Another one that has been going gangbusters even through (perhaps even because of) the coronavirus recession is Zoom Video Communications (ZM).

 

I've never actually used it myself but I've been confronted with it twice in the past day now: Once when it was recommended by the Motley Fool, and then right on cue, a board that I'm on just scheduled its next meeting--for the first time ever--via Zoom.  so I'm about to find out how it works.

Athersys, which was being discussed in the Cleveland Biotech thread, is up another 12% to $2.10 or so today on 4.5 million shares traded by 11AM.  If you want a fresh dose of enthusiasm for this stock, listen to their earnings conference call of March 16th. I've never heard financial analysts so all-in in support of a company.

 

Disclosure: I bought some ATHX last January.

 

Webcast:

https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/console/EventConsoleApollo.jsp?&eventid=2187413&sessionid=1&username=&partnerref=&format=fhaudio&mobile=&flashsupportedmobiledevice=&helpcenter=&key=AF0EB0395731CD0A11E07D69A34130AD&newConsole=false&nxChe=false&text_language_id=en&playerwidth=748&playerheight=526&eventuserid=277740146&contenttype=A&mediametricsessionid=232836373&mediametricid=3090620&usercd=277740146&mode=launch

Edited March 20, 20205 yr by Dougal

^Dude, they had $300,000 in revenues for the quarter. They lost $35 million mainly from R&D for the year and they have $35 million cash on hand.  Lets not pump this too hard for people on this board. Its got a great and important story.  But everything is still in testing. 

57 minutes ago, audidave said:

^Dude, they had $300,000 in revenues for the quarter. They lost $35 million mainly from R&D for the year and they have $35 million cash on hand.  Lets not pump this too hard for people on this board. Its got a great and important story.  But everything is still in testing. 

 

No argument; it's a risk. Developmental biotechs are always cliff-hangers - years of cash-burn before they have significant sales.  At the present time, though, this one looks as if they'll make it to market before the cash runs out again.

^It does look like it has positive clinical trials going on in Japan.  The question would be, say they get approval by June even(trump panic), how fast would it be for them to start ramping up production and deployment?  Are they using stem cells to create multistem? I would think that would limit how fast this could be ramped up, if so. 

  

^Most of your questions are answered by their Invesor Presentation; ATHX is optimistic but pretty careful not to overpromise:

https://www.athersys.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx

 

 

Cincinnati's over-achieving home-schooled family:

 

There's nothing these parents won't do to be king of the home-schoolers. Let's act like we're teaching our kids how to handle money while we're really just showing off that we don't have jobs but somehow have all of this money. 

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 20205 yr by jmecklenborg

10 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

Cincinnati's over-achieving home-schooled family:

 

There's nothing these parents won't do to be king of the home-schoolers. Let's act like we're teaching our kids how to handle money while we're really just showing off that we don't have jobs but somehow have all of this money. 

 

Why do you care so much about what random people on Youtube are doing? 

I think it's because too many people are basing their personal finance and life decisions based on these sensationalist videos.

13 hours ago, DEPACincy said:

 

Why do you care so much about what random people on Youtube are doing? 

 

Because youtube rewards shamelessness.  Perhaps 5% of all American families with 6 kids could pull this stunt, and 90% of those inherited the means to do so.  The discovery of their channel several years ago (I was watching Appalachian Trail videos when I stumbled upon their self-congratulatory documentation of their family's hike) turned me steeply against home schooling, a fringe activity that I had no opinion about beforehand. 

 

Teenagers need to be out there being yelled at by terrible coworkers and terrible owners at terrible jobs.  They need to experience the coke head shift manager who is skimming the tips.  They need to be tricked into lending money to scumbag coworkers.  They need the no-nonsense boss who won't shut up about his career in The Marines but it turns out he was never in The Marines.  They need to watch the one guy who isn't in the family trick the family into trusting him and distrusting all of the honest people.    

I don't know about all of that, but anytime I see a big happy isolated family like the one in the video, you know it's a horror show behind closed doors. I mean, it looks like the father is about to f-uck his daughter in the opening scenes of "Why We Share a Bed" video. 

Does anyone think real estate will decline now?  I'd like to pick up some rentals but I've been waiting on the market to cool.

There are going to be a lot of desperate people looking to sell their homes ASAP, meaning prices will plummet like never before. 30 percent unemployment, growing debts and credit market nightmares = a lot of people will be unable to afford their homes and will need cash immediately, even at a fraction of the appraised value.

 

Investors are going to make a fortune. 

 

As for the commercial markets, stay far, far, far away. 

I do condo flips and I had two condos remaining that haven't moved in a long time. I've owned one since April 2019 and the other since September 2019. In the last two weeks, both went under contract. The second one went for my asking price.

