion annually. At the rate the therapy is selling, Novartis estimates that Zolgensma will surpass the $2 billion mark in 2021.
Novartis and Roche aren’t the only ones partnering with smaller gene editing companies.
Pfizer has been working with biotechnology companies BioMarin Pharmaceutics (BMRN) and UniQure (QURE) to develop a treatment for blood-clotting disorder hemophilia.
The COVID-19 frontrunner is also collaborating with Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) to come up with a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Gene editing has also served as the foundation for several biotechnology companies out there today like Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO), Cellectis (CLLS), and Allogene Therapeutics (ALLO).
The market size for gene editing treatments is estimated to be worth $11.2 billion by 2025, with the number rising between $15.79 billion to $18.1 billion by 2027.
This puts the compounded annual growth rate of this sector to be at least roughly 17%.
While this is already groundbreaking with only a handful of companies knowing how to utilize the technology, the gene-editing world has come up with a more advanced technique than Crispr-Cas9.
The technology is founded on the “base editing” or “prime editing” technique, which is the simplest type of gene editing that alters only one DNA letter.
So far, one company holds exclusive rights to this technology: Beam Therapeutics (BEAM).
When the technology became public, Beam stock has increased sixfold since its IPO in February 2020.
This latest development can resolve thousands of genetic diseases. However, it still requires further trials since “base editing” can also trigger damaging responses from the body.
Overall, I think CRISPR Therapeutics is the most promising among these high-risk stocks.
The data from two of its candidates, CTX001 and CTX110, are promising. The added funding from Vertex boosts the confidence of investors that a regulatory approval is well on its way.
The company is also sitting on a massive cash pile and investing aggressively across different rare disease programs.
While the company has yet to be considered a major force in the biotechnology world, the potential multiple successes of its products could generate a company worth hundreds of billions.
This potential alone offers an investing opportunity with a substantial asymmetric advantage for its current share price.
However, bear in mind that the stock is not for conservative investors considering risks.
More importantly, its pipeline requires patience. Hence, CRISPR Therapeutics should be played as a long-term investment.
Mad Hedge Bitcoin Letter
February 15, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(RUSSIA POWER-UPS DOMESTIC CRYPTO INDUSTRY)
(BTC), (ETH)
Russian war? Yawn.
Is it a ploy to raise energy prices? Perhaps.
They have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons and a diminished superpower invading Ukraine and Europe would have been financially devastating for a country with an economy the same size as the state of Texas.
The more important news for us crypto fanatics is the bombshell that was dropped on February 8th – The Russian government approved the concept of regulating the cryptocurrency market in Russia.
According to the plan, all transactions with digital money will have to go through banks, and already existing wallets will have to be deanonymized.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin forced the State and Central Bank to come together to propose numerous measures that should bring digital currency transactions out of the gray zone, as well as the timing of the implementation of these plans.
Judging by the approved concept, in the future, all cryptocurrency transactions will go through the banking infrastructure.
In order to open a wallet, and then buy or sell cryptocurrency, a person will need to contact the bank and go prove identification there.
The government believes that a complete ban on the crypto industry (as originally proposed by the Central Bank) or the absence of its regulation will lead to an increase in the share of the shadow economy, an increase in fraud cases.
The plan is for Russians, who have opened more than 12 million cryptocurrency wallets, on which about 2 trillion rubles sit to be an official part of the financial system.
It is estimated that almost 12% of the Russian population (about 17 million people) owns cryptocurrency.
What will government regulation lead to?
The cryptocurrency market in Russia is growing, so it needs legalization.
Market participants will be more fluid if crypto isn’t illegal which means that investments will flow into the industry.
This includes large institutional money from the traditional financial market, which is accustomed to working in conditions of strict regulation and licensing by the Central Bank.
The structure of the market after the introduction of new rules may change.
“Not all of the big crypto exchanges will agree to work in the new conditions because of deanonymized aspects of it and the government oversight.
Now all the largest sites are not Russian, and this will change. This sets up nicely for a domestic exchange that will cater towards the Russian language and possess Russian characteristics.
The government understood that the ban would completely exclude the Russian economy from the emerging global digital space, with all the ensuing consequences.
The Russian authorities took heed from China’s experience with crypto, where they completely banned cryptocurrencies and mining and which could have devastating effects on their future economy and currency.
