Posts for Ticker ‘GERN’

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ACN, AAI, CFN, FSLR, FNM, FRE, GERN, MRVL, LUV, TLAB)

These are ten of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen early this Monday morning from Wall Street research notes:

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Air Tran Holdings (NYSE: AAI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
CareFusion (NYSE:CFN) Started as Market Perform at Leerink Swann; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut To Neutral at Macquarie.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM)  Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

Jon C. Ogg
October 19, 2009

Posted on: October 19, 2009 – 7:58 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

The Unusual Suspects (MELA, FSLR, GENZ, GERN, JEC, SHLD, SIRI, CRM, SPPI)

bull-and-bear-imageIt’s the weekend, and that brings about the review of “the unusual suspects” for strange activity or for being key stocks under review for the week ahead.  There are some old hat names here and some new unknown names that will be key.  We have Electro-Optical Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: MELA), First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ), Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN), Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEC), Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPPI) all under review for the week ahead.
Read More »

Posted on: August 22, 2009 – 11:16 am in Calendar, Earnings, Editor's Picks, The Week, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (HD, LOW, CIT, GERN, TSL, NVAX, HURN, RIMM)

These are this Tuesday’s top day trader and active stock alerts.  We have more detailed data on volume and price analysis with links through to VSInvestor.com on each stock:

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) managed to do better than rival Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) and shares were up 4%.

CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) has pulled an about-face and is now higher after its big loss.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) is down sharply on its IND application delay.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is trading up over 3% after the Chinese solar player managed to beat earnings estimates.

Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) is soaring 10% on swine flu vaccine news.

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HURN) is surging over 25% on a partial redemption of its accounting woes.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) is up 2.5% but may be more active after an analyst is calling for a double.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 18, 2009

Posted on: August 18, 2009 – 9:06 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , , ,

The War On Diabetes Heats Up (NVO, AMLN, LLY, MNKD, PFE, VVUS, BMY, AZN, ARNA, GERN, STEM, OREX, GNBT, SPEX, ORMP, HDIX, PODD)

Biotech ImageDiabetes is becoming an epidemic in the U.S. and the Western World.  The ties to obesity are often direct, so the potential treatments are often directly tied as well.  We did a recent dig down for the next $170 billion opportunity for eight different major diseases and conditions, and now we have conducted a much deeper dig down specifically in the field of diabetes over at BioHealthInvestor.com.  We have recent and upcoming FDA action and data being presented from Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO), MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD), Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Alkermes Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN).  There is a mini-race going on between some of the later stage studies from obesity and diabetes candidates from Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA), VIVUS, inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS), Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX) and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN).  Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) and StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) were noted as two of the stem cell hopes, although stem cells may later rather than sooner.

Generex Biotechnology Corporation (NASDAQ: GNBT), Spherix Incorporated (NASDAQ: SPEX) and Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCBB: ORMP) were all noted in the much smaller or emerging plays.  Home Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HDIX) and Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD) have both recently had key events as the interest in test equipment companies continues to remain high.

FULL STORY with much more detail at BioHealthInvestor.com.

Posted on: August 10, 2009 – 10:56 am in Biotech, Drug companies, FDA, Healthcare, Medical, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GE Taking Decisive Step Into Stem Cells (GE, GERN, STEM, ASTM)

GE LogoGeneral Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is taking a bold and controversial new step into the field of embryonic stem cell research.  The company has signed an exclusive license and alliance pact with Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) to develop and commercialize cellular assay products derived from human embryonic stem cells for use in drug discovery, development and toxicity screening.  As noted over at BioHealthInvestor.com, this may have implications for other stem cell stocks such as StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM), Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTM) and others.
Read More »

Posted on: June 30, 2009 – 9:17 am in Biotech, Conglomerates, Drug companies, Law, Medical, Politics, , , ,

Best Performing Sectors This Week: Cancer Stocks, Home Furnishing, Aircraft Leasing

Read More »

Posted on: April 16, 2009 – 12:07 pm in Business Services, Exchange, Industry, , , , , , , ,

Should You Chase Stem Cell Stocks? (ASTM, CYTX, GERN, NBS, OSIR, STEM, KOOL)

money-stack-image15We are seeing massive gap-ups this morning in stem cell stocks.  President Obama is signing an executive order which will lift the Bush ban on funding of embryonic stem cell funding.  What is interesting here is that this is not really new news other than the timing and the formality.  The following prices are as of 8:19 AM EST.

  • Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTM) +87% at $0.62
  • Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYTX) +38% at $3.20
  • Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) +29% at $4.99
  • Neostem, Inc. (AMEX: NBS) NOT TRADED
  • Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIR) NOT TRADED…. in pact with Genzyme, but for adult stem cells.
  • StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) +55% at $2.15
  • Thermogenesis Corp. (NASDAQ: KOOL) +41% at $0.57

Many of these stem cell stocks will trade more on a “vote of confidence” rather than over what this means as far as “new news” is concerned.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: March 9, 2009 – 7:29 am in Biotech, Politics, , , , , , ,

Geron Registers Small Number of Shares (GERN)

Money_stack_pic_2Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) had a filing to sell shares that hit after teh close today.  Normally this would be a cause for concern since it had a huge run recently.  But this turns out to be only "related parties" and for a small amount.

Read More »

Posted on: January 29, 2009 – 5:31 pm in Biotech, Secondary Offering,

Geron Given FDA Hold (GERN)

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) announced today that the company received a verbal notice from the FDA that Geron’s Investigational New Drug (IND) submission for GRNOPC1, its cell therapy for spinal cord injury, has been placed on clinical hold.   This is an order that the FDA issues to a company to delay a proposed trial or to suspend an ongoing investigation.

As the company has not seen the reasons for the hold in writing via a letter, it is unable to comment specifically.   The company said in the release that it has been in communications with the FDA for 4 years leading to its filing.

NASDAQ halted trading of the stock at 14:30:29 pending news, so it is now not trading.  Shares did manage to trade down almost 4% to $4.71 before this halt took effect.  Geron’s market cap was almost $367 million before the halt, and its 52-week trading range was $3.97 to $9.85.

Jon C. Ogg
May 14, 2008

Posted on: May 14, 2008 – 1:40 pm in Biotech, FDA,

Super Tuesday Election Winner: STEM CELLS (STEM, GERN, ASTM, IVGN, KOOL, NBS, OSIR)

Despite not knowing whom the ultimate winner of the 2008 Presidential election will be, it looks like stem cells may be one of the real bright spots as far as which area in biotech will be open for more funding down the road.  If the Democrats win this is a shoe in.  If McCain wins, the current research clamp-downs won’t likely be as stringent in 2009 and beyond as they are today.  If Romney stages a comeback, despite many thinking of him as a religious figure our indications are that he at worst would not be anywhere as tough on the stem cell studies as the current administration.  Public companies such as StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM), Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN), Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTM), and others are going to be watching closely.

If you look at Tradesports.com for the political futures, you can see the Presidential nominee futures right now if you want to make a determination where the actual money bets are going right now.  McCain is priced at $93.00 and Romney is now priced at $1.90, so this would indicate a 92.9% probability of a McCain nomination.  The Democrat race is much closer right now with Tradesports showing a Hillary Clinton nomination with a $54.60 price (down $8.40), and Obama with a $47.40 price (up $8.90).  So the futures are showing a McCain essentially as a shoe-in now, yet the Democrat race is still too close to call.  Guess what, this would be a win-win for stem cell research beyond this year.

