Scimitar Equity Blog

Regenerative medicine/stem cell universe stocks were down since the day started on Monday (4/18/11).

The NASDAQ dropped -29.27 (-1.06%) to 2735.38. The Dow was down 250 at one point but closed down -140.24 (-1.14%) to 12,201.59. On Wednesday, 4/18/11, depreciation ruled the day … but, we should be thankful that 6 companies had gains!

Advancing companies (6):

• Bioheart (BHRT.OB)  up $0.02 (11.11%) to $0.20;
• BioMimetic (BMTI) up $0.44 (3.31%) to $13.72;
• Brainstorm (BCLI.OB) up $0.02 (7.14%) at $0.30;
• Geron (GERN) up $0.02 (0.40%) to $5.04;
• ReNeuron Group (RENE.L) up $0.10 (1.66%) to $5.82; and
• Tengion (TNGN) up $0.21 (8.23%) to $2.76.

Trading down companies (13):

• Aastrom (ASTM) down -$0.05 (-1.92%) to $2.55;  
• Athersys (ATHX) down -$0.04 (-1.38%) to $2.86;
• Advanced Cell Technology (OTC: ACTC) down -$0.001 (-0.49%) to $0.181;
• BioTime (AMEX: BTX) down -$0.19 (-2.49%) to $7.44;
• Cytori (CYTX) down -$0.41 (-5.35%) to $7.25;  
• ImmunoCellar Therapeutics (IMUC) down -$0.08 (-3.33%) to $2.32;
• International Stem Cell (ISCO.OB) down – $0.06 (-5.0%) to $1.14;
• NeoStem (AMEX: NBS) down -$0.02 (-1.0%) at $1.99;
• Neuralstem (AMEX:CUR) down -$0.03 (-1.71%) to $1.72;  
• Osiris (OSIR) down -$ 0.08 (-1.23%) to $6.41;
• Opexa (OPXA) down -$0.15 (-7.46%) to $1.86;
• Pluristem (PSTI) down – $0.13 (-4.33%) to $2.87; and
• StemCells (STEM) down -$0.025 (-3.18%) to $0.761.

Flat (1):

• ThermoGenesis (KOOL) flat at $2.28.

The Bottom Line: Our universes’ and US stocks suffered their worst selloff in a month Monday after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) revised its long-term outlook on the US to negative from stable and as worry about Europe’s debt troubles intensified. The big winner was BioMimetic (BMTI) which was up $0.44 or 3.31% to $13.72. But it was the stock market, not the bond market, which took it on the chin. For every stock rising, almost 5 fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where 1B shares traded hands. In the low-interest rate and high-liquidity environment of the past two years, it’s easy to understand why stocks have performed well. But a negative outlook on U.S. debt suggests the end of easy-money policies may be closer than investors had hoped. The market has had a good run and was likely looking for a reason to turn lower. If liquidity dries up, stocks will struggle.