 

BTW, as an aside, one of the condos is under contract from a woman relocating her family from California. She has other family here and wanted to get away from the high costs and traffic of the Bay Area.

Edited March 25, 20205 yr by KJP

1 hour ago, TBideon said:

I don't know about all of that, but anytime I see a big happy isolated family like the one in the video, you know it's a horror show behind closed doors. I mean, it looks like the father is about to f-uck his daughter in the opening scenes of "Why We Share a Bed" video. 

 

Wow, I definitely didn't see that one.  I'm at work so I can't be caught looking up a video like that!  There is usually a lot of weird stuff going on with families who flaunt their family.  Tons of photos of themselves in their home and at the office, over-the-top birthday parties, graduations, weddings, etc.  EVERYBODY LOOK AT US ME.  We used to get a Christmas card from some acquaintance that was completely over-the-top.  My dad made the habit of reading their year-in-review at our family's large Christmas get together.  The reading of the card was the highlight of the party for 4-5 years until you guessed it they divorced.    

30 minutes ago, TBideon said:

There are going to be a lot of desperate people looking to sell their homes ASAP, meaning prices will plummet like never before. 30 percent unemployment, growing debts and credit market nightmares = a lot of people will be unable to afford their homes and will need cash immediately, even at a fraction of the appraised value.

 

Investors are going to make a fortune. 

 

I was already saving up to buy a rental property before all of this excitement.  I don't have enough cash to buy anything with cash so whatever I do will be dependent on conventional mortgages still existing, which they barely did in 2009.  

 

 

11 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

Teenagers need to be out there being yelled at by terrible coworkers and terrible owners at terrible jobs.  They need to experience the coke head shift manager who is skimming the tips.  They need to be tricked into lending money to scumbag coworkers.  They need the no-nonsense boss who won't shut up about his career in The Marines but it turns out he was never in The Marines.  They need to watch the one guy who isn't in the family trick the family into trusting him and distrusting all of the honest people.    

 

Seriously, why so misanthropic?  No one needs to experience this.  Ever.  It is not inevitable and no one should have a goal of making it inevitable just to "break" kids to the "real world."

 

1 hour ago, TBideon said:

There are going to be a lot of desperate people looking to sell their homes ASAP, meaning prices will plummet like never before. 30 percent unemployment, growing debts and credit market nightmares = a lot of people will be unable to afford their homes and will need cash immediately, even at a fraction of the appraised value.

 

Investors are going to make a fortune. 

 

As for the commercial markets, stay far, far, far away. 

 

Maybe, but banks don't generally want massive amounts of foreclosed properties on their hands if they see light at the end of the tunnel, i.e., a borrower that will be able to resume making payments if given a brief forbearance.  Now, if the temporary economic downturn becomes more structural, i.e., people are not actually able to go back to work even when the health-emergency shutdown ends, then banks may choose to foreclose because they don't have a viable exit strategy in continuing to work with their existing borrowers.  The federal government may also be prepared to make forbearance mandatory in many cases for those whose jobs were impacted by shelter-in-place orders.

 

Critically, I haven't seen that much evidence that banks are as overextended as they used to be.  Things have started to get a little silly in the last year, perhaps, but not like 2006-2007.  And, of course, that bubble inflated for years, arguably starting in 2003 or so.  Banks haven't been lending on zero equity and gambling on the equity prices increasing to justify loans that otherwise would be nonsensical for the borrower's income.

2 hours ago, TBideon said:

There are going to be a lot of desperate people looking to sell their homes ASAP, meaning prices will plummet like never before. 30 percent unemployment, growing debts and credit market nightmares = a lot of people will be unable to afford their homes and will need cash immediately, even at a fraction of the appraised value.

 

Investors are going to make a fortune. 

 

As for the commercial markets, stay far, far, far away. 

 

We listed our rental condo a week before corona virus hit the US ?

Obviously I don't know your specific situation, but there are going to be a lot of people looking to rent properties in the near future, as so many small businesses will be unable to reopen and large scale businesses will downsize. You may be better off looking at a home equity loan if you need cash as opposed to waiting out this... uncertainty. 

Edited March 25, 20205 yr by TBideon

2 minutes ago, TBideon said:

Obviously I don't know your specific situation, but there are going to be a lot of people looking to rent properties in the near future, as so many small businesses will be unable to reopen and large scale businesses will downsize. You may be better off looking at a home equity loan if you need cash as opposed to waiting out this... uncertainty. 

 

I have read elsewhere that some banks might start shutting down helocs, so I wouldn't count on getting the money.  

 

The appraiser just came to my house today.  It was like a 6-7 minute walk-through with a cheesy circa-2006 digital camera.  The guy didn't give a damn, he's making money.  I was quoted at 3.25% apr two weeks ago but they just dropped to 3.21%.  I'm getting greedy.  

