Note: we will return from vacation this week and focus on companies attending the AACC (American Association of Clinical Chemistry)Meeting in Atlanta this week).
Market Down 0.5% as Both Parties Struggle to Come up with Debt Ceiling Plan
One half hour into trading the market has cut losses in half.
Ideology trumps pragmatism as deficit reduction plans as two parties have reached an impasse with the August 2 (political) deadline one week away. It is very hard to separate the analysts from their politics. Although the market is up 6-7% YTD June and July have been volatile and now we are back to macro issues such as Greece and the U.S. debt ceiling raising caution levels.Several reports indicate that despite an up market many of the most experienced traders and investors are perplexed by market trends. Rising corporate profits have been the major driver as of late and corporate balance sheets are bulging with cash. But the job situation remains grim with some pundits claiming U.S. budget and policy uncertainty but others pointing out a slow growth economy with slack demand. An article in the WSJ in the Marketplace section pointed out today earnings within S&P-100 companies are the highest in 4 years but many of the gains are from business abroad.
Among the stronger sectors today are materials and energy with precious metals up and healthcare down slightly 0.3%. Smaller cap stocks to watch in biopharmaceuticals are Idenix (IDIX) and Infinity (INFI) both up last week.The Rayno Mid Cap index of biopharma is down 1.4% as of 10:25a today. The Rayno Life Science Portfolio is down 0.9% with a red screen.
Venture Investments in Healthcare Drop from $2.8B to $2.3B for Q2 2011 compared to Q2 2010 although medical software and IT were up:
Dow Jones Shows Slight Decline in Venture Deals, Dollars, Since Last Year | Xconomy