Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Eli Lilly To Buy Dermira For $18.75/Share


27% profit every 20 days?

This is what Nic Chahine averages with his option buys. Not selling covered calls or spreads… BUYING options. Most traders don’t even have a winning percentage of 27% buying options. He has an 83% win rate. Here’s how he does it.


Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.09% to 28984.16 while the NASDAQ rose 0.27% to 9228.46. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.18% to 3,280.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.5% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais (NYSE:CIG), up 3%, and Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras (NYSE:EBR), up 3%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY) announced Friday it will acquire Dermira Inc (NASDAQ:DERM) for $18.75 per share, around $1.1 billion, in an all-cash transaction..

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first-quarter of 2020. The purchase price represents a premium of 86% to the 60-day volume-weighted average trading price of Dermira's stock ending on Jan 9., the last trading day before the announcement of the transaction.


Equities Trading UP

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PHAS) shares shot up 42% to $8.05 after the company reported financing and co-development collaboration with SFJ Pharmaceuticals for PB2452.

Shares of Sorrento Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRNE) got a boost, shooting up 35% to $4.62 following news it received an unsolicited acquisition offer from private equity at $7 per share.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:PHAS) shares were also up, gaining 26% to $55.28 after the company announced positive topline cohort 3 results and improved longer-term Cohort 2 results from the Phase 1/2 study of DTX301 gene therapy.


Equities Trading DOWN

Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLA) shares tumbled 43% to $14.01 after the company reported preliminary FY19 Andexxa global net revenues of $111 million.

Shares of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE:SIX) were down 18% to $36.02 after the company disclosed that development of co-branded parks in China has encountered continued challenges. Wells Fargo downgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal-Weight and lowered the price target from $49 to $42 per share.

Cryoport, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX) was down, falling 17% to $14.88. Cryoport sees preliminary Q4 sales of $9.2 million.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $59.64, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,551.10.

Silver traded down 0.1% Friday to $17.935, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.805.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.4%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.4%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.2%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.1% while UK shares fell 0.1%.

Economics

The U.S. economy created 145,000 jobs for December. However, economists were expecting a gain of 164,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.5% in December.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.


27% profit every 20 days?

This is what Nic Chahine averages with his option buys. Not selling covered calls or spreads… BUYING options. Most traders don’t even have a winning percentage of 27% buying options. He has an 83% win rate. Here’s how he does it.


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Posted In: EarningsNewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Morning Market Update