The Chinese have bet on the digital yuan, which they are now implementing at full steam, hoping that in the future it will become the world's reserve currency.
Quite laughable, but that’s what they think.
Because of this decision, miners and investors fled the country for Russia, Kazakhstan, and other crypto-friendly countries and regions.
What about mining?
There could be a separate bill that will be devoted to mining, which will define specific territories for the "mining" of digital currency (similar to gambling zones) and separate energy rules.
I believe that the legalization of mining will have a positive effect and encourage an emerging mining industry to grow inside of Russia.
The state will have the opportunity to optimize energy, for example, load idle power plants, giving the surplus of energy to miners.
Ultimately, Russia is setting into motion the rules to encourage a thriving crypto domestic industry and reduce the cost of electricity for the population.
Sure, this undermines the spirit of crypto being a decentralized good, but Russia’s totalitarian government simply won’t allow a free-flowing crypto environment without oversight.
I believe that proven crypto coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum will be given the green light by the Russian government, and this would never happen unless Russia gets its cut as well.
Russia, which did its best to kick out the US tech industry, is hesitant to repeat the same antics as the loss of revenue and high-paying jobs over the long haul came back to bite the government.
On a wider scale, this will fortify and legitimize crypto as a real global risk asset and in the short-term, price action should benefit and move higher from here.
Ironically, Bitcoin has stabilized in the $40,000s and could move higher in the next month or two.
“Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it.” - Said Swiss Novelist Max Frisch
Global Market Comments
February 15, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trades:
(HOW TO HANDLE THE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18 OPTIONS EXPIRATION),
(TLT), (SPY), (BRKB), (TSLA), (MSFT), (AMZN)
Happy and newly enriched followers of the Mad Hedge Fund Trader Alert Service have the good fortune to own a record ten deep in-the-money options positions that expire on Friday, February 18 at the stock market close in three days.
I have to admit that I traded like a Wildman this month, pedal to the metal, and 100% invested. This will take our 2022 year-to-date performance to over 24%. I like to think that is the end result of my 53 years investment in researching trading strategies.
Sometimes overconfidence works.
It is therefore time to explain to the newbies how to best maximize their profits.
These involve the:
Risk On
World is Getting Better
(TLT) 2/$149-$152 put spread 10.00%
(TLT) 2/$147-$150 put spread 10.00%
(TLT) 3/$150-$153 put spread 10.00%
(BRKB) 2/$270-$280 call spread 10.00%
(TSLA) 2/$600-$650 call spread 10.00%
Risk Off
World is Getting Worse
(MSFT) 2/$340-$350 put spread -10.00%
(SPY) 2/$465-$475 put spread -10.00%
(SPY) 3/$470-$480 put spread -10.00%
(AMZN) 2/$3400-$3500 put spread -10.00%
(TLT) 3/$127-$130 call spread -10.00%
Total Net Position 0.00%
Total Aggregate Position 100.00%
Provided that we don’t have another 2,000-point move down in the market in the next three days, these positions should expire at their maximum profit points.
So far, so good.
I’ll do the math for you on our deepest in-the-money position, the Tesla (TSLA) February 18 $600-$650 vertical bull call spread, which 50% in the money from its lower strike price which I almost certainly will run into expiration. Your profit can be calculated as follows:
Profit: $50.00 expiration value - $43.00 cost = $7.00 net profit
(2 contacts X 100 contracts per option X $7.00 profit per option)
= $1,400 or 16.28% in 15 trading days.
Many of you have already emailed me asking what to do with these winning positions.
The answer is very simple. You take your left hand, grab your right wrist, pull it behind your neck, and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
You don’t have to do anything.
Your broker (are they still called that?) will automatically use your long position to cover your short position, canceling out the total holdings.
The entire profit will be credited to your account on Monday morning February 21 and the margin freed up.
Some firms charge you a modest $10 or $15 fee for performing this service.
If you don’t see the cash show up in your account on Monday, get on the blower immediately and make your broker find it.
Although the expiration process is now supposed to be fully automated, occasionally machines do make mistakes. Better to sort out any confusion before losses ensue.
If you want to wimp out and close the position before the expiration, it may be expensive to do so. You can probably unload them pennies below their maximum expiration value.
Keep in mind that the liquidity in the options market understandably disappears, and the spreads substantially widen, when a security has only hours, or minutes until expiration on Friday, February 18. So, if you plan to exit, do so well before the final expiration at the Friday market close.
