Tale of two markets

U.S. investors looking to the "January effect" to provide a reprieve from the limping biotech market may take pause with the first week of trading, which saw the BioCentury 100 Price Level drop 2 percent, while The Carson Life Sciences Smaller cap index of 190 companies slipped 1.7 percent, and its 10-company Large Cap group lost 2.6 percent.

Granted, biotech was not alone in the sell-off, as the broader markets also tanked. The Nasdaq Composite, Dow Jones Industrials and the S&P 500 indices all slid 5 percent on the week...