We have provided the news, a relative analysis on price and volume compared to normal, and added in other color where appropriate.

ARCA biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABIO) was today’s big winner by a mile, or maybe a 1,000 miles.  This rose exponentially on the USPTO issuing a patent on methods of treating heart failure patients with bucindolol based on genetic testing.  This was up a whopping 210% at $8.22 today.  We also saw some 49 million shares trade.  The average volume before today was less than 25,000 shares per day, and even after the jump this has a market cap of only $62.6 million.  Can you say secondary offering coming? Full details are here Or you can see the quest for ten-baggers at BioHealtInvestor.com.

Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) reversed yesterday’s downgrade with an opposite competing call.  Leerink Swann said enough was enough in selling and it Raised the rating to Outperform based on recent share weakness.  Genzyme closed up 3.6% at $53.00 on over 7.8 million shares. There is one issue worth discussing, CEO Henri Termeer could face the firing squad if things do not improve here.

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOMX) came in even higher than we expected for a share count on its secondary offering. It raised $49.5 million via a 6 million share offering.  The original target was 4 million shares by the company, but we expected 4.5 to 5 million shares would be sold.  This deal was priced at $8.25, but the low of the day was $8.93 and the closing price was down only 4.4% at $9.09 on some 14.9 million shares.

CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX) spent another day giving back the rest of yesterday’s gains.  This was just continued selling, and shares closed down 8.1% at $1.25 on 4 million shares.

Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) announced that the FDA Advisory Committee on July 15 will review its Qnexa for the treatment of obesity.  This is big news in that it set the date, but the shares saw no surprise from the release.  Shares even closed down 0.2% at $9.34 as some might have hoped for a sooner review.  We did see an intra-day high of $9.74 and the trading volume was actually just a normal day with over 2.6 million shares trading hands.

Inovio Biomedical Corporation (AMEX: INO) is into DNA vaccines focused on cancers and infectious diseases, and it was started with a “Buy” rating at Roth Capital.  Shares closed up 9.76% at $1.35 on over 1.2 million shares (about 3X volume).

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JON C. OGG

Included today is the news, the related share move, performance and valuation data, and added in additional market color where applicable.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) is now up even more because of a Mike Huckman tout on CNBC.  The gain is due to the board member resignation of Joseph Klein III, a member of the board since June 2005, with disagreements over matters such as a poison pill and other issues.  This has some thinking of a takeover.  Shares were up 5% before the tout, but shares are now up 7.5% at $24.73 on 2.4 million shares.  Average volume is 1.34 million shares and the new 52-week high was hit today of $24.99.

CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX) is up today after it managed to turn in a profit of $25.2 million during the Q4-2009 period and after it is focusing its R&D efforts.  Shares are up just over 10% at $1.39 on 6.9 million shares.  We saw a high of $1.53 today and the 52-week range is $0.49 to $2.60.  Average volume is only 2.2 million shares.

Electro-Optical Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: MELA) is not a biotech but may play a key role in melanoma down the road.  It is down after the company has received additional questions from the FDA over the pre-market approval application of the MelaFind device for early melanoma detection.  The long and short is that the FDA said that its application is not currently approvable and the FDA has now extended the review by up to 180 days. Shares are down 22% at $7.07, but we had seen a low of $6.43 earlier this morning.  There have now been more than 3 million shares traded and average volume is only about 260,000 shares.

Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) is feeling the wrath of the markets again after yesterday’s FDA action on the Allston plant.  This morning, its shares were Downgraded to Underweight at JPMorgan.  The beatings will continue until morale improves! Shares are down 7.4% at $51.21 and we have seen 9.9 million shares trade hands versus an average of 2.8 million shares.

Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLXP) was awarded FDA approval for Xifaxan 550mg tablets for the risk reduction of overt hepatic encephalopathy recurrence in patients aged 18 and higher.  This is expected to add to sales of the drug.  Shares are off highs of $38.00 earlier with a gain of 8.85% at $36.49 on 4.55 million shares in late morning.  Average volume is about 1.4 million, but this marks a new 52-week high with anything above $34.38.

SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCLN) is up after last night’s announcement that ondansetron RapidFilm(TM) received approval in 16 European countries.  This is a serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist commonly used to treat and prevent nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery.  The company expects these EU approvals to support efforts to gain regulatory approval in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Macau.  Shares are up 11.4% at $4.11 on 1.6 million shares.  Average volume is only 450,000 shares and the 52-week trading range is $1.21 to $5.33; its market cap is only $194 million and the company is now profitable.

