Market 2018-01-05 (Biotech M&A, and more)

This market is a monster --- new records everyday in all the 4 trading days in 2018. It seems that any news, or even no news, is good news.

Tech Sector leads the way. In December, I had predicted that Tech would shine again after Tax Reform settled. However, I was not expecting such violent rally.

Crude -0.73% to $61.56. Gold -0.03% to $1,321.20. Energy sector takes a pause.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 148,000 in December, according to the Labor Department, well below expectations of 190,000. Biggest job gains by sector came from health care (31,000), construction (30,000) and manufacturing (25,000).

November Factory Orders: +1.3% vs. +1.1% consensus and +0.4% prior.

There are lots of rating changes today. Followings are some notes on biotech.

Goldman Sachs analyst Salveen Richter says M&A activity in the biopharma space should pick up this year. Likely buyers include Celgene, Pfizer, Merck and J&J, AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Attractive targets include Clovis Oncology, Exelixis, Incyte, Puma Biotechnology, Seattle Genetics, TESARO, Agios Pharmaceuticals, bluebird bio, ImmunoGen, Array BioPharma, Blueprint Medicines, Epizyme, Halozyme Therapeutics, Juno Therapeutics, Karyopharm, Loxo Oncology, MacroGenics, Nektar Therapeutics, Odonate, Radius Health, Syndax Pharmaceuticals and TG Therapeutics.

Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analysts, led by Ying Huang, have a bullish outlook on biopharm this year. Top Picks: Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Amgen (AMGN)...

Winners

SQ +8%, as Bitcoin jumps again.

Tech is strong (QQQ +1%): FB +1.4%, AAPL +1.1%, AMZN +1.6%, NFLX +2.1%, GOOG +1.5%. NVDA +0.9%, INTC also bounces back 0.7%..

Google Assistant is now available on more than 400M devices. I got a google home and I liked it, better than Amazon Echo.

WU +5.9% amid rumor that the company is considering adopting a new XRP payment system. XRP is the token used in the Ripple protocol.

XLNX +5.2%, upgraded by GS from Neutral to Buy with PT from $72 to $78.

CVS +4.4% upgraded to Overweight with an $88 PT by Morgan Stanley. It's too bad I sold yesterday.

BA +4.1%, as Brazil will give its "blessings" to any "partnership or joint venture" between Embraer and Boeing.

 YY +5.1% to list its esports platform Huya in the U.S. MOMO +3.6%.


Losers

CELG -1.6%, downgraded by BOA/Merrill Lynch to Neutral with a $120 PT.

MU -2.3%, TrendForce drops Q1 DRAM estimate after Samsung, China meeting. China is concerned about its role in rising memory prices.

 Roku -9.7%. A few days ago, I have warned that Roku is pump and dump stock. Now it is in "dump" phase as it falls from $58 to $46 in 3 days.


My Trades Today


Sold TELL @ $11.08, will buy back if it falls below $10.

Sold 70% QD @ $13.2. QD is still good for day-trade.

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