As of 12/20/2024:
Number of holdings: 31
Changes this week: Sold 3 results driven biotech, initated 1 results driven bio, added twice to a long term bio hold.
Smallest allocation: 0.0083% of portfolio
Largest allocation: 12.62% of portfolio
Geographies: With the exception of one Brazilian bank, all companies are US based and have majority of operations at home.
Weekly Reflections: The market got hammered this week after the Fed lowered expectations of further rate cuts in 2025. There may be two now but likely not more. Investors are betting on one in March and one in October. That impacts the availability of capital to fund acquisitions in biotech, at least on paper. But there has been a massive accumulation of cash for acqusitions at big pharma companies. Biotech is also already undervalued compared to the rest of the market. PCE data was cooler than expected which served as a small boon at the end of the week. The government is pushing ahead with measures to ensure it doesn’t shut itself down which if now passed by the Senate should also continue to fuel stocks going into the end of the year. Next week is short with a full day closed and another half day closed. I have a couple companies which may report results of clinical trials next week or in early 2025.
Overall in my portfolio, I see room for selection criteria improvement in catalyst driven biotech though I still profited 11.7% on the exited trades thus far, it is not near enough for the associated risk. I feel strong about all of my long term holdings. Down overall but the stories haven’t changed. Staying the course. I expect to be rewarded well in time.