To: jjkirk who wrote (5422 ) 9/28/2000 1:37:12 AM From: jjkirk Respond to of 13572 Extracted from The Bull Market BioTech Investor 1. COMMENTARY The Nasdaq Exchange seems like a boxer that begins each round with a refreshed feeling yet ends each round with buckling knees. Even though the Nasdaq Composite has been poised to open higher most mornings, investors have been selling into the strength. Blue chip high tech stocks have been taken out one-by-one and that has negatively impacted their respective sectors. Today, Priceline.com (PCLN, $11, down 8) warned of poor revenue growth and that contributed toward Yahoo's (YHOO, $90, down 12) steep decline and many other stocks in the Internet sector. Some investors and analysts have stated that mutual fund managers are selling their losers in order to get those stocks off their books -- otherwise known as "window dressing". Perhaps this is what's going on to an extent, but there are many stocks that are becoming quite inexpensive. The Biotechnology sector has fared pretty well in comparison to the major market averages. The Nasdaq Biotech Index (^IXB) is up 3% in the past five trading sessions while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 indices have declined 4.5% and 1.5%, respectively. For the month of September, the Nasdaq Composite has dropped 13% and the Nasdaq Biotech index has declined 4.5%. A possible reason for the strength of the sector may relate to the gains that investors hold, especially in the large-cap stocks, and the favorable outlook for the industry. If fund managers have gains in Biotechnology stocks, then there's less need to sell those securities for window dressing purposes. In fact, money managers might wish to purchase stocks in the Biotech sector. Money managers and investors are confident that companies will be successful in bringing more drugs to market. Analysts have been stepping forward lately to give their recommendations on Biotech stocks. For the most part, their opinions have been positive. Last week, Prudential Securities had very positive things to say about Myriad Genetics (MYGN, $79), Tularik (TLRK, $32) and a few other Biotechs. This week, Salomon Smith Barney provided more conservative projections with Outperform ratings and price targets on Millennium Pharmaceuticals (MLNM, $148, target $155), Applied Biosystems (PEB, $113, target $135) and Celera Genomics (CRA, $99, target $114). The price targets do not indicate much upside potential for these shares in the next 12-months. Salomon also attached a neutral rating and a $67 price target on shares of Affymetrix (AFFX, $54). That may have served to depress shares of Affymetrix on Tuesday. On Wednesday, UBS Warburg established a Buy rating on Affymetrix and a 12-month price target of $95. Finally, with respect to the decline in stock prices, it is important to differentiate between declines caused by market factors and those caused by company-specific factors. With Biotechnology stocks, investors need to have a long-term vision as companies cannot bring new drugs to market every six months. Most Biotechnology stocks ran up to very high market values earlier this year before moving into a steep correction. Many of the better and bigger companies have seen their stocks fully recover and establish new all-time highs. If the investment community considered Biotech stocks as high-risk investments with little promise of drug discovery, the sector would not have been able to bounce back from its decline in April. It is worthwhile for investors to consider whether the "story" has changed for their Biotech holdings or whether the company is failing to move forward with its technologies and developments. With respect to trading activity, it is useful to monitor the volume of shares traded. When stock prices decline on little volume (in comparison to the average daily volume), then that typically implies that investors are not eager to purchase shares. However, that is a lot different from investors wanting to dump shares, as in those cases, the volume is typically great. So, it is useful to discern whether upward movements in price are associated with greater volumes than downward movements in price. .......... Todd Shaver Editor in Chief The Bull Market Report Washington, DC USA Have you tried THE BULL MARKET REPORT DAILY? Click here for a two-week free trial:bull-market.com -or- send an email request to Susan@Bull-Market.com with "FREE TRIAL" in the subject line.