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOMX) is up again on no news, but this is ahead of its planned 4 million share secondary offering which should price today after the close.  Our bet is that the 4 million shares is more like 4.5 million or maybe even 5 million shares.  This is rare to hear, but this is actually a good version of dilution as it adds much-needed growth capital.  Shares are up 6.4% at $9.83 on 8 million shares.

Warner Chilcott plc (NASDAQ: WCRX) may be on its way for a dividend payment and may still be on the way to becoming the next great emerging drug company.  But its news from yesterday about it closing the former P&G office in Ohio as part of the 2009 acquisition has at least some of the bulls questioning its growth.  This will send 163 American workers to the weekly jobless claims line.  The Irish pharma stock is down 4.4% at $25.54 on over 2 million shares.  Average volume is 1.4 million shares and the 52-week trading range is $9.64 to $29.24.

The new short interest data for short sellers is out showing the March 15 settlement date versus the February 26 date.  Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) was the largest outright change and Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) shows part of what caused the recovery… short covering.  The full short interest data is here from BioHealthInvestor.com.

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JON C. OGG

We have given some wide expectations, issues to watch, and background data on each stock for this coming week.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-B) released the Annual Letter to shareholders from Warren Buffett this weekend.  Buffett was far more confident than last year’s dreadful letter and with reason, most of his positions are now well above water.  We have noticed how short sellers have attacked the Buffett stocks in the most recent data from last week.  Buffett will be on a 3-hour breakfast chat with Becky Quick on CNBC Monday morning, so Buffett headlines are likely to rule for at least all of Monday.

The Chile Fund Inc. (NYSE: CH) as a closed-end fund and the iShares MSCI Chile Investable Mkt Idx (NYSE: ECH) as an ETF are going to be important to watch.  This is on the heels of an 8.8-magnitude earthquake that severely damaged Chile over the weekend.  We do not have a count on deaths and injuries yet, but this may interrupt the country’s GDP growth significantly in 2010.  It is always to cover issues from these in a few sentences when you know how much pain and suffering is happening.

CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX) fell on Friday ahead of the Monday March 1 FDA PDUFA goal date for the review of its Exalgo™ extended-release opioid painkiller tablet new drug application.  This NDA application date was moved from Monday, February 22, 2010 to Monday, March 1, 2010 due to federal government closings due to snow.  This can be a make or break event due to its micro-cap status. Shares closed down 8% at $1.12 on more than 200% normal trading volume on Friday.  The 52-week trading range is $0.41 to $2.60.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) is scheduled to report earnings Wednesday morning.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.71 EPS on about $18.5 billion.  We remain focused on valuation here at more than 20-times 2010 earnings estimates and at $60.97 it is within 1% of its 52-week high of $61.52.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY) was given a very positive article in Barron’s over the weekend.  The Indian generic drug company closed at $24.61 in its USD ADR and two analysts predicted it could run up to $29.63 and to $30.82 as its sales are expected to double to $3 billion in 2013. It was noted that GlaxoSmithkline (NYSE: GSK) was interested in taking a stake.  Its 52-week range is $7.27 to $27.33.  If the markets are flat or solid, it seems that Dr. Reddy’s may have up to a 2% or so Barron’s-pop.

Millipore Inc. (NYSE: MIL) has yet to show that a bid is on the table above that it is ‘exploring strategic alternatives’ after  last week’s M&A leak.  The $6 billion said to be on the table from Thermo Fisher (NYSE: TMO) is said to include debt and there were late-week rumors that 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) may join the fray here to add Millipore in with its Cuno operations.  If a deal is going to come, we’d look for more news on Monday or Tuesday rather than this story just dying down.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) has become the go-to stock proxy for a vote on the future of Greece in its steady troubles with the Euro.  There are mixed reports over Greece’s bailout. The WSJ has said over the weekend that a package is coming by Friday, yet Germany’s Merkel has said the IMF is the only agency which can save Greece, according to a Handelsblatt report.  The National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) will be THE proxy to watch.  As recently as November the Greek ADR would trade a mere half million shares per day.  Now that number is closer to 2 million shares per day.  This is the proxy to watch Monday for the Greece bailout situation.

Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) was given the ultimate pan this week by Wall Street and Barron’s is only adding fuel to the fire here.  Barron’s argues its phones are great and that no one is buying the things as they opt for just about every other maker.  And its expanded carrier plan still is weak, as are the promotions and the advertisements.  I noted how options traders were betting on even more and more downside over at OptionsZone.com this last week despite the selling which had already been seen.  Barron’s notes the hope of a takeover, but also noted the chances being a long shot from Dell or H-P… Now Barron’s gave this the ultimate snub: “without some surprise news, Palm could drift back down toward $3….”  Palm started last week above $9.00 then down close to $8.00 before dropping the ball about its warning and shares went down to $6.53. With a 6.7% drop to $6.09 Friday, Barron’s is calling for another 50% drop.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) broke under $1.00 briefly Friday and shares closed down 4.6% at $1.02 on Friday.  After the company posted positive earnings and then traded as high as $1.18, we promised late on Friday to give an updated outlook.  I have been behind the company for a rather long time… down at $0.15 and under, and I had noted to buy the shares, take physical delivery of the shares, and stick them in a drawer.  It is time to lighten up here.  The stock can rise, but the implied dilution from Malone and Liberty here is just too great.  The Pandora competition coming in March and even the Howard Stern contract game are two sideshows in our analysis.  Its 3.6 billion shares already are one thing, but if Liberty were to covert its convertible preferred stake we’d be somewhere around 6.45 billion shares trying to try to capture some of the implied value at more than $2.5 billion today.  The ride might not be over, but smart money would take at least half of the position off the table now.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and Ford Motor (NYSE: F) are on deck for February auto sales on Tuesday.  There is now way that weather in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast will not have played a role in hurting the sales comparisons to 2009, but we are going to get to see just how poorly Toyota’s recalls are hurting Toyota and just how much Ford has been able to capitalize in market share.  Edmunds noted the lowest Toyota market share in years, yet the stock has not busted really under $71 and traders have supported it.  Dennis Gartman on CNBC Friday just said he prefers to be long Ford.

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JON C. OGG

On the macro-economic front, watch for the Beige Book and then unemployment data.  We have given preliminary previews for each along with relevant comparable data.

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) is still said to be close to more asset sales.  Based upon the earnings and based upon the company saying it may require more assistance, we’ll see if any key asset sales come next week as we read about earlier this week.  AIG is voted as the most-hated company, so any raises need to come from internal sources rather than from Uncle Sam and from you and me.  Shares were down almost 10% late on Friday after earnings, so it would seem expectations have headed even further south than what we expected earlier in the week.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-B) is releasing the Annual Letter from Warren Buffett this weekend.  We have already offered a preview of what we expect to hear and compared it to lat year’s just awful letter.  We also showed how short sellers have really attacked Berkshire Hathaway stock and its largest holdings.

CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX) has an FDA PDUFA goal date for the review of its Exalgo™ extended-release tablets new drug application on deck.  This NDA application date was moved from Monday, February 22, 2010 to Monday, March 1, 2010 due to federal government closings.  This may be a make or break event for CombinatoRx due to its micro-cap status.  This fell from $1.34 to $1.26 when the delay was announced two weeks ago and this is at $1.20 ahead of the event and this is the lowest the stock has been since the delay.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) is out with earnings next Wednesday.  BJ’s is also on deck, but we are looking to see if Costco is winning in the trade-up as Wal-Mart gave disappointing earnings a week ago.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.71 EPS on approximately $18.5 billion.  The big question here remains on valuation as it trades at more than 20-times 2010 earnings estimates despite the notion that Costco stock came within 0.1% of reaching its 52-week highs on Friday.  Many traders say that stocks hitting new highs usually continue hitting new highs, but many are probably also expecting profit taking here.

Millipore Inc. (NYSE: MIL) is one we are likely to find out just how real the bidding is by Monday or Tuesday.  The stock has risen sharply, about $20 per share, on reports that Thermo Fisher (NYSE: TMO) is going to bid $6 billion or so for the company.  Millipore has confirmed that it is reviewing strategic alternatives, and there are now rumors that 3M Co. (MMM) is potentially interested in a bid.  If GE (GE) were not still recovering from 2009 woes, they would be interested too… 3M bought Cuno and GE bought Ionics for water and filtration plays in the last five years or so.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) broke under $1.00 this morning, but shares have recovered.  Where the stock closes is anyone’s guess but the stock briefly hit as high as $1.18 this week.  Its earnings were positive for Q4 but the stock is down on major profit taking and based upon stretched dilution values when you include the Liberty conversion shares.  We will be giving the full expectations this weekend for what to expect in our “Unusual Suspects” due tomorrow.

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) has a potential make or break earnings event next week even if this is no longer as actively traded as it used to be.  VeriFone is the company you see at checkout counters all across the country.  The stock is also all the way back up to within striking distance of that $20.00 handle that was the gap-down level from when its shares imploded on accounting issues in late 2007 from $40+ down to $20… then before the second wave down in late 2008.  This will mean that almost every single holder who bought in the last two years will be profitable and this will mark what could be a triple-top if it gets just above $20… The short sellers recently lightened up their short interest by 12% down to 2,483,166 shares.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.23 EPS and $217.75 million in revenues.  Our main concern is fiscal 2010 guidance and whether the company is confident enough to offer targets, and Thomson Reuters $1.04 and 909.06 million in revenues for fiscal Oct-2010.  For whatever it is worth, VeriFone shares are now above the average analyst price targets.

