Covestor model manager Philip Pecoraro is a psychiatrist turned investor, with 26 years of clinical practice experience and a lifetime of market exposure, having grown up in a household led by an active investor.
Phil focuses on the biotechnology and healthcare sector, utilizing his experience in general internal medicine, emergency medicine and psychiatry to aid his fundamental analysis. Rather than being simply a fundamental investor, Phil has refined his investment strategy to include market timing techniques for choosing entries and exits.
Here’s how Phil got started:
Phil has had an interest in the markets inspired by growing up in Manhattan in the Wall Street area and observing his father, who was an active investor using a fundamental and technical combined approach.
His father was an accountant and private investor, who performed technical analysis using pen and paper in the 1960s. His reading of charts was informed and inspired by many authors including Alexander Elder M.D. , Albert Brooks MD and personal study of Steidlemeyer and Daltons’ market profile theory.
Phil believes that market behavior is the reflection of the mass psychology of all participants. Waves of optimism, pessimism and ambivalence are mirrored in the momentum of advances and declines and in volatility when participants are digesting market events. Obtaining an edge in speculation and investing requires the ability to rapidly process events, determine their relevancy to a particular investment strategy and act quickly when necessary. These events are reflected in the technical chart. This must be balanced by a longer-term perspective at times.
Reacting to the market is analogous in Phil’s experience to individual patient care, in the sense that at times one must act knowledgeably, quickly and decisively with the information at hand, and at other times step back, defer action and patiently observe. Markets change slowly, quickly or sometimes not at all for periods of time, as do patients.
Phil runs Covestor’s Biotechnology portfolio, which
identifies both undervalued and rapidly appreciating equities in the biotechnology/healthcare sector. It uses current undervaluation, insider activity and momentum to identify opportunities.
This portfolio currently has just one position: Opko Health Inc (AMEX: OPK) a specialty healthcare company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, diagnostic technologies, and imaging systems.
In March, OPK recently offered 27 million shares to the public. The offering was a success and the company exercised its over-allotment option:
OPKO Health, Inc., today announced that in connection with the completion of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 27,000,000 shares of common stock, the Company completed, pursuant to the over-allotment option exercised by the underwriters, a public offering of an additional 2,397,029 shares of its common stock, at a price of $3.75 per share, before underwriting discounts and commissions. All of the shares were offered by the Company. The Company received approximately $8.5 million in net proceeds from the offering after underwriting fees.
The Company anticipates using the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, including research and development expenses, clinical trials, acquisitions of new technologies or businesses, and other business opportunities.
The company wasted no time in using this capital. According to The Bedford Report:
Last month Opko Health purchased the early-stage biotech company, CURNA for $10 million. CURNA uses a medical technology platform based on regulating protein production and is focusing on whether this method could develop treatments for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, paralysis, wound healing and neurological diseases.
Sources:
“Speculative Healthcare Firms Struggle to Get Blockbuster Drugs Approved” The Bedford Report. 3/31. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/Speculative-Healthcare-Firms-iw-4289098714.html?x=0&.v=1
“OPKO Health Announces Exercise of Over-Allotment Option” OPKO Health Inc. 3/18. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/OPKO-Health-Announces-bw-1861724717.html?x=0&.v=1
