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Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) was an incredible performer today, and one which makes you wonder how well it would have done had the stock market not been so ugly. Its interim data from Phase III PROVENGE IMPACT trial showed that the IDMC observed no safety concerns, and it recommended that the study continue. The company has completed the planned interim analysis of the Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled IMPACT clinical trial designed to assess the safety and efficacy of PROVENGE in men with metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer. We do want to outline how that despite this data being good and despite it being an active day trader stock again, Dendreon is not suddenly a slam dunk and still has many risks associated with it.
Daily Archives: October 6, 2008
Dendreon’s Move Still Leaves Many Questions (DNDN)
Calgon Carbon Heads Into S&P Small Cap 600 Index (CCC, MDRX)
S&P’s Index Group has announced that Calgon Carbon Corp. (NYSE: CCC) will replace Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) in the S&P Small Cap 600 after the close of trading on Friday.
B of A Earnings Outline Recession Impact on Credit (BAC)
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) issued earnings early and simultaneously announced new capital raising and preservation initiatives. The banking giant said that quarterly net income was $1.18 billion, or $0.15 per share. The good news is that it made a profit. The bad news is that it is a sharp drop from last year’s Q3 of $3.70 billion, or $0.82. Targeting an 8% Tier 1 capital ratio, B of A is going to sell $10 billion worth of common stock. As you will see below, the bank is seeing tighter and tighter performing assets and its comments are getting very cautious to almost alarming.
Emergency G8 Meeting Or Rate Cuts Coming?
Today’s massive market selling abated at the end of the day. This really depends on what you call "rumors" and what you call "hope", but the talk today in the afternoon is around coordinated global response from some or all of the G8 members. Some are calling on central banks to cut rates on a coordinated basis. Others are calling for an emergency G8 meeting.
American Express Outlines Lower Funding Needs (AXP)
American Express (NYSE: AXP), whose stock is trading at 5-year lows, today tried to reassure Wall Street about its financial situation. It said that this year it has increased its surplus capital above normal historical levels by halting its share buybacks, which enabled it to retain a larger portion of the capital and funds generated from ongoing business operations. Its 2008 funding plan targets about $27 billion of term debt sales, which includes off-balance sheet securitizations of credit card loans for the year. Through September 30, it has raised approximately $23 billion or 85% of this total.
Ford (F): Running Out Of Cash, Could Its Shareholders Be Wiped Out?
Ford (F) may have cut costs to the point where the company cannot even operate properly anymore, the number of people in product development, management and marketing has gone so low. That still may not be enough to save the company.
Ford’s US September sales were only 116,734 vehicles, an annual run rate of 1.4 million. The car company cannot stay in business at that rate. With credit so hard to come by even people who want to buy cars and trucks may not be able to
Ford’s shares are down almost 15% today to a multi-year low of $3.32.
Learning From Lehman’s Fuld: How To Answer Oversight Questions On Compensation (LEH, LEHMQ)
Richard Fuld, Chairman & CEO of what is left of Lehman Brothers Holdings (LEHMQ) is currently testifying before the House Oversight Committee. Fuld’s answers and demeanor today may offer some valuable lessons for future CEO’s and executives who have to testify in front of oversight committees when their companies are failing or are in trouble.
We do not really subscribe to the notion that executive compensation is the major issue in troubled institutions nor do we subscribe to the notion that executives should generally be slammed over their compensation packages. Even if our markets are arguably no longer purely free markets, we are not yet in the world of pay caps.
Citi’s Wachovia Suit & Stock Halt, Adding Mud To The Swamp (WB, C, WFC)
Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) shares were halted for "NEWS PENDING" because of an announcement coming out of Citigroup (NYSE: C). The Citi and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) war may be heating up above and beyond a normal fight. Shares were down over 7% at $5.73 on the halt and more than 49 million shares have traded hands. The news is that Citi is going to sue Wells Fargo and Wachovia for bad faith and breach of contract. But the amount is almost absurd and you would almost wonder where the math came from. Citi is seeking $60 billion in damages.
As SAP (SAP) Warns On Earnings Enterprise Software Comes Under The Gun
If the segment of tech which markets to large businesses was supposed to be one of the last bastions of earnings safety, it has just fallen.
SAP (SAP), the second largest enterprise software company in the world, warned about its third quarter earnings today. The firm’s shares were knocked down 15%
Emerging Oil Giants Face Harder Times Than US Oil Giants (XOM, CVX, PBR, PTR, CEO)
It’s no secret that share prices for big oil are down over the past 12 months. These oil giants have fallen sharply from highs when oil was in the $140’s per barrel. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) is off about 18% and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) is off about 25%. They are not doing as bad as emerging market oil giants such as Petro Brasileiro (NYSE:PBR),or Petrobras, nor as poorly as China’s CNOOC Ltd. (NYSE:CEO) and PetroChina (NYSE:PTR).
Safest Stocks As The Market Goes To Hell (PG)(WMT)(CL)(MSFT)(MO)(XOM)
It appears that every stock in the market is being crushed, but that is not entirely so. Several companies in industries not likely to be badly by a deep recession are doing well, and should continue to do so.