 

 

55 minutes ago, jmecklenborg said:

I was quoted at 3.25% apr two weeks ago but they just dropped to 3.21%.  I'm getting greedy.  

 

I bought my house in 2008, right before the market crash.  Refinanced in '10 to 3.25% (this mortgage was just sold off to another servicer).   I need to do the math to see how much lower rates would need to go for it to make sense for me to try again.   

10 hours ago, Gramarye said:

 

Seriously, why so misanthropic?  No one needs to experience this.  Ever.  It is not inevitable and no one should have a goal of making it inevitable just to "break" kids to the "real world."

 

My dad shoved myself and my brothers out into the real world with almost zero guidance or financial support.  Whenever we asked for advice he'd give us intentionally bad advice to teach us to figure things out for ourselves.  You got yelled at if you asked to borrow $300 for a car repair and don't even think about asking him to cosign on an apartment lease. 

 

Working bad jobs is critical for learning how to function in dysfunctional environments.  You're often the only or almost the only intelligent person in a swirl of emotion that relentlessly pulls you towards lying, stealing, drug use, cigarette smoking, scratch-off tickets, rims and car stereos, yelling, fist-fighting, playing in really bad bands, and dating coworkers. 

 

 

 

^I have had an unbelievable amount of people explode on me over the years for my refusal to do things that most of society considers to be wrong.

And no, for the 14th time I won't join your Nu-Metal band. I don't care how many people come to your gigs in Marion, at strip mall bars on Hilliard-Rome Road and in Newark.

Edited March 26, 20205 yr by GCrites80s

17 hours ago, GCrites80s said:

^I have had an unbelievable amount of people explode on me over the years for my refusal to do things that most of society considers to be wrong.

 

Earlier today I found a set of keys.  I asked the closest person if they were her keys.  She said yes.  Turns out they weren't her keys and she went out into the parking lot trying to get into cars.  

 

That's the kind of stuff you won't learn in home school.  

 

This thing in today's NY Times is pretty ridiculous.  I'm certainly not a "seasoned" investor, but I find paper losses to be much less stressful than paper gains.  Paper losses - you just don't sell.  Paper gains?  I find myself constantly thinking about selling.  

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/business/stock-market-pandemic-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

You can just tax loss harvest paper losses if no tax-sheltered (IRA, HSA, 401k).

Edited March 30, 20205 yr by DarkandStormy

Athersys is killing it today. it's up to $2.45

10 minutes ago, freefourur said:

Athersys is killing it today. it's up to $2.45

 

It was a good day for them news-wise....

 

HEALIOS K.K. Increases Investment in Athersys by Fully Exercising Warrant to Acquire Additional Shares

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/healios-k-k-increases-investment-100000701.html

 

Athersys up 14% on additional $7M capital infusion

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3556381-athersys-up-14-on-additional-7m-capital-infusion

 

Athersys Sees 4 Million Share Insider Buy From Partner Running COVID-19 ARDS Trial In Japan

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4335008-athersys-sees-4-million-share-insider-buy-from-partner-running-covidminus-19-ards-trial-in

Just now, KJP said:

 

It was a good day for them news-wise....

 

HEALIOS K.K. Increases Investment in Athersys by Fully Exercising Warrant to Acquire Additional Shares

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/healios-k-k-increases-investment-100000701.html

 

Athersys up 14% on additional $7M capital infusion

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3556381-athersys-up-14-on-additional-7m-capital-infusion

 

Athersys Sees 4 Million Share Insider Buy From Partner Running COVID-19 ARDS Trial In Japan

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4335008-athersys-sees-4-million-share-insider-buy-from-partner-running-covidminus-19-ards-trial-in

that infusion will give the a bit more runway.

It closed at $2.59! And it's still climbing in after-hours....

Lots more attention in the biomed sector these days, one just as full of insane ups and downs and "innovation" (promises) as tech, but less-public facing so we don't hear about them all the time.

7 minutes ago, KJP said:

It closed at $2.59! And it's still climbing in after-hours....

 

Eh... I spoke too soon.

14 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

Eh... I spoke too soon.

My concern is that they will be late to market. There is a competing ARDS treatment.  Frm the WSJ, "... the rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara by Regeneron and Sanofi that inhibits the molecule “interleukin 6,” which is believed to cause acute respiratory inflammation in severely ill patients."

Edited March 30, 20205 yr by Dougal

There is a long term view to this stock that could make this a lot of money from both stroke and ARDS globally that would be over a 3-5-10 year period. 
 There is a very short term view as well based on the hype.  There has been virtually no publicity for this stock nationally.  With the large leap in stock price today it will start to be noticed by the day traders. 
  We are entering the painful month of April and that is when Dewine might be making a plea for trump to push this as a solution as well. When it is clear there are not enough ventilators, this will be considered the last option. 