Read More »

Posted on: February 6, 2008 – 9:33 am in Biotech, Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ADCT, ARRS, EL, FLML, GERN, HD, LOW, MCD, MEDX, NOVL, NMX, DIS)

These are not the only pre-market analyst calls that are moving stocks, but these are the calls that 247WallSt.com is focusing on:

  • ADC Telecom (NASDAQ: ADCT) and Arris (NASDAQ: ARRS) raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Flamel (NASDAQ: FLML) raised to But at Merriman Curhan Ford.
  • Geron (NASDAQ: GERN) raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) started as Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
  • McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) downgraded to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
  • Medarex (NASDAQ: MEDX) started as Buy at UBS.
  • Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • NYMEX (NYSE: NMX) downgraded to Hold at Citigroup.
  • Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) downgraded to Sell at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
January 29, 2008

Posted on: January 29, 2008 – 7:54 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Biotechs and Related Hitting 52-Week Lows Too (BBH, AMGN, AMLN, ARNA, GERN, INGN, PGNX, SUPG)

Today has been a rough day with more 52-week lows than we can recall in quite some time.  The biotechs haven’t been immune.  You can even see that the Biotech HOLDRs (BBH) at $160+ are only about 2% above the 52-week lows of $157.95, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) ETF at $80.29 is only about half-way in its 52-week trading range of $72.37 to $89.00.  The difference is because of the composition.

Here are BIOTECH STOCKS hitting 52-week lows today:

  • Amgen (AMGN)
  • Amylin Pharma (AMLN)
  • Arena Pharma (ARNA)
  • Cleveland Biolabs (CBLI)
  • Geron (GERN)
  • Introgen (INGN)
  • Progenics Pharma (PGNX)
  • Somaxon Pharma (SOMX)
  • Spectrum Pharma (SPPI)
  • Supergen (SUPG)

If you wantto see how bad today is look at the master list of 52-week lows we compiled two hours ago with financials, restaurants, retail, REIT, property, tech and more.  It’s a huge list.

Jon C. Ogg
January 4, 2008

Posted on: January 4, 2008 – 3:22 pm in Biotech, HI/LOW, , , , , , , ,

Geron Positive Spinal Cord Injury Data (GERN)

Geron Corp. (NASDAQ:GERN) is trading up in pre-market activity on news that would have been much more eagerly received back in the emergence of stem cell news.  Geron announced that data shows its human embryonic stem cell based therapeutic candidate for spinal cord injury GRNOPC1 survives and exhibits durable and robust human remyelination in spinal cord-injured rats.  The duration was for at least nine months following a single injection.

This data is being presented at the Society for Neurosciences Annual Meeting in San Diego, the data also demonstrate that GRNOPC1 does not amplify neuropathic pain or the reaction to painful stimuli.  Surprisingly, other similar research has shown that other cell types injected in the spinal cord amplify neuropathic pain, and that has been a complication of human spinal cord injury.

GRNOPC1 is an allogeneic population of cells that contain oligodendroglial progenitors ultimately intended for transplant into the lesion site of patients with spinal cord injury to induce tissue repair. Geron’s development plan for GRNOPC1 calls for the filing of an Investigational New Drug Application with the FDA and ultimately an initiation of human clinical trials in 2008.

It doesn’t sound like this is a pure cure for paralyzation or spinal cord injury yet, but this is hopefully one more step to a major medical issue that has been to date untreatable.  Geron shares are up 2.5% at $7.30 in pre-market trading, and the 52-week trading range is $5.67 to $10.00. Back in the early 2000’s, this is the sort of news that would have had a stem cell stock up double-digit percentages.

Jon C. Ogg
November 7, 2007

Posted on: November 7, 2007 – 8:46 am in Biotech,

Obama & Clinton Criticize Bush Stem Cell Veto (STEM, GERN, ASTM)

Stock Tickers: STEM, GERN, ASTM

Senator Obama has issued a statement regarding President Bush’s veto of the Embryonic Stem Cell Bill:

Senator Obama noted:  "By vetoing funding for stem cell research once again, the President is deferring the hopes of millions of Americans who do not have the time to keep waiting for the cure that may save or extend their lives. The promise that stem cells hold does not come from any particular ideology, it is the judgment of science, and we deserve a President who will put that judgment first and make this promise real for the American people."

Hillary Clinton noted (condensed): "You know, later today, apparently, the president will veto a bill passed by Congress to support stem cell research……Now, this is research that…holds such promise for devastating diseases. Yesterday, I met with a group of children suffering from juvenile diabetes. I co-chair the Alzheimer’s caucus in the Senate. I’ve worked on helping to boost funding for research to look for cures and a way to prevent so many devastating diseases. And we know that stem cell research holds the key to our understanding more about what we can do. So let me be very clear: When I am president, I will lift the ban on stem cell research…. This is just one example of how the President puts ideology before science, politics before the needs of our families, just one more example of how out of touch with reality he and his party have become. And it’s just one more example as to why we’re going to send them packing in January 2009, and return progressive leadership to the White House."

Stem cell investing is an issue that is frankly more politically igniting than perhaps any other issue for investors.  The key stem cell stocks that investors place bets on with the rise and fall of stem cell issues are StemCells Inc. (STEM-NASDAQ), Geron (GERN-NASDAQ), and Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM-NASDAQ).  It is always interesting which politicians and which candidates are pro or con on political issues that have implications for individual stock sectors.  If stem cell investing is yor primary focus, Obama is one of your friends. If not, well that answer is obvious too.

StemCells (STEM) closed down 2.3% at $2.48; Geron (GERN) closed down 3.1% at $7.39; and Aastrom (ASTM) closed down 2.1% at$1.39.

Jon C. Ogg
June 20, 2007

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

Posted on: June 20, 2007 – 5:10 pm in Biotech, , ,

Pre-Market Stock News (June 11, 2007)

(ADLR) Adolor said a complete response to the POI ‘Approvable’ Letter now targeted for 3Q 2007.
(ALXN) Alexion Pharm says studies show efficacy and safety of it’s Soliris in broad population of PNH patients in Phase III studies examining Soliris for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.
(BYBI) Backyard Burgers agrees to be acquired for $6.50 cash per share.
(CHINA) CDC Corp making a gaming company acquisition.
(CSGS) CSG Systems is paying $23.5M cash to acquire private ComTec.
(CUP) Peru Copper gets a friendly takeover offer from Aluminum of China.
(EME) EMCOR raised guidance and announced a 2-1 stock split.
(ENDO) Endo pharmaceuticals’ FROVA Phase III study data showed short-term prevention treatment reduces frequency and severity of menstrual migraine.
(ERIC) Ericsson in GSM expansion pact with China Mobile.
(GERN) Geron says research indicates its embryonic stem cell based therapy for spinal cord injury evades direct attack response by the human immune system.
(GOOG) Google announced search and ad pact with Sina in China.
(GOL) Gol Intelligent Airlines said Continental will sell its tickets for travel to Brazil and South America.
(IBM) IBM paying close to $750 million to acquire Telogic AB in Sweden.
(IMCL) Imclone said FDA accepted and granted priority review of ERBITUX sBLA for overall survival in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.
(JOSB) Jos. A. Bank $0.45 EPS vs $0.42e.
(MDVN) Medivation’s Dimebon maintains statistically significant benefit on all five efficacy endpoints in Alzheimer’s disease after one year of therapy
(NGA) North American Galvanizing trades ex-split to reflect a 3-2 stock split.
(NRMX) Neurochem presents update on Alzhemed, but said that no predictions or conclusions can yet be made regarding the outcome of the Phase III study.
(OI) Owen-Illinois is selling its plastics unit to rexam for $1.8 Billion.
(OSUR) OraSure received a CE mark of approval from the EU for its OraQuick rapid HIV test.
(PRGS) Progress Software added one of the Dow Jones news feeds to its algorithmic trading platform.
(PRW) Pro-Pharmaceutical submits data to begin a 505B2 filing with FDA for new formulation of Irinotecan for potential cancer treatment indications.
(RIMG) Rimage announced a $6.5M order from new major national retail customer.
(SINA) Sina in strategic search and ad partnership with Google in China.
(TRLG) True Religion CEO reduced holdings of 2.3 million shares in a private placement.

Jon C. Ogg
June 11, 2007

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

Posted on: June 11, 2007 – 6:48 am in Pre-Market Activity, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,