Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Ariba Inc. (NASDAQ: ARBA) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.

Capella Education Co. (NASDAQ: CPLA) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Cut to Neutral at Mizuho; Maintained Underperform and target cut to $14 at Credit Suisse.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Started as Underperform at Jefferies; Maintained Hold with $11 target at Canaccord Genuity.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) Reiterated Buy with $36 target at Argus.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) Started as Buy with $40 target at Needham.

GATX Corporation (NYSE: GMT) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JAZZ) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

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JON C. OGG

The following ten securities will be added to the Index: Cerus Corporation (Nasdaq: CERS), Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLDX), Amicus Therapeutics, Inc.(Nasdaq: FOLD), Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: INFI), Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: JAZZ), Omeros Corporation (Nasdaq: OMER), Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OREX), Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCRX), Raptor Pharmaceutical Corporation (Nasdaq: RPTP), and Trius Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSRX).

The following members will be booted from the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index: BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: BPAX), China Biologic Products, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBPO), Columbia Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBRX), Cardiome Pharma Corp (Nasdaq: CRME) and DURECT Corporation (Nasdaq: DRRX).

The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index tracks the performance of a set of NASDAQ-listed securities that are classified as either biotechnology or pharmaceutical and it is re-ranked twice a year (May/November).

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (NASDAQ: IBB) ETF has more than $1.8 billion in assets and it aims to track the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index per its description.  SPDR S&P Biotech (AMEX: XBI) has more than $500 million in assets tracks the biotech members ranked by S&P, but there are some overlaps in the indexes. Market Vectors Biotech ETF (AMEX: BBH) has only just over $100 million in assets and tracks the  Market Vectors US Listed Biotech 25 Index.

JON C. OGG

Our screen process did not limit the scope to positive earnings, but we did use a minimum market valuation of $1 billion to avoid the smaller and even more speculative names in an already speculative sector.  The companies are all expected to rise 20% more and include the following stocks tied to biotech and the biohealth sectors: ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA); Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD); Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN); Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY); Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAZZ); Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE); and Theravance, Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX).

Unfortunately, some of these are biotech implosions where companies have run into problems. Others are pre-revenue and could be tomorrow’s drug giants in cancer and other indicated treatments.  Some may even be acquired.  We have included the current share price and recent price history, as well as based the implied upside upon the consensus price target objective from Thomson Reuters.  Recent fundamental data and color has been added on each if applicable.

There are also the ETF products via the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (NASDAQ: IBB) and the SPDR S&P Biotech (NYSE: XBI).  The iShares variation trades at $104.30 and its 52-week range is $83.96 to $110.02.  Gilead (and Pharmasset) would be the largest implied holding of the iShares ETF with almost 16% weighting combined.  The SPDR variation trades at $66.48 and its 52-week range is $47.01 to $75.17. The SPDR also only contains ARIAD (and Pharmasset) of the biotechs with the most implied upside below. 

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) currently trades around $12.50, has a market cap of about $1.65 billion, and the Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $15.91 leaves an implied upside of about 27%.  Its 52-week trading range is $5.04 to $13.50 and 2011 has been a year where the company’s share price has come close to challenging the prior highs from 1999 to 2000. It is still pre-revenue for the most part and losses are expected to continue at least through 2012.  ARIAD is focused around oncology and its shares are up from a $10.42 per share offering of almost 25 million shares that raised nearly $250 million for the company.  This was one of the good secondary offerings that allows the company to raise development and commercialization funds without becoming dependent solely upon a single partner.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) is another implosion story due to lower adoption rates of PROVENGE for prostate cancer, although some are hoping and expecting that the new reimbursement rates (and physician clarity) may help the company regain some of its lost footing.  At $7.58, the market cap is barely $1.1 billion and the $11.05 Thomson Reuters price target leaves an implied upside of over 45%.  To show just how bad this one has gone, the 52-week trading range is $6.46 to $43.96.

Also Read: Small Caps With 50% Upside in 2012

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) recently traded at $39.88 and it is one of the biotech giants with a market cap of about $30 billion. THe 52-week trading range is $34.45 to $43.49 and the Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $48.86 leaves an implied upside of 22.5%. The last time Gilead was above $50.00 was in early 2009.  Gilead is somewhat surprising to see on the list considering its controversial $11 billion acquisition of Pharmasset when that target acquisition is not expected to generate sales for at least another year.  The company has new HIV medication that is helping to boost the value but the company is diversifying to include more target markets.