22 minutes ago, Dougal said:

My concern is that they will be late to market. There is a competing ARDS treatment.  Frm the WSJ, "... the rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara by Regeneron and Sanofi that inhibits the molecule “interleukin 6,” which is believed to cause acute respiratory inflammation in severely ill patients."

 

@Dougal Is that treatment also on a fast-track designation from the FDA? I think Athersys' is different because it uses Multistem cell therapy to replace damaged respiratory cells, not merely inflamed cells. Athersys got fast-track approval last year to treat ARDS from common pneumonia -- but it also apparently works to treat COVID19-induced ARDS. It's possible both of these treatments may come into play -- Kevzara to stop the damage and Atherysis' Multistem to reverse it.

The money is in oil/fracking.  A lot of them have been pushed toward penny stocks.  The second Saudi Arabia chills out they're all going to spike.  

8 hours ago, KJP said:

 

@Dougal Is that treatment also on a fast-track designation from the FDA?

 

I don't know, but I have a sense that the first one on the market will get the lion's share of Covid-19 business.

ATHX just hit $3

13 minutes ago, KJP said:

ATHX just hit $3

 

Also today, a nice increase in volume/open interest of May $4 calls - at 50 cents.  Buyers are betting on $5/share or better by 5/15/20.

Athersys is up to over $3 now, but I've been burned a few times in high-volatility speculative biotech stocks.  I'm staying away from it, even if I'd have almost doubled up in five days in this particular instance (and it's close to triple the $1.17 or so it was at within the last month).

 

I've found that moderate risk-aversion has given me basically as good of returns as the home-run swings like experimental biotech, if not better.

 

My portfolio is down for the month, and I'll get the official numbers tomorrow (Fidelity only updates performance figures monthly, at least for lowly retail investors like me).  But I'm down about 10% and the Dow is down about 24%.  In large part, that's because my portfolio is dominated by large-caps that provide essential and/or affordable goods and services: Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Costco, Mastercard.  Even Disney has rebounded surprisingly well from its low; we can reasonably predict it will get plastered in its theme park and cruise division this summer, but the rollout of Disney+ could barely have been timed better than right before a time when millions of kids were suddenly forced to stay home.

 

I guess I'll put it this way: Only a very small number of companies in my portfolio are not names the average poster here would recognize.  And those less-familiar names, like some in cloud computing and infrastructure and software-as-a-service, are still multi-billion-dollar companies.

12 minutes ago, Gramarye said:

Athersys is up to over $3 now, but I've been burned a few times in high-volatility speculative biotech stocks. 

 

I have felt your pain.  ?

There's something weird going on with ATHX today. It went up to $3.11, then fell quickly to $2.54 then rebounded just as quickly to $2.93. It's now leveling off in the upper 2.80s. Someone must have just bought a crapload of ATHX at $2.54.

^Those are games short sellers play.  They sell, sell, sell after a couple days push higher in a hot stock. Get the price down and buy back at a profit and then go long from there because they will at some point do the same thing again in a couple more days. 

17 minutes ago, audidave said:

^Those are games short sellers play.  They sell, sell, sell after a couple days push higher in a hot stock. Get the price down and buy back at a profit and then go long from there because they will at some point do the same thing again in a couple more days. 

 

Yeah, well I hate them. 

11 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

Yeah, well I hate them. 

The benefit to them is if you are looking to go long on a stock, you can usually put a limit order on a stock 10 cents below where a stock is sitting(not 52 week lows) and there is about an even chance you’ll be able to buy there.   I’m kind of kicking myself for not putting a bid in last week at 1.60 for AtHX.  In general, yes they suck the wind out of a stock. 
   I can certainly see where this stock can triple from here based on hype from the pumpers and dumpers that will certainly start to come around when a stock is hot and a fairly low price and could get approval soon(which is all the more reason to hype it). I personally think $3 is a good valuation based on where the company is now and that Healios has gone long. 

Edited March 31, 20205 yr by audidave

I've taken the approach of shorting puts.  I just sold some $3 5/15/20's at 83 cents, meaning somebody has the right to put shares to me at $3 on or before 5/15, which thye WILL DO if the price is under $3. Since, however, they paid me 83 cents for the right to do that, it's still profitable to me so long as the price stays above $2.17. If the price goes above $3, I just keep the 83 cents.  I think this is a pretty good bet.

 

With this strategy, if the price starts moving against you, you get out ASAP. 

Edited March 31, 20205 yr by Dougal

There's something very inorganic happening with ATHX. The price today went from $2.92 up to $3.50 in a matter of minutes.

Edited April 1, 20205 yr by KJP

Penny stocks move around a lot

1 hour ago, GCrites80s said:

Penny stocks move around a lot

 

Interestingly, when you look at the five-day history of ATHX, it is making a consistent turn upward.