Goldman bullish on biopharma in 2018
Jan. 5, 2018 9:48 AM ET|By: Douglas W. House, SA News Editor
In a note, Goldman Sachs analyst Salveen Richter says M&A activity in the biopharma space should pick up this year. Likely buyers include Celgene (CELG -1%), Pfizer (PFE -0.2%), Merck (MRK +0.2%) and J&J (JNJ), AbbVie (ABBV -0.5%), Amgen (AMGN), AstraZeneca (AZN +0.2%) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY +0.3%).

Attractive targets include Clovis Oncology (CLVS +0.1%), Exelixis (EXEL +0.1%), Incyte (INCY +0.3%), Puma Biotechnology (PBYI +0.9%), Seattle Genetics (SGEN -0.1%), TESARO (TSRO -0.7%), Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO +0.1%), bluebird bio (BLUE +0.7%), ImmunoGen (IMGN +1.2%), Array BioPharma (ARRY -0.6%), Blueprint Medicines (BPMC -1%), Epizyme (EPZM +3%), Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO -1.1%), Juno Therapeutics (JUNO +2.4%), Karyopharm (KPTI +0.8%), Loxo Oncology (LOXO -0.4%), MacroGenics (MGNX +3%), Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR -0.5%), Odonate (ODT +0.6%), Radius Health (RDUS -0.6%), Syndax Pharmaceuticals (SNDX +8.5%) and TG Therapeutics (TGTX +0.8%).

Source: Bloomberg

https://www.forbes.com/sites/trangho/2018/01/04/jeff-sessions-ignites-marijuana-stock-sell-off-but-fuels-canadian-cannabis-longterm/#4457a5666e37

Today end of trading......
InfraCap MLP ETF declares $0.52 dividend
Jan. 3, 2018 4:39 PM ET/ InfraCap MLP ETF (AMZA)
InfraCap MLP ETF (NYSEARCA:AMZA) declares $0.52/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous.
Forward yield 23.01%
Payable Jan. 12; for shareholders of record Jan. 5; ex-div Jan. 4.

https://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=76402622&symbol=AMZA

Marijuana stocks skyrocketed on the first trading day after California legalized retail sales, unleashing the largest legal market in the country. Thanks to the new California marijuana laws allowing recreational use for people ages 21 and up as of Jan. 1, imbibers are bombarding dispensaries. Lines snake around the block as if Apple just released a new iPhone.

The new marijuana ETF that rolled out only one week prior — ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF — blasted 9%. It’s up 18% in just one week. Its Canadian counterpart with many overlapping holdings, Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF, lit up 12%.

Medreleaf blasted 29%, giving new meaning to getting high. Aurora Cannabis and Emerald Health Therapeutics rallied 24% and 20%, respectively. Canopy Growth — the world’s largest marijuana stock by market cap — popped 9.4%.


At the same time, a new marijuana industry report from ArcView Market Research poured gasoline on the proverbial bonfire.

“The total economic output from legal cannabis will grow 150% from $16 billion in 2017 to $40 billion by 2021,” Arcview said in a statement. “U.S. consumer spending on legal cannabis in 2021 of $20.8 billion will generate $39.6 billion in overall economic impact, 414.000 jobs, and more than $4 billion in tax receipts.”

Here are some other notable findings Arcview shared in its report, “US Legal Cannabis: Driving $40 Billion Economic Output”:

"The legalization of adult-use sales in California will lead to the creation of nearly 99,000 cannabis industry jobs in the state by 2021, about a third of all cannabis jobs nationwide, and 146,000 jobs overall when indirect and induced effects are considered.

By 2021, direct cannabis industry employment will top 291,500 FTE jobs, with a total employment effect of nearly 414,000 FTEs across all legal cannabis states.

Six of the early movers in legal adult-use implementation (California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) will account for more than 60% of that $39.6 billion in 2021 total economic output. Medical-use states will see a far less positive economic impact, while the hold-out states will see none.

The legal cannabis industry may have been a key factor in lowering Colorado’s unemployment rate to one of the lowest in the nation.

Conservative estimates show more than $1 billion dollars in wholesale, excise, and cannabis-specific sales taxes were taken into state treasuries during 2016. That number is forecast to grow to just over $1.4 billion in 2017 and then to nearly $2.8 billion by 2021. With additional state and local general sales taxes, that 2021 figure could be between $4 billion and $4.7 billion."

ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF, trading under the ticker MJX, tracks 30 companies “likely to benefit from the increasing global acceptance of various uses of the cannabis plant.”