Many companies were screened out because performance has faltered or because of limited history.  Read the full lists below at BioHealthInvestor.com:

• Outlook 2011: ARIA, CHTP, CYCC, ENMD, EXAS, EXEL, FOLD, IDIX
• Outlook 2011, Part II: AMRN, ILMN, INHX, JAZZ, NBIX, NPSP, THRX, VPHM

Stocks covered above in detail at BioHealthInvestor.com are ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA), Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHTP), Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYCC), EntreMed Inc. (NASDAQ: ENMD), Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ: EXAS), Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXEL), Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD), Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDIX), Amarin Corporation plc (NASDAQ: AMRN), Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN), Inhibitex Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX), Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAZZ), Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX), NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP), Theravance Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX), and ViroPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: VPHM).

You can also see the same sort of search from 2009 for the 2010 outlook that was done at BioHealthInvestor.com.

JON C. OGG

National Bank of Greece S.A. (NYSE: NBG) is lower after filing its paperwork for an extraordinary meeting of shareholders last night; shares are down 3.2% at $2.11 in pre-market trading and this is challenging another 52-week low as the 52-week trading range is $2.10 to $7.95.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is 3% higher after posting positive 3Q earnings after yesterday’s close. At $30.61, the SBUX is trading above its 52-week range of $19.25 – $30.00.

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) beat earnings consensus again on their 3Q, but the $0.28 per share profit was somewhat below the average beat. CROX is down more than 6%. At $13.90, it is close to the peak of its 52-week range of $4.33 – $14.94.

Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) was raised to strong buy from buy at Needham. Shares of ATML are up nearly 10% to $9.80. This is well above the 52-week range of $3.73-$9.06.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JAZZ) is 12% higher to $14.00 after beating quarterly estimates and increasing its year-long outlook. The stock is above its 52-week high of $13.95.

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXA) is getting crushed after the FDA declined to approve its AZ-004 for treatment of agitation in schizophrenic or bipolar disorder patients.  This is and was its lead program.  Shares hit a new 52-week low under the prior 52-week range of $1.93 to $3.92; shares are down a whopping 52% at $1.45 and we have seen 8.3 million shares trade hands.

Alkermes, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS) is trading slightly lower ahead of its decision due Tuesday for the approval of its opioid addiction treatment Vivitrol.  The drug is already approved as an injection treatment for alcohol dependence and the company has already had Phase III results showing that Vivitrol helped patients against opioid addiction. A panel has already recommended approval of the drug.  Shares hit a new 52-week high again this morning of $16.03, but shares are currently down 0.9% at $15.78.

Allos Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTH) is down after its experimental drug called pralatrexate increased non-small cell lung cancer patients’ survival rate more than an existing treatment in a mid-stage study.  Unfortunately, the data was mixed enough that shares are down 5.7% at $4.31 in active trading.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) is up despite potential competition.  Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) showed that study data in men with advanced prostate cancer lived nearly four months longer on a new pill,  one which the company noted would change clinical practice.  Dendreon shares are up 3% at $40.41 on fairly active trading and its 52-week trading range is $24.79 to $57.67.

Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) is trading up after it enrolled the first patient for its early stage human-embryonic stem-cell treatment for spinal cord injuries in less than two months after the FDA removed a clinical hold.  Shares are up over 7% at $5.74 on active volume versus a 52-week range of $4.37 to $7.18.

Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) is still in the mystery category.  The company’s denial of a $69 bid from Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was met with a final seeking of strategic alternatives to find a bidder who would pay more.  The biotech giant even went as far as to call it an opportunistic bid that is now hostile.  Shares closed at $72.75 on Friday, so it seems as though there may not be a huge hope of a competing bid that is aggressively higher than Sanofi-Aventis’ $69 offer.  Shares are trading up 0.25 at $72.92 today on hope of a higher offer.

Immunogen Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN) is trading higher after positive cancer data and a deal with Novartis (NYSE: NVS).  Full news is at BioHealthInvestor and shares are up 5.7% at $7.71 on very active trading.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAZZ) did not get a FDA nod  for its JZP-6 for fibromyalgia.  The FDA said more studies are needed,  and shares are actually up today.  In late-morning trade, shares are up 3.3% at $10.45 on active trading volume.  The 52-week range is $6.01 to $13.95.