Most of these companies also carry reasonable dividends.
As panic races through the markets, save yourselves if you can.
Fear & Loathing: VIX Soars Above 50 As DJIA Takes Out 10,000
For those who have been wondering what a full blown bear market looks like, welcome to the jungle. This looks like another day where along with the bath water, they are throwing out the baby, mommy, and the nest egg. The DJIA has broken back under the 10,000 mark for the first time since April 2005. To show an example of just how oversold the markets are becoming, the CBOE Volatility Index, or the VIX, is challenging 50.0. There were some quote variations as a print hit the tape as high as 51.27, but we currently show the high being just over 51.13. Regardless, which level is accurate, these are massive readings.
The 52-Week Low Club AM Edition 10/6/2008 (GE)(GOOG)(F)(AAPL)
As a sign of how difficult the markets are, a number of large companies hit 52-week lows, with a number of stocks down between 5% and 10% and bank shares off more
Ford (F) dropped to $3.79. Apple (AAPL) fell to $91.11. Yahoo! (YHOO) dropped to $15.17.
GE (GE) fell to $20.12. Rio Tinto (RTP) sold off to $12.60. Cisco (CSCO) fell to $20.26.
Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) dropped to $31.10. EMC (EMC) sold down to $11.03.
Sun (JAVA) dropped to $6.51. Boeing (BA) fell to $51.50. Google (GOOG) dropped to $366.58
Douglas A. McIntyre
Icahn Wins Blue Ribbon in ImClone Race (IMCL, LLY, BMY, MRK)
Carl Icahn appears to have won a blue ribbon for ImClone Systems (NASDAQ: IMCL) shareholders. The biotech stock is trading up on a very weak trading day after what many had deemed as a fishy merger came to pass. Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) is jumping in front of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) with a higher $70.00 buyout rather than the revised $62.00 buyout which Bristol-Myers was hoping to secure.
Netflix Starting to Mature (NFLX)
Trading in shares of Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) gave an interesting pre-market alert at Volume Spike this morning. The DVD rent-by-mail service is feeling pain early this morning after offering some very mixed guidance.
OSI Phase III Falls Short (OSIP, DNA)
OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIP) is getting hit hard in early trading this morning. The biotech has released data showing that a Phase III trial of Genentech’s (NYSE: DNA) Avastin combined with Tarceva in certain patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer did not meet the primary endpoint of increasing overall survival compared with Tarceva plus placebo.
Biotech Implosion: CombinatoRx (CRXX)
CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX) is seeing its stock implode this morning. The company released data from its Phase IIb study of Synavive (CRx-102) for knee osteoarthritis showing that its Synavive test was not statistically significant. This is likely more than just a setback for the Synavive program, but CombinatoRx said it will continue to evaluate and analyze the data.
Shareholders and traders alike are firing first and asking questions later. Shares closed at $3.00 Friday and its 52-week trading range was $2.86 to $6.99. Its pre-market stock trading indications are down nearly 60% at $1.25.
Jon C. Ogg
October 6, 2008
Crocs Shrinkage (CROX)
Crocs, Inc. (CROX) is showing yet again that its growth days are history. The fad shoe maker has announced that it sold certain assets of its Foam Creations business unit in Quebec City, Quebec to a Canadian company led by the former Foam Creations founder. The sale includes manufacturing assets as well as finished inventory and raw materials. The business will continue to operate and will retain 26 employees.
This sort of announcement would traditionally not make much news and might not make much impact, but it shows the company is shrinking. Investors of the high-growth fad stock from 2007 have an entirely different company on their hands.
Crocs shares closed at $3.33 Friday and are indicated down at $3.30 in early trading this morning. If $3.33 is taken out and the stock trades lower, then this will market yet even newer 52-week lows from Friday’s trading.
Jon C. Ogg
October 6, 2008
Ninetendo Paints A Target On Apple (AAPL)
Nintendo wants revenge. Now that Apple (AAPL) has come out with an iPhone that can download games, the Japanese company appropriately believes that Steve Jobs wants their business.
According to BusinessWeek, the new Nintendo DSi will connect to the internet via WiFi and will allow for downloads of music, video, data, and games. Nintendo has sold 77 million units of the DS line.
Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ADBE, AMB, BLKB, KO, EMCI, HSII, KFN, OMTR, PLD, VAR, VMW, VMC)
These are some of the top downgrades we have seen this Monday morning with about 2 hours until the open:
- Adobe Systems (ADBE) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
- AMB Property (AMB) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
- Blackbaud (BLKB) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
- Coca-Cola (KO) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
- EMC Insurance (EMCI) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
- Heidrick & Struggles (HSII) Cut to Underperform at Baird.
- KKR Financial (KFN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
- Omniture (OMTR) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
- ProLogis (PLD) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
- Varian Medical (VAR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
- VMware (VMW) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
- Vulcan Materials (VMC) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Jon C. Ogg
October 6, 2008
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Today’s top tickerspy Indexes Chinese Solar Sto... +9.0% Solar Stocks +5.5% Pollution Control... +4.7% Ethanol and Biofu... +4.2% Chinese IT Stocks +4.1% 
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