It makes sense that ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF includes biotech and pharmaceutical companies. But the handful of tobacco companies in the portfolio is baffling. It’s unclear how they would benefit.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/trangho/2018/01/02/new-marijuana-etf-ablaze-as-california-legalizes-retail-sales/#633333757f57

This gave us a nice pop a little over an hour ago. Time for a dog and pony show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sam Masucci, ETF Managers Group CEO, discusses his firm switching a real estate ETF into a brand new marijuana ETF

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/01/02/this-new-etf-is-igniting-the-marijuana-market.html

It will probably get a continued run up into dividend payout next week then a slump back short term. In case this time the move up holds as we really have the drive in the underline commodities now, I picked up a few more shares today. Am hoping to see it retrace the many gaps above.

I'm liking the sector as the dogs of the whole market and hope to see a strong 2018.

A good read: Why I Added InfraCap MLP ETF To My Portfolio For 2018

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4134197-added-infracap-mlp-etf-portfolio-2018

Here comes some competition:
Rush for Marijuana ETFs Getting Stronger

https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/287277/rush-for-marijuana-etfs-getting-stronger

Here is a quick list, i'll put together a better one later.


Cronos Group Inc. 6.22% Canopy Growth Corp. 5.89.% GW Pharmaceuticals Plc. 5.38% MedReleaf Corp. 5.22% Aurora Cannabis Inc. 5.03% CannTrust Holdings Inc. CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. Insys Therapeutics Inc. Huabao International Holdings. Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc. Supreme Pharmaceuticals Inc. Turning Point Brands Inc. Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc. Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S Imperial Brands Plc Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. Japan Tobacco Inc. Altria Group Inc. British American Tobacco Plc Organigram Holdigs Inc. Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. Swedish Match AB 22nd Century Group Inc. Philip Morris International Inc. Universal Corp. Vector Group Ltd. Cara Therapeutics, Inc. Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. Isodiol international Inc. Socovesa SA Empresas ICA S.A.B.

Finally: War On Medical Marijuana Ends As Feds Lift The Ban
By admin - December 24, 2017


Eighty-five years ago marijuana was banned by federal statute and in the 1970’s marijuana was classified by the federal government as a controlled substance – drugs designated illegal, which could only be illicitly obtained. These drugs were often demonized as habit-forming associated with less desirable folks with addiction issues – not contributing to society – and the focus of the morally misguided failed federal ‘War on Drugs’. Interestingly, in 2013 according to a Gallup poll, for the first time some 58% of citizens supported legalization, yet marijuana is still on the federal controlled substance list alongside dangerous drugs such as heroin and meth. However, the use of medical marijuana has been approved by 23 states and the District of Columbia to help minimize the side-effects of diseases ranging from nausea and glaucoma to cancer and HIV/AIDS; used to treat ailments like multiple sclerosis and to help with chronic pain – but it was still banned on the federal leveluntil a provision that lifted the ban was “quietly placed in the recent spending bill” passed by Congress last week.

Despite the legalization of medical marijuana in these states and recent studies showing that it is not a gate-way drug – a drug the use of which leads to the use of other more addicting drugs – the federal government had retained the right to raid and harass medical marijuana dispensaries and prosecute their owners. This new legislation is a turning point in how the federal government views medical marijuanaand it had vigorous bi-partisan support.

Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), one of the bill’s co-authors commented:

“THIS IS A VICTORY FOR SO MANY. THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS CURTAILED ITS OPPRESSIVE PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA”

On this historic move by Congress, Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) said:

“THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL FINALLY RESPECT THE DECISIONS MADE BY THE MAJORITY OF STATES THAT PASSED MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS. THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR COMMON SENSE BECAUSE NOW OUR FEDERAL DOLLARS WILL BE SPENT MORE WISELY ON PROSECUTING CRIMINALS AND NOT SICK PATIENTS.”

This is a huge deal because up and until recently, Republicans have long been against any type of marijuana legalized, while Democrats have been in favor of relaxing the law. Fortunately, enough Republicans voted for the bill. Some have argued that the Republican change of heart is motivated by trying to lure the millennial demographic, “since the legalization of marijuana is a big issue with the millennials, So Republicans are now starting to ease up on their anti-marijuana rhetoric.”

