Ebb & Flow

For most of the first quarter, the BioCentury 100 Index moved in concert with the broader markets. But in the past four weeks, the BioCentury 100 has diverged to the downside. The benchmark is down 7% since the week ended March 17. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ and the DJIA are up 1% and down 1%, respectively.

A spate of bad news hasn't helped. Starting in the back half of March, there have been no fewer than 12 blowups that saw stock drops ranging from 14% to a cataclysmic 73%. The bad news has spanned the market cap bands, ranging from top-tier member Cephalon (CEPH) to Corautus (VEGF), which is in the microcap group (see "Negative Newsflow," A13). ...