Last week, the 33rd edition of the J P Morgan healthcare conference and biotech showcase took place in San Francisco. The conference is becoming more and more a shopping center for Wall Street investors. Small, medium, and large companies come here to present new products; it’s the ideal place to find out about pending FDA approvals, new research, partnerships, mergers and anything healthcare under the sun. Investors and bio-pharmaceutical executives from around the world come together under one roof for two days to set the healthcare tone for the coming year.
The healthcare sector remains one of the strongest sectors of the economy. Here are just a few companies that presented last week: Gilead Sciences, INC (GILD), Amgen (AMGN), Eli Lilly (LLY), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Celgene Corp (CELG), MERK & Co (MRK). These are definitely a few companies on my radar, but here is one from my hot list.
AGEN (Agenus), a speculative biotech company focused on immunotherapy, including immuno-oncology, a field that uses the power of the immune system to control or cure cancer. This company popped 28.7% after the announcement of a new partnership with GSK and INCY. The partnership means quicker turnaround on new products and this is great news for patients, the company, and of course, investors. AGEN will produce a new malaria vaccine in partnership with GSK and also another vaccine for shingles.
Technical Pattern
The stock is into an uptrend on major time frames. It gapped up on partnership announcement to $6.49 on January 12, 2015. Since then it has corrected and formed a new support area at $5.30. For the last three trading days (Thursday – Friday) the stock has been consolidating and digesting the current price level at the $5.50 area. The daily trading volume is 1.8 million. A break over the new resistance area at $5.70 can technically propel the stock back up to the prior daily resistance at $6.49. For a longer projection, there is still room to run all the way to $7.40 area (2012prior resistance).
Key Technical Areas
- Bias: Bullish
- Support: $5.30, $4.88, $3.80
- Resistance: $6.49, $7.40
Technical Picture
Remember as always that you should not risk your own money unless you understand and are comfortable with the position and you have a full understanding of the risks of trading securities.
Good trading everyone,
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