It is also legal to fully purchase marijuana in four states for reasons other than medicinal use, but its full legalization is still prohibited by federal law. Bernie Sanders, who had sponsored legislation supporting states’ rights to legalize marijuana for medical use more than a decade ago, became the first candidate to endorse the full legalization of pot during the Democratic debate in October. Sanders rightfully seesour criminal justice system destroying too many lives by disproportionately mistreating non-violent drug offenders:

“I AM SEEING IN THIS COUNTRY TOO MANY LIVES BEING DESTROYED FOR NON-VIOLENT OFFENSES. WE HAVE A CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM THAT LETS CEOS ON WALL STREET WALK AWAY, AND YET WE ARE IMPRISONING OR GIVING JAIL SENTENCES TO YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE SMOKING MARIJUANA. I THINK WE HAVE TO THINK THROUGH THIS WAR ON DRUGS…WHICH HAS DONE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DAMAGE. WE NEED TO RETHINK OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, WE WE’VE GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO IN THAT AREA.”

This is no doubt a turning point in legally allowing the use of pot to help people with legitimate medical needs for which the use of medicinal marijuana has been shown to provide relief. Perhaps, with the public in favor of full legalization of pot and politicians starting recognize how insidious it is to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders – principally people of color and minorities – full legalization is just around the corner.

Source:ushealthnote.com

http://uspainclinic.com/2017/12/24/finally-war-on-medical-marijuana-ends-as-feds-lift-the-ban/

Great thx.
Nothing on the promotion side. Hope they are not waiting on some outside forces to bring attention to the ETF. Best volume i've seen in awhile but with just 200,000 shares outstanding this could have some major swings.

Moderator time to change the ticker!
The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJX) seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the total return performance of the Prime Alternative Harvest Index.

http://www.mjxetf.com/

A good Holiday read:
The State Of Marijuana Stocks And What To Look For In 2018
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4127083-state-marijuana-stocks-look-2018

Yes I would imagine that not to go live until the fund is up and running.
Will check out Yahoo...........
At least we know some holdings the ETF has so far as of the 18th:

As of December 18, 2017, the Index had 30 constituents, 17 of which were foreign companies, and the three largest stocks and their weightings in the Index were Cronos Group (5.50%), CannTrust Holdings (5.42%), and Canopy Growth (5.31%).

Alternative Harvest ETF
Trading Symbol: MJX
Listed on NYSE Arca
ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1467831/000161577417007471/s108492_485bpos.htm

December 18, 2017
Important Notice Regarding Changes to the Name, Underlying Index, Investment Objective, Principal Investment Strategy and Investment Policies of the Fund
The Board of Trustees of ETF Managers Trust has approved the following changes to the Fund, effective on or about December 26, 2017.

1. The Fund’s name will be changed to the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF;

2. The Fund’s current underlying index, the Solactive Latin America Real Estate Index, will be replaced with the Prime Alternative Harvest Index;

3. The Fund’s investment objective will be changed to the following: “The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the total return performance of the Prime Alternative Harvest Index” (the “New Index”); and

4. The non-fundamental policy that, under normal circumstances, the Fund will not invest less than 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of real estate related companies in Latin America will be eliminated.



December 15, 2017
As previously disclosed in a supplement to the Fund’s Prospectus dated October 27, 2017, the Fund intends to change its investment objective and strategy. As a result of the conversion, all of the Fund’s portfolio securities will be sold immediately prior to the conversion date and the Fund will recognize capital gains and/or losses. For example, had the Fund sold all of its portfolio securities as of the close of business on December 13, 2017, short term and long term net capital gains would have amounted to approximately $477,000 (equivalent to approximately $2.38 per Fund share outstanding as of that date). These net capital gains realized as a result of the Fund’s conversion will not be distributed to shareholders and will remain within the Fund until December 2018, when the Fund contemplates distributing its net realized capital gains, if any, for the tax year ended October 31, 2018.

Most likely in that area as the current fund has 200,000 +/- shares outstanding and shares are added as they are bought, see link.

http://quotes.wsj.com/etf/LARE

Also see possible new ETF holdings from United States Marijuana index:

https://marijuanaindex.com/stock-quotes/united-states-marijuana-index/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-reasons-marijuana-stocks-were-132100241.html

Hot off the New York Stock Exchange, the Alternative Agroscience ETF will begin trading on Dec. 26, 2017.

Actually, ETF Managers Group (ETFMG) is remaking its existing Tierra XP Latin America Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:LARE) with an updated strategy. Changing from an international real estate investment trust (REIT) fund, the new ETF will track cannabis cultivators, producers and distributors, along with cannabinoid drug makers, fertilizer producers and tobacco companies.

