On the election dole

The biotech market, after four consecutive weeks of falling prices, was not ignored in last week's equity buying after the Republicans kept control of the House and Senate. The BioCentury 100 was up 1 percent on the week, despite a sluggish performance from the large cap stocks, excepting Biogen (BGEN). The election news prompted investors to push up the Dow Jones Industrials to a record 6219.82, up 3 percent on the week. The NASDAQ Composite also rose 3 percent, while the S&P 500 added 4 percent.

SHUTOUT AVOIDED: But were it not for a proposed $16 million placement by Envirogen (ENVG), no biotech deals would have been added to the funding pipeline last week, a reminder that the holiday season lies ahead, as well as the recent slide, which had shorn 6 percent off the BioCentury 100 since Oct. 4...