Size Matters:
There is an old axiom on Wall Street to “know what you own”. It was a reference to equities but if you monitor ETFs one can get clues about an investor’s risk appetite. The two most recognizable funds in the biotech space are the IBB and the XBI. To the naked eye, their PRICE charts look very similar, but the IBB has been behaving ever so slightly better. It is “just” 27% off its most recent 52-week highs while the XBI is 42% off its own. The composition is different with the IBB favoring “larger cap” names, and that has suited it well with some nice moves recently by the “big three” (used to be four before CELG was swallowed by BMY). But AMGN has come to life this week rising 10%, and as the top holding in the IBB, has given it a boost. GILD wanting attention is the second largest holding and up 3%. And of course, BIIB (6th biggest component) is holding onto the majority of the huge WEEKLY gain of 35% the week ending 9/30. MRNA, with a larger market cap now than Biogen is trying to hold onto its quadruple bottom near the 120 area. VRTX looks solid but still pensive around the very round 300 number. Pay attention to what the market is trying to tell you.