As the first U.S. marijuana ETF, the Alternative Agroscience could enjoy a first-mover advantage and capture the important growing cannabis investing market share.

Biotech Bonanza: Biotech Stocks To Keep Shining In 2018
Dec. 19, 2017

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4132749-biotech-bonanza-biotech-stocks-keep-shining-2018

TG Therapeutics: Expecting A 2018 Cancer Star Dec. 15, 2017 12:04 PM ET

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4132141-tg-therapeutics-expecting-2018-cancer-star

Now I understand all the latest upgrades, wow!

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) slumps 13% premarket on increased volume in response to its public offering of 8.4M shares of common stock at $3.07 per share

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3318598-verastem-13-percent-premarket-pricing-stock-offering

TG Therapeutics (TGTX) Investor Presentation - Slideshow
Dec. 11, 2017
Latest poster from the American Society of Hematology conference:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4131088-tg-therapeutics-tgtx-investor-presentation-slideshow

Seeking Alpha writeup: 12/14/2017

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4131834-tg-therapeutics-oncology-concern-looks-like-solid-bet-2018

Verastem: Revisiting This Small Biotech Name After ASH

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4131590-verastem-revisiting-small-biotech-name-ash

Just posting this as i`m keeping up on all aspects for myself and others to make informed decisions.....
AbbVie spikes the ball at ASH 2017
Company: AbbVie (ABBV) and Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY)

Therapy: Venetoclax and rituximab

Disease: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)

News: ABBV and RHHBY presented the full data for the phase 3 MURANO study at ASH 2017. The results showed that venetoclax (branded Venclexta) combined with rituximab (branded Rituxan) yielded superior progression-free survival compared with the standard of care combination of bendamustine and rituximab in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL. A total of 84.9% in the venetoclax arm remained progression free at 2 years, compared with 36.3% in the control arm. The venetoclax arm also had substantially higher response rates compared with the control treatment. No new safety signals were noted, and patients seemed to tolerate venetoclax-rituximab slightly better than they did in the control arm.

Looking forward: These results are potentially game changing for venetoclax in CLL. Considering that there was already quite a lot of excitement underneath this drug, that's saying a lot. However, it is now clear that venetoclax-rituximab will supplant bendamustine-rituximab in the treatment algorithm for patients with previously treated CLL. With this, ABBV continues its march toward the first-line setting, and they have yet to be repelled. So this is very exciting, and I fully expect to see a supplemental filing in the near future.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4131503-3-things-biotech-learn-today-december-13-2017

More strain on $VSTM’s drug combination.

https://endpts.com/ash17-abbvie-roche-boast-stellar-phiii-leukemia-data-for-a-breakthrough-combo-with-blockbuster-ambitions/

n3m3sis

If you have a concept of the science then this read may help your understanding of the challenges going forward.

Hope this helps, GLTY
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4131088-tg-therapeutics-tgtx-investor-presentation-slideshow

Yes looks promising. I`ve been accumulating and will see where this can lead to......

I now have to rethink my holding even though an FDA approval is likely.

https://endpts.com/ash17-verastems-abbvie-castoff-is-headed-for-the-fda-even-after-missing-overall-survival-goal/
#ASH17: Verastem’s AbbVie castoff is headed for the FDA — even after missing overall survival goal

by john carroll — on December 10, 2017 04:30 PM EST

PDF
PDF
When Ve­rastem $VSTM CEO Robert For­rester high­lighted the pos­i­tive end­point from the piv­otal study of du­velisib a few months ago, he didn’t want to talk about the sec­ondary data points. That, he said, was being saved for a fu­ture sci­en­tific con­fer­ence.

And today at ASH you can see the added data isn’t some­thing you’d want to dis­cuss much.


Robert For­rester
The drug — which hit sta­tis­ti­cal sig­nif­i­cance on pro­gres­sion-free sur­vival — flunked the key over­all sur­vival sec­ondary, fail­ing to do any bet­ter than Arz­erra (ofa­tu­mumab) in ex­tend­ing the lives of pa­tients with re­lapsed or re­frac­tory chronic lym­pho­cytic leukemia/small lym­pho­cytic lym­phoma.

The pos­i­tive data that Ve­rastem is stick­ing with is for the me­dian PFS: 13.3 months ver­sus 9.9 months for the con­trol. By the in­ves­ti­ga­tor as­sess­ment, there was an even bet­ter 17.6-month me­dian PFS ver­sus 9.7 months for Arz­erra.

