Top-4 Stocks to Watch in 2022's Last Trading Day 🎉

US benchmarks rallied back on Thursday after opening the holiday-shortened trading week with back-to-back losses. The Dow gained 1.0%, and the S&P 500 jumped 1.7%. The Nasdaq and small-cap Russell 2K index rallied 2.5% on the trading session.

Today, futures are in the red in early-morning trading. Dow and S&P 500 contracts are both showing a 0.3% loss at the moment.

💸 A Bad Year for Stocks: Major US indexes are on course for their worst annual performance since 2008, during the peak of the Financial Crisis.

📉 Crypto Catastrophe: Crypto is also on pace for the worst year on record. Bitcoin is down upwards of 64% for the year, and other cryptocurrencies have posted even worse performances.

Can anything slow down Kala Pharmaceutical?

This stock is on our list for an unprecedented third day in a row after it announced FDA acceptance of its investigational new drug application for KPI-012.

The news broke early Wednesday, and KALA has been on an absolute tear ever since. Share prices are up 296% over the past two days.

Even with all those gaines in the bag, KALA isn't done yet. This momentum stock is running hot again in today's premarket.

KALA is one of this morning's top performers with a 48.3% gain.

My Take: It's hard to say how much KALA has left in the tank, but this has been one heck of a run. I expect we'll see a pullback when the rally finally runs out of steam, so don't let FOMO drag you into a bad trade here.

Evaxion Bio is moving higher after a clinical update.

The biotech company filed a Form 6K after Thursday's close that revealed some new information about one of its key drug candidates.

In the 6K filing, Evaxion said the US Food & Drug Administration approved its investigational new drug application for EVX-01 in combination with Keytruda.

The ruling clears the way for a global Phase 2b trial of the combination therapy to treat patients with metastatic melanoma, a type of skin cancer.

EVAX is up 29.6% on the news, making it one of the morning's top stocks.

My Take: EVAX is working with Merck on this trial, and the FDA ruling is certainly a good sign. If the trial is fruitful, this stock could have a bright 2023 ahead of it.

An after-hours announcement is lifting shares of Dermata Therapeutics.

The clinical-stage biotech firm announced the withdrawal of a previously issued registration statement following Thursday's closing bell.

Dermata filed a registration statement with the SEC on Feb. 4th, 2022, but it no longer has plans to follow through with the planned public offering.

Investors weren't happy about the planned offering, so the stock is moving higher on news that the company was abandoning the effort.

DRMA is today's top premarket stock with a gain of 93.9% on high trading volume.

My Take: This is a nice payday for shareholders, but I don't know how much it really changes things for this tiny company. This rally might not last for long.

Sesen Bio is moving higher after a regulatory filing.

This morning, a Form 425 filing revealed new amendments to a previously disclosed definitive merger agreement.

In September, Sesen Bio announced its fully-owned subsidiary Seahawk Merger Sub had agreed to merge with CARISMA Therapeutics.

Today's filing revealed two key changes to the agreement. First, Sesen's cash requirement to close was reduced from $100 million to $75 million.

Also, a special cash dividend for SESN shareholders increased from "up to $25 million" to whatever cash the firm has after meeting the $75 million minimum.

Shares of SESN are moving higher on news of the more favorable merger terms. The stock is a top premarket performer with a 26.7% gain.

My Take: Investors are expected a bigger special dividend for shareholders as a result of the new amendments. However, it's likely that the most of the expected increase is priced into the stock at this point, so don't chase.

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