Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (ABUS)

[mick]

$ABUS courtesy of Howdy partners!! The markets delivered coal to traders on day 1 of December. ??

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Each index sold off over a percent. ?? The Russell 2K took the brunt of the selling, tumbling 2.34%. The Nasdaq shaved off 1.83% and the S&P 500 slashed 1.18%.[/chart]

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Each index sold off over a percent. ?? The Russell 2K took the brunt of the selling, tumbling 2.34%. The Nasdaq shaved off 1.83% and the S&P 500 slashed 1.18%.[/chart]
Build-A-Bear Workshop blasted 27% to six-year highs after reporting record sales and raised guidance. Must be selling a whole lotta bears. ?? Here’s the daily chart:

Howdy partners!! The markets delivered coal to traders on day 1 of December. ??

Each index sold off over a percent. ?? The Russell 2K took the brunt of the selling, tumbling 2.34%. The Nasdaq shaved off 1.83% and the S&P 500 slashed 1.18%.

Build-A-Bear Workshop blasted 27% to six-year highs after reporting record sales and raised guidance. Must be selling a whole lotta bears. ?? Here’s the daily chart:

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Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced he was resigning as CEO of Twitter yesterday, namely because activist investors have had it out for the tech CEO since last year.

Today, Square is getting an all-new parent company: Block. Block will act as the parent that owns Square, Cash App, TIDAL, Spiral (a spinoff of Square Crypto), and TBD54566975 (a bitcoin-focused decentralized exchange.) As the name implies, each company or project is a building block part of a whole.

For anyone surprised by this move, Square’s Block pivot shares some trends among Big Tech lore. Walk with us:

1) Remember Google and Facebook? Or should we say… Alphabet and Meta? Big Tech companies love to rebrand. Dorsey reorganizing Square is tantamount to taking a pen and writing the next chapter for his payments giant. Obviously, he’s going to take Square in a new direction — one that’s all about crypto and blockchain.

2) Remember when Apple CEO Steve Jobs got thrown out of his own company in 1985? This is basically that, but even more alpha. ?? Jobs went on to found NeXT Computer out of spite. Sure, Jack probably wants to see Twitter succeed. But by all metrics, Twitter is a losing media investment whereas Square is an industry-leading payments solution.

0% of this is surprising to us. Dorsey was quoted back in June saying that Bitcoin was the most “important thing” in his lifetime to “work on.” He added that if he was not at Square or Twitter, he would be building Bitcoin. He elaborated to say both companies had a role in building the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

In our Nov. 29 edition of the Rip, we talked about how Dorsey’s move from the turbulent world of social media wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Instead, this pivot is an invitation for Jack to guide Square to the promised land of web3 and Bitcoin leadership. ?? ?

$SQ lost 6.6% today.

Silo Wellness (CSE: SILO) (OTCQB: SILF) (FRA: 3K70) is delivering psychedelic healing through its guided wellness retreats and the Marley One brand of natural mushroom products. This is an opportunity to be part of the next big trend, w/ a revenue generating company laying the groundwork for growth.

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C3AI Inc lost 8.5% and closed at all-time lows heading into it its second-quarter earnings report. After the close, the software provider exceeded earnings and sales predictions and raised revenue guidance.

$AI | EPS: ($0.23)(vs. ($0.28) expected) | Revenue: $58.3 million (vs. $56.9 million expected) | Link to Report

https://ir.c3.ai/news/news-details/2021/C3-AI-Announces-Second-Quarter-Fiscal-2022-Results/default.aspx

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In the era of ESG-conscious investing (ESG stands for Environmental, Social, & Governance), we have quite the story for you. Securus Technologies, a company which operates prison phones, is in talks to go public via SPAC.

Yeah, what the… Securus Technologies could go public in a merger with Atlantic Avenue Acquisition Corp, a SPAC. The deal is controversial because Securus Technologies is a private company which profits from charging the families of incarcerated people for phone calls.

SPACs are somewhat known for challenging the ESG mission. According to Bernstein analysts, SPACs are “one of the most anti-ESG assets imaginable.” This is because SPACs acquire investors before acquiring or merging with actual companies.

Tom Gores’s Platinum Equity is a current investor in Securus Technologies. Platinum Equity is looking for ways to take Securus public — this will likely attract negative attention from social justice activists who demand the divestment of private avenues for mass incarceration.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/01/a-for-profit-prison-company-is-going-public-via-spac-raising-esg-concerns-in-the-blank-check-space.html

Atlantic Avenue Acquisition Corp, according a person familiar with the matter.

In October when Digital World Acquisition Corp. announced plans to merge with former President Donald Trump’s planned social media platform, at least two hedge funds pulled out their investments after learning of the target company.

Moderna loses patent challenges. Big pharma leaders have taken enormous steps to protect their COVID vaccines from losing critical intellectual property protection.

Ironically, Moderna is being sued over its IP. Patent challenges from lesser-known biotech company, Arbutus Biopharma, might leave Moderna open to a beefier lawsuit alleging that Moderna infringed on Arbutus’ property. That could be very costly. Read more in Axios.

https://www.axios.com/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-arbutus-patents-2953dd1c-2446-4af8-9580-b387186c7ab9.html

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A federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed two patent challenges from Moderna over key components involved in making its COVID-19 vaccine.

Why it matters: The court's decision to side with Arbutus Biopharma means Arbutus could potentially sue Moderna for patent infringement and demand royalties from Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to generate up to $18 billion of revenue this year.

Details: The patent cases have been ongoing since early 2018 and involve Arbutus' small lipid particles and other related mRNA drug technology.

In one of today's patent decisions, the court acknowledged how Shaun Ryan, Moderna's deputy general counsel, said there is "substantial risk that Arbutus may bring an infringement action relating to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine."
Of note: Moderna doesn't specifically mention Arbutus in its quarterly and annual financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.