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JON C. OGG

A full earnings calendar is available here for the week, including INTC, JPM, GE, APOL, SWY, AMD, GOOG, JBHT, INFY, and MAT.  Also, gold is getting jittery now and Friday’s $1,345 handle closed right in the middle of Thursday’s more than $30 point swing from high to low as it traded above $1,360 and below $1,330.  We took a look at the gold stocks and included a list of gold stocks that appear to be overvalued against peers and a list that appears to be undervalued gold stock against peers.

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXA) has an FDA PDUFA date for Monday regarding a decision on its AZ-004 as its lead program for treatment of agitation in schizophrenic or bipolar disorder. patients.  At $3.03, its 52-week range is $1.93 to $3.92 and shares traded roughly in a $3.10 to $2.70 range in the last week.

Alkermes, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS) has a decision due Tuesday for the approval of its opioid addiction treatment Vivitrol.  The drug is already approved as an injection treatment for alcohol dependence and the company has already had Phase III results showing that Vivitrol helped patients against opioid addiction. A panel has already recommended approval of the drug.  At $15.92, it hit a new 52-week high on Friday and the range is $7.54 to $15.98 and it traded in a wide range last week with a low close to $14.60 before it hit a new 52-week high.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) was given the cover story from Barron’s this weekend. The article titled “A Deep Value Play” said that it got hit worse than most of its rivals in the financial crisis and it wonders if its new CEO (former Goldman Sachs member) turn it around.  Barron’s  points out that at $26.59 on October 1, shares were trading 64.7% below a pre-crisis high of $75.35.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has not yet formally announced its decision to sell the CDMA phone via Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).  The latest rumor is the umpteenth time the rumor has been out that a CDMA iPhone is coming to Verizon.  We expect formal confirmation on this soon, maybe as soon as this week or next week.

China New Borun Corporation (NASDAQ: BORN) is new as a stock and it produces and distributes corn-based edible alcohol in China. The company probably just got a lot more famous (if it was even known before) after this weekend because it unseated Netflix as the #1 stock in the Investors Business Daily 100.  The IBD 100 might not ramp it but it will be more on the map than ever now for many momentum investors.  IBD gave it a positive article last week as well and last Monday it was trading under $11.00 per share.  At $16.08, it hit a 52-week high on Friday and the post-IPO range this year is $4.80 to $16.14.

CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was given a very positive article in Barron’s called “On the Road to Redemption.” Barron’s noted, “The financial crisis pushed CIT into bankruptcy and John Thain out the door at Merrill Lynch. Together, they seem to be faring a lot better.”  At $40.79, its 52-week range is $24.83 to $42.94.  Look for a pop on Monday if the market holds up.

3PAR, Inc. (NYSE: PAR) is trading up about 35% and above $24.00 per share now that Dell’s $18 bid has been trumped by H-P with a $24 cash offer.  Competitors are up as well… Isilon Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISLN) shares are trading up 9.3% at $19.50 on about 20,000 shares.  Compellent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: CML) is up 10% at $15.34 on thinner trading volume.

Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: FAS) is seeing a move this morning as some interest is back in the financial sector as there has been a return of M&A.  Shares are up 1.9% at $19.35 on close to 175,000 shares.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAZZ) is down sharply on active volume after the FDA panel rejected its experimental drug candidate for fibromyalgia.  Shares are now down 21% at $8.01, but shares had been down about 28%, and the trading volume is already approaching 1 million shares.

Matrixx Initiatives Inc. (NASDAQ: MTXX) is surging this morning after an analyst upgrade after Friday’s settlement over certain suits tied to its Zycam cold medicine.  Shares are up 6% at $5.36 on thin volume.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) is trading up after rejecting the BHP Billiton offer on a formal basis as it looks for competing bids.  Shares are up only marginally by 1.8% at $152.40 on about 60,000 shares.

Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) is down 5% at $41.00 after earnings slipped by more than 15% in a report from the company this morning.

Warner Chilcott plc (NASDAQ: WCRX) shares are up after Friday’s special dividend news. Shares are up 4.5% at $29.30 on more than 10,000 shares.