This is the data that Ve­rastem is now hus­tling to the FDA, look­ing for an ap­proval to treat sec­ond-line cases. The p value for the OS data, p=0.4807, demon­strated the drug group was no worse off, some­thing that was “likely due to other avail­able ther­a­pies fol­low­ing pro­gres­sion,” ac­cord­ing to the com­pany.

This was the drug that Ab­b­Vie $ABBV paid $275 mil­lion up­front to part­ner on with In­fin­ity $INFI, but then walked away as the drug proved suc­cess­ful — but ex­tremely dis­ap­point­ing — in a Phase II study. For­rester picked up the rights to the drug for ex­actly noth­ing down as In­fin­ity re­struc­tured and re­fo­cused on some­thing else.

For­rester — and ex-In­fin­ity R&D chief Ju­lian Adams, for that mat­ter — be­lieve the drug can def­i­nitely win an ap­proval. And Ve­rastem be­lieves it can mar­ket the drug look­ing for peak sales of sev­eral hun­dred mil­lion dol­lars a year.

Ve­rastem’s PR today out­lines the sales model. Diep Le, Ve­rastem’s CMO, said:

CLL/SLL mostly af­fects el­derly pa­tients and many are un­able or un­will­ing to be hos­pi­tal­ized or come into the clinic for fre­quent IV in­fu­sions. The CLL/SLL treat­ment land­scape there­fore is mov­ing away from chemother­a­pies and to­ward more tar­geted, prefer­ably oral reg­i­mens. While pa­tients are liv­ing longer many will be in­tol­er­ant to, or re­lapse fol­low­ing, their ini­tial ther­apy em­pha­siz­ing the need for new op­tions. Oral du­velisib is the first PI3K in­hibitor to show ef­fi­cacy as an oral monother­apy in a ran­dom­ized Phase 3 study in pa­tients with re­lapsed or re­frac­tory CLL/SLL and may offer an ap­peal­ing al­ter­na­tive for pa­tients who have pro­gressed or re­lapsed.

The NDA will be de­liv­ered in Q1.

The best place to read end­points news? In your inbox.
Full-text daily re­ports for those who dis­cover, de­velop, and mar­ket drugs. Join 21,000+ bio­pharma pros who read End­points News by email every day.

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Marcus Malkmus 4 hours ago
Just a short comment on the OS data: By the trial design it was virtually impossible to show am OS advantage, hence OS very unusually is only included as a secondary endpoint:
Taken together the DUO study (NCT02004522) and the follow-on crossover study (NCT02049515) make sure that almost every patient that progresses on either duvelisib or ofatumomab is then given the other treatment in the follow-on study.
In effect the OS data only say that there is no difference in OS whether a patient receives duvelisib followed by ofatumomab or the other way round.
This is both expected and actually a clinically useful result since it shows that doctors have more freedom in the sequencing of the two drugs without impacting OS.
Also CLL/SLL PFS is a very good predictor of OS, particularly in targeted therapy, hence approval on PFS data is a perfectly sensible regulatory response. This is much unlike the situation in some solid tumor data and certainly totally different from immunotherapies in solid tumors, where PFS becomes increasingly a suspect and for long tail rich treatments quite useless endpoint.



Reply
Dang T Huynh 17 hours ago
The data is quiet impressing since it was comparing with an active medication for CLL, instead vs. placebo. I believe if approved, it will be the only other oral drug for CLL besides Ibrutinib
Reply

Well worth a purchase still at this low valuation.

ASH 2017 ANALYST EVENT
Sunday, December 10, 2017 8:15 p.m. ET
Webcast Presentation
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=250749&p=irol-EventDetails&EventId=5266482
Event Details
Title
ASH 2017 Analyst Event
Date / Time
12/10/17 8:15 p.m. ET

Verastem Announces Clinical Data from the Pivotal Phase 3 DUO™ Study: Duvelisib Significantly Improves Progression Free Survival in Relapsed or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma

Sun December 10, 2017 4:30 PM|Business Wire|About: VSTM
https://seekingalpha.com/pr/17022759-verastem-announces-clinical-data-pivotal-phase-3-duo-study-duvelisib-significantly-improves

How To Buy Marijuana Stocks Quickly And Easily With This New Fund
https://www.forbes.com/sites/trangho/2017/12/03/how-to-buy-marijuana-stocks-quickly-and-easily-with-this-new-fund/#745b872558de

Marijuana Stocks Ready To Turn A New Leaf In 2018

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4129699-marijuana-stocks-ready-turn-new-leaf-2018