This is known in the trade as the “expiration risk.”
One way or the other, I’m sure you’ll do OK, as long as I am looking over your shoulder, as I will be, always. Think of me as your trading guardian angel.
I am going to hang back and wait for good entry points before jumping back in. It’s all about keeping that “Buy low, sell high” thing going.
I’m looking to cherry-pick my new positions going into the next month-end.
Take your winnings and go out and buy yourself a well-earned dinner. Just make sure it’s take-out. I want you to stick around.
Well done, and on to the next trade.
You Can’t Do Enough Research
Mad Hedge Technology Letter
February 14, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(THE STRATEGIC WINNER OF TECH)
(NVDA), (TDOC), (ZM)
Nvidia (NVDA) is one of the best buy-the-dip tech candidates after the pullback from around $350.
This is one of the premier tech stocks of our generation and readers shouldn’t be fooled by the recent weakness.
NVDA simply has been dragged down with the rest of the best as technology still tries to find some footing after a rough January that was sideswiped by exogenous shocks out of NVDA’s control.
Tech growth stocks have been pigeonholed as one broad category, and even though NVDA boasts a sterling balance sheet that achieved $4.33 billion in profits in 2021, they are penalized with the general category of growth stock.
The rotation into energy and commodities has been swift, but make no mistake, this company is no Teladoc (TDOC) or Zoom Video (ZM), unequivocally not.
NVDA sits at the heart of every cutting-edge technology today by its production of high-quality CPUs and GPUs that are required for businesses as broad as data centers to the metaverse which includes gaming to automotive driving.
NVDAs stock accelerated too fast too soon which made them vulnerable to significant headline risk.
So headlines like war with Ukraine and Russia don’t really have much bearing over the trajectory of Nvidia’s business at all, but since index funds contain NVDA, NVDA gets heaped into the risk-off moves.
The stock further sold off after news leaked of the dead acquisition between British chip company ARM due to antitrust concerns.
At a broader level, semiconductor chips have possibly never been in such high demand, yet supply is painfully constrained.
The U.S. Commerce Department has recently emphasized the precarious nature of the global semiconductor supply chain in 2022.
However, the agency also expressed the possibility of new manufacturing capacity coming online as early as the second half of 2022, which may help somewhat in reducing the chip shortages.
With Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Samsung having already planned huge investments in capacity expansion, we may see increased pricing pressures in the semiconductor industry in the next few years.
Even with new supply coming to market, the world and the semiconductor industry will fail to satisfy the world’s insatiable demand for chips which has forced many end products to delay finishing products for the foreseeable future.
How well is NVDA really doing?
In one word, fantastic.
Nvidia's revenues and free cash flow have more than doubled while gross margin and operating margin are up big.
This terrific growth has been mainly driven by increasing demand for the company's graphics cards and artificial intelligence (AI) processors in gaming and data center segments.
Nvidia currently accounts for almost 80% of the gaming GPU market. The company's GeForce RTX-powered laptops are being increasingly used not only in gaming but also in areas such as esports, digital content creation, and streaming.
Many of my key employees are using PC-based NVDA GPUs to support and service the company.
Nvidia saw its gaming revenues jump 72% year over year to $9 billion last quarter.
In the first nine months of fiscal 2021, the company's data center revenues soared by 53% year over year to $7.4 billion. Increasing revenue exposure to the data center segment is also helping improve the company's gross margin profile.
The next big business could be the car business.
The company offers a complete platform solution, which includes hardware, software, and infrastructure (servers, computing power, and data centers) required to support autonomous vehicles.
Many car shoppers are quickly realizing that cars are starting to appear like an iPad on wheels.
Lastly, Nvidia is also well placed to secure a big portion of the evolving metaverse opportunity, estimated to be around $30 trillion.
The company's high-throughput GPU chips, data center CPU, and next-generation Bluefield data processing unit will play a major role as the hardware technology needed to support the metaverse.
No matter what anyone says, it is hard to construct a case in which NVDA is one of the losers of future and tech.
Not only do they boast the metrics of a growth company, but their brand recognition almost falls into the top tier of tech companies.
The real tech people will tell you this stock is a long-term keeper and despite the high volatility, don’t let that dissuade you from betting big on NVDA.