The Unusual Suspects For The Week Ahead (APOL, AUO, BKS, BHP, POT, BP, CPIX, FISV, GENZ, JAZZ, NFLX, NOVL, SYMC, TYC, VRML, CALL)

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JON C. OGG

In addition to The Unusual Suspects, we have several key issues to consider.  On Friday, there were many large cap stocks hitting 52-week lows and many of these looked and felt counter-intuitive on the surface.  There were also billions of dollars in new share buyback plans announced this last week on top of many buyback updates and expansions.

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) has been battered along with all for-profit education stocks due to reimbursement rate, recruiting tactics, post-graduate expectation reality checks, student loan default rates and more.  Apollo has also experienced SEC issues.  Despite an Asensio report slamming it Friday, Apollo actually closed up on a down day Friday and the company appears to have passed the criteria set in the initial regulatory tests.  This was one of the 5 options trades in the sector we wrote about for Investorplace.com as outlier bets for potential exponential returns (low premiums for out of the money calls) if the regulatory pressure eases even a fraction that could lead to an upside surge in share prices.

AU Optronics Corp (NYSE: AUO) is getting press it does not want.  The Taiwanese maker of thin film LCDs had its CEO indicted over price fixing in June, but this last week CEO Lai-Juh Chen was ordered to surrender his passport this week so he cannot leave the country.  At $9.02, the ADRs 52-week trading range is $8.68 to $13.30.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) reports earnings this coming Tuesday.  Shares were at $12.84 before it put itself up for sale, and they popped to $15.31 the next day in early August.  The high was $16.74 since then but shares closed at $15.53 on Friday. A proxy situation and earnings will make the sale process a key focus here this coming week.  With a $914 million market cap and a 52-week trading range of $11.89 to $25.07, the big question comes down to what it can fetch or if it can fetch a bid.  RadioShack ran into troubles in selling its brick and mortar retail system, so the question is if a book brick and mortar player can compete against Amazon and Apple in the future.

BHP Billiton plc (NYSE: BHP) reports earnings on Wednesday.  The company’s offer for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) is what everyone will be focusing on.  The belief by many is that the now hostile tender will need to to $160 per share or higher.  The CEO’s payday will be one of the larger paydays in history if this occurs.  Investors will be looking very closely for the merger details and US investors are unlikely to pay attention to BHP’s actual earnings report.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) may have been out of the spotlight over the last three weeks now that its top-kill well blockage seems to have worked.  This coming Wednesday it may be in the news again as the President’s commission on the BP oil spill meets.  At $36.40, BP shares are down over 10% from the highs after recovery.

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CPIX) saw shares fall 8.8% in the after-hours session down to $5.49 on over 60,000 shares in the after-hours session.  This one fell because it disclosed that the FDA is extending the review period by three months of its liver drug candidate called Acetadote.  Average volume is only about 100,000 shares and the market cap was a mere $123 million.  The prior 52-week trading range was $5.51 to $17.24, so if this holds it will mark a new 52-week low.

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) is one to watch ahead as this was the newest common stock addition from Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett in the stock portfolio. Buffett bought a new position of 4.4 million shares of common stock during the second quarter and shares closed up over 3% week over week.  This one has now moved on to more investor radars and volume was lighter than you might have expected due to this being the slow days of August.  Berkshire’s full holdings are here.

Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) may be running out of time or shareholder patience.  This Sanofi-Aventis offer has remained on the table with what is effectively nothing but silence.  Henri Termeer may be running short on investor patience here, even if this is obvious stalling to see if competing bids will come.  The due diligence here is the big risk he is taking.  If a company decides that Genzyme has continuing manufacturing woes and if Sanofi gets impatient, Genzyme could be reminded that there is a 15% hot-air premium in the shares.  Reuters says the silence may indicate talks are taking place.  Investors better hope that stance is right.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAZZ) got crushed on Friday after the close.  It failed to win an FDA advisory panel backing for its fibromyalgia drug candidate.  Shares fell 28% to $7.05 versus a 52-week trading range of $6.01 to $13.95.  This one traded over 1 million shares in the after-hours on Friday so it will be very active on Monday.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was listed as the #1 pole position chart in IBD this weekend, for the second week in a row. The week before saw a 12% gain but the stock actually closed down this last week.  Shares closed at $129.96 versus $132.26 the Friday before and versus a high print this last week of $140.90.  We don’t really agree that this represents solid strength, although the market weakness was a part and IBD has a history of years and years here.