On a more macro-event, we have major February auto sales on deck for Tuesday.  The biggest take away is on Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM).  Weather will definitely have interfered in car shopping.  But what is most important is that we are likely to see the full brunt of how this major wave of recalls is impacting Toyota sales of new cars.  What is interesting is that shares bottomed out earlier this month at $71 to $72 and the stock has been holding steady even as the headlines got worse and as Akio Toyoda testified.  Ford is likely to have the most to gain as the American public has shown it the most favorable brand of choice as it did not take extraordinary government bailout money as Chrysler and GM did.

On Wednesday we have the Fed’s Beige Book.  It will be interesting to see if there are any new tidbits available considering that we had Bernanke testimony this week and considering we already got the logic behind the recent hike to the discount rate.  We will be handicapping this one ahead of time as a ‘less-impact than normal’ as far as what to expect from a trader reaction.

Unemployment and the change in non-Farm payrolls for February on deck next Friday. Hands down and absolutely this is the most important known economic event of the week.  The recent drop in confidence and the re-rise of the weekly jobless claims is putting added pressure on this figure.  We so far have estimates of 9.7% to 9.8% on unemployment and roughly -20K on jobs… stay tuned as these figures are a blend of consensus data from Reuters, Bloomberg, Dow Jones and others.  This will be previewed at least once next week as the economist estimates get firmed up into a real consensus.

Have a great weekend.

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Jon C. Ogg

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

Corcept Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CORT) up 11% today. Despite several statistically insignificant Phase III clinical trials of lead drug, a psychotic depression treatment, Corlox, the company initiated further trials in December. Friday the company entered into an agreement with Kingsbridge Capital Limited to purchase up to $60 million in new shares to finance their trials. Shares are trading at $3.60 off a 52-week range of $1.10 to $6.85.

Omrix Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (OMRI) is still rising from an analyst assertion Monday that the biosurgery franchise unit with Johnson and Johnson leads its industry. Since Monday, shares have spiked from $13.32 to $16.04, a 20% increase. Today, shares are up 8%. The 52-week range is $11.81 to $39.07.

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRT) granted orphan-status to MELAS syndrome drug treatment, resveratrol. The designation gives Sirtris 7 years of marketing exclusivity upon FDA approval. Shares down $0.73 to $13.12 on heavy trading volume. The 52-week range of $9.50 to $21.99.

Rachel Lopez
April 2, 2008

Wilsons The Leather Experts (WLSN) CEO leaving. Falls to $.14 from 52-week high of $2.36.

Pacificnet (PACT) Fighting involuntary Chapter 11. Down to $1.05 from 52-week high of $7.15.

Autobytel  (ABTL) No news, just selling. Off to $1/90 from 52-week high of $4.64.

Combinatorx (CRXX) No news. Falls to $3.11 from 52-week high of $7.37.

Commvault Systems (CVLT) No news. Down to $11.35 from 52-week high of $23.04.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) is set to report earnings after the closing bell, with First Call estimates at -$0.44 EPS on revenues of $202.58 million Shares were up less than 1% at $32.74 on the day ahead of earnings.

Carl Icahn has nominated three individuals for the board of directors in Biogen-Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) in his activist efforts to move the shares.  Biogen-Idec shares were down $0.90 to $58.02 mid-day.

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) was cleared today by German regulation to proceed with its acquisition of Pharmion. Stocks are up over 3% to $53.31 at mid-day. Pharmion Corp. (NASDAQ: PHRM) shares were up 1.8% to $67.44.

CombinatoRx Inc. (NASDAQ: CRXX) shares fell almost 7% to $4.80 mid-day on thin trading volume.  Technically there was no news today, although this followed guidance last week of losses below view.

Lipid Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIPD) announced positive trial results in non-human SIV-infected primates in its proprietary deplidated autogolous virus vaccine. Share prices were up more than 15% or $0.09 to $0.65 at mid-day.

Medivation, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) rose after it announced that, based on its end-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA, it plans to begin a pivotal confirmatory Phase III trial of Dimebon for mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s Disease in the second quarter of 2008.  Shares rose $2.36 to $17.21 by mid-day on this data.

Pharmacopeia, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCOP) shares fell over 10% to $4.37 at mid-day on thin-trading volume. There has been no recent news.

Jon C. Ogg
January 28, 2008

Jon C. Ogg
May 11, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.