A 'New' Marijuana ETF Is On The Way

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4123958-new-marijuana-etf-way

Verastem: Too Cheap

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4129431-verastem-cheap

T-Mobile seeks STA for E-Band 5G test

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/t-mobile-seeks-sta-for-e-band-5g-test


Verizon Sets 5G, Broadband Roll-Out; Comcast Is First Target

https://www.investors.com/news/technology/verizon-sets-5g-broadband-residential-roll-out-comcast-first-target/

This looks promising for Verastem:

FDA TO UNLOCK INTERIM ENDPOINTS FOR ACCELERATED APPROVALS
https://www.biocentury.com/bc-extra/politics-policy/2017-11-30/fda-unlock-interim-endpoints-accelerated-approvals

FDA TO UNLOCK INTERIM ENDPOINTS FOR ACCELERATED APPROVALS

This could help put a solid base under the ETF:
https://www.biocentury.com/bc-extra/politics-policy/2017-11-30/fda-unlock-interim-endpoints-accelerated-approvals

I`ve done pretty good on individual BT stocks in 2017 but it may be harder to make big gains on owning individual names as opposed to a basket of stocks in 2018 as the market have run so strong. Therefore as a counterbalance I have avoided trading IBB,XBI,LABU, etc. and taken positions in these 2 little known ETF`s. They have a low expense ratio, are thinly traded yet i`ve had no problems buying and selling. Take a look at the holdings in each to see if they would be appropriate to other ETF`s. Hope others may find these interesting as I have for your portfolio balance in the biotech sector.

Given the number of disappointments in biotech lately, I wanted to express some thoughts about the context. My conclusion is that on the one hand, supply-demand factors suggest that it will be a challenge for the sector as a whole to get hot for some time, but that on the other hand, many leading biotechs, as we know, have below-market P/Es, so the process of repair may already be underway.

The way to play the next wave:

$BBC: Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF

http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=BBC
Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF (BBC) Top Portfolio Holdings
Get top portfolio holding details for Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF (BBC) including annual turnover...


$BBP: Virtus LifeSci Biotech Products ETF BBP

http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=BBP
Virtus LifeSci Biotech Products ETF (BBP) Top Portfolio Holdings
Get top portfolio holding details for Virtus LifeSci Biotech Products ETF (BBP) including annual turnover, asset...

High Yield Investing: Midstream MLP Sector Offers A Compelling Opportunity, Yields Of 10%+

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4119243-high-yield-investing-midstream-mlp-sector-offers-compelling-opportunity-yields-10-percent

BANK OF AMERICA: There's one area of the stock market that stands above the rest
Joe Ciolli
Oct. 30, 2017, 12:48 PM
Scientists researchers laboratory biotechU.S. Army RDECOM / Flickr
Out of all the most appealing areas of the US stock market, Bank of America Merrill Lynch identifies biotech as the No. 1 option.
The firm likes biotech's ideal combination of relatively cheap valuation, high expected growth and considerable upside potential.


Right now, it seems like there's opportunity in the stock market no matter where you look.
Tech companies are surging to yet another series of record highs following blockbuster earnings reports for many of the sector's mega-cap titans. Wall Street strategists are getting more bullish on banks as rate hikes loom. And that's not to mention the stocks set to benefit most from tax reform.
But Bank of America Merrill Lynch sees one industry standing above them all: biotech.

To them, drug developers offer an ideal combination of attractive pricing and upside growth — unlike their tech stock counterparts, which are sitting near the most expensive on record. BAML also likes the upside offered by biotech based on how traders are currently positioned on the sector, especially when compared to the crowded tech trade.
Back in late September, BAML head US equity strategist Savita Subramanian wrote the following about drug developers: "Biotech trades at one of the biggest discounts to history of all industries, suggesting over 40% implied upside if its relative P/E reverted back to its long-term average."
An update of that analysis shows that biotech now has an implied potential upside of 42%.
Here's a list of BAML's best sector opportunities:

Another area of the stock market that BAML highlighted in a recent client note is consumer staples. While the firm still only has the equivalent of a neutral rating on the space, it notes that it's trading at the most attractive valuation in 6 1/2 years.
"Today, staples now looks cheap versus history," Subramanian wrote in a client note on Monday. "Coupled with its earnings resiliency during downturns, staples is currently our preferred defensive sector after our overweight healthcare."
http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stocks-market-news-bank-of-america-says-biotech-is-best-bet-2017-10-1006195048