Novell Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVL) has earnings on deck this coming Thursday and it recently trimmed its third quarter revenue range to $197 to $199 million versus prior guidance of $205 to $210 million. The company said its guidance reflects what it believes is customer uncertainty associated with Novell’s ongoing review of various alternatives to enhance stockholder value.  In short, that new hoped-for alternative buyout has not materially come about.  We predicted in May that the $5.75 buyout might need to be closer to $7.00 to secure the deal.  Shares are still at $5.81 and the 52-week trading range is $3.84 to $6.36.  One to watch for sure.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) is an ongoing stock to watch after the Intel-McAfee merger this week.  Symantec was in deep $%^& before the merger after it warned.  It just can’t ever get its act together.  Now there is a dual risk and opportunity ahead.  If Intel can convince PC makers that the McAfee bundle into hardware and into software is better than software alone, the Symantec could find its Norton anti-virus business getting ripped apart.  If Symantec can convince PC makers and device makers that it is now more important than ever to double-up on security providers then it has a huge opportunity.  The company’s history sort of, well it stinks.  This week’s gain was almost 12% to $13.80, which is the highest close since its $14.67 close before earnings and its earnings warning in late-July.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) went through its big breakup in June of 2007, but Standard & Poor’s endorsed it all over again.  S&P is readmitting Tyco back into the S&P 500 Index.  Shares closed up 5.3% at $38.70 on more than triple-normal trading volume with more than 19.9 million shares trading hands.  The date it will be added is after the close on August 26 and we expect heavy trading volume to continue as indexers have to add in shares.  There are still millions of shares that need to be purchased going into the S&P 500 Index addition.

Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRML) was a top active trader alert we asked “How long can a trend last?” because there had been 13 straight days of losses and was at $11.80 when the mudslide started.  It closed up 1.7% at $6.03 on Friday.  If this trend continues, Vermillion will have to change names to “Vermin.”  One day is no victory, but that is a concerning chart that should attract both bears and bargain hunters ahead.  Volume is still very low, but this is a new battleground stock that we won’t assign any upside or downside targets to.

VocalTec Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALL) has been on fire and we want to revisit this one since our first alert one month ago.  When we saw that VocalTec merged with the owner of MagicJack, we could not help but to recognize the potential here even though it went through a reverse stock split.  That jumped to roughly $15.00 on the closure of the merger and it has steadily climbed higher and higher.  Shares closed at $38.00, which is close to 150% appreciation.  It keeps rallying because the CEO has been given permission to increase ownership to over 25% and there is even a share buyback of $12 million.  The company’s own investor relations site links to NASDAQ, which now says that the market cap of the combined companies after the share issuance is $445.9 million based on 11.736 million shares.  This one now trades at a multiple of revenue guidance rather than a discount to revenue guidance.  We can’t call for a short sale but those who are sitting on big gains should at least consider taking the cost basis out of the trade here so that you can still have upside and you leave assured returns in the name.

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JON C. OGG

Cardica, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDC) is up nearly 45% at $2.41 on over 60,000 shares after signing a pact with Intuitive Surgical.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) has been creeping higher in the mornings and we have shares up another 2% at $4.70 on over 35,000 shares.  The 52-week trading range is $3.28 to $7.99 and average volume is close to 10 million shares.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAZZ) is up 14% at $11.70 on almost 100,000 shares after an application of its fibromyalgia candidate.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) lost some steam yesterday and shares are getting hit on a downgrade on valuation from Morgan Keegan.  Shares closed at $132.97 yesterday and is down 2% at $130.25 on almost 50,000 shares.

Oilsands Quest, Inc. (AMEX: BQI) is surging after the company said it was reviewing strategic alternatives.  Shares are up 18.6% at $0.61 on over 30,000 shares and the 52-week range is $0.49 to $1.69.  Too bad it’s a penny stock.

Phoenix Technologies Lt. (NASDAQ: PTEC) is surging pre-market after announcing that it will be acquired by Marlin Equity Partners for $3.85 per share.  Some may want more as the 52-week range is $2.02 to $4.19.  Shares are up almost 26% at $3.80 on over 375,000 shares.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) is continuing yesterday’s surge with gains of 2.4% more to $146.65 on over 600,000 shares as the offer is now going hostile and after several analysts raised their price targets.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG