Tuesday, October 1, 2013

3 Biotech Breakouts Underway (BONE, PSTI, ABIO)

Traders may not want to get married for the long haul to any of them, but for speculators looking for a quick, profitable hit, Arca Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ABIO), Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTI), and Bacterin International Holdings Inc. (NYSEMKT:BONE) may be better-than-average bets. Here's why.

Until this week, Bacterin International Holdings Inc. wasn't on many traders' radars. The $36 million company that makes coating for open wounds, and though revenue was steady, BONE wasn't profitable, but wasn't expected to be any time soon either. Yet, the chart not only says the market's starting to favor the stock, but this week's bullish nudge looks like it's started a much bigger-picture rally.

Though it actually wiggled its way out of a wedge formation a couple of weeks ago, it wasn't until today that BONE has made the kind of move that (1) gets traction, and (2) gets attention. Now that the ball is rolling with the cross above the 100-day moving average line, it should stay in motion. The clincher is the fact that Bacterin International Holdings shares are making this bullish breakout move on steadily rising volume.

While Bacterin International Holdings may have been mired in obscurity until this week, Arca Biopharma wasn't... though not for a good reason. ABIO shares were crushed in May after the company sold a ton of shares to raise some money. The market clearly didn't like the dilution.

More important to us now, however, Arca Biopharma Inc. shares blasted past a semi-critical resistance yesterday, and are following through on the move today. Between the volume and the fact that the bulls didn't flinch when the stock reached new multi-week high territory, it looks like the plan here is for ABIO to close the gap it left behind with the big late-May plunge. That would translate into more than a 40% gain. Given the underlying story and the fact that the dilution is old news at this point, odds are decent that Arca shares could get there.

Finally, Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. has rekindled an old uptrend, but there's a lot of meat left on this bone.

PSTI is the stem cell biotechnology company developing therapies for critical limb ischemia and muscle injuries. There's no revenue to speak of yet, but with one of its key trials in Phase 2/3 and the other in Phase 2, there's enough of a light here at the end of the tunnel to get - and keep - people interested in Pluristem.

The current chart of PSTI, however, says that interest is swelling so rapidly right now that shares could take off soon. In fact, they already have, they it's not too late to hop on board. Pluristem Therapeutics shares easily walked past the 100-day and 200-day moving average lines within the past six weeks, not only breaking old (and nagging) downtrend lines that extend back to mid-2012, but have established a new bullish channel. Though we're still apt to see some up and down from here, the hard work's been done.

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