The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 52 points to 13,264.49 (0.40%), the NASDAQ rose more than 28 points (0.91%) to 3,119.70, and the S&P 500 rose 0.74% or more than 10 points to 1,418.89.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML; Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) cut to ‘sell’ at Stifel Nicolaus and cut to ‘neutral’ with a $20 target price at BofA/ML; Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) cut to ‘neutral’ at UBS; and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) started as ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Digital Domain Media Group Inc. (NYSE: DDMG) is down -1.6% at $5.60; ClearOne Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRO) is down -5.4% at $4.26; and Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is down -4.2% at $45.49. Before markets open tomorrow we’ll get earnings from Comverse Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: CMVT) and International Speedway Corp (NASDAQ: ISCA).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Groupon is down more than -16% at $15.31. The internet coupon company is restating earnings again. More coverage here and here.

Vringo Inc. (AMEX: VRNG) is up more than 84% at $3.04 after posting a new 52-week high of $3.09 earlier today. The ringtone company is merging with a patent protection firm. More coverage here.

Willbros Group Inc. (NYSE: WG) is up nearly 23% at $3.98. The oil & gas construction company had good news and bad news this morning. More coverage here.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX) is down more than -64% at $1.78 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.63 earlier. The drug company’s colorectal cancer treatment failed a trial. More coverage here.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL) is down nearly 51% at $0.67 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.50 earlier. The US air carrier has filed for bankruptcy protection. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Automakers will be reporting March sales throughout the day. San Francisco Fed President John Williams is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
• 11:30 a.m. – 4- and 52-week bill auctions
• 4:30 – FOMC minutes released

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Keryx also noted that it has $31 million in cash and plans to complete a Phase 3 study on an end-stage renal disease treatment in the fourth quarter. The company also plans to file a new drug application for the drug, called Zerenex, “shortly thereafter.”

The company’s stock is getting thrashed in the pre-market, down about -55% at $2.28, only a penny higher than its current 52-week low.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 15 points to 12,962.81(-0.11%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 26 points (-0.86%) to 2,950.48, and the S&P 500 fell -0.39% or more than 5 points to 1,634.33.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) reiterated as ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $64 at Credit Suisse; Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) raised to ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) started as ‘outperform’ at BMO; and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) and Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) cut to ‘market perform’ at Bernstein.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Calavo Growers Inc. (NASDAQ: CVGW) is down -1.37% at $26.63; Cross Country Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: CCRN) is up 0.19% at $5.39; Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE: SUP) is up 7% at $19.06; Verenium Corp. (NASDAQ: VRNM) is down -10% at $3.10; and Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc. (NASDAQ: NATR) is up more than 16% at $17.00.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX) is up nearly 34% at $4.95. The biopharma company is expected to win FDA approval soon for a cancer drug.

TranS1 Inc. (NASDAQ: TSON) is up about 22% at $4.00. The medical device maker received a code-change approval from the American Medical Association that incorporates one of TranS1’s devices.

Archipelago Learning Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCL) is up more than 22% at $11.05 after posting a new 52-week high of $11.21. The subscription-based provider of education products is being acquired for $291 million ($11.10/share) by a privately held competitor.

GreenHunter Energy Inc. (AMEX: GRH) is down about -12% at $2.75. The independent oil & gas company had no news today, but early weakness in crude prices moved share prices down for several small energy companies.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) is down nearly -14% at $21.18. The social networking company is seeing some profit-taking today following its successful IPO last Friday that saw shares gain about 64%.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

11:30 a.m. – 4- and 52-week Treasury bill auction
3:00 p.m. – US Treasury STRIPS

Paul Ausick

ArQule Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) is trading up along with many other cancer-related stocks due to ASCO.  The company says its drug could help lung cancer patients after the presentation of final Phase 2 results for ARQ 197 c-Met inhibitor in Non-Small cell lung cancer at ASCO.  Shares were up at first but are now down by 13.7% at $4.84 on 1.3 million shares; 52-week range is $2.97 to $7.49.

AspenBio Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: APPY) appears to be the worst performer of all stocks today.  This one has been halved after news that the submission of its marketing approval application for AppyScore with the FDA will not occur as previously anticipated by late June 2010.  Additional data analysis is needed and there was unexplained variability in site-to-site results in the initial draft of the statistical analysis report.  Shares are trading down a whopping 54% at $1.55 on more than 5 million shares.  The average volume is only 600K per day and the 52-week range is $1.30 to $4.98.

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPAX) is trading up after it announced the receipt of a FDA Orphan Drug Designation for GVAX as a chronic myeloid leukemia cancer vaccine.  Shares were up over 9% early in pre-market trading at $2.12, but now the stock is down 90.5% at $1.93.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) is soaring for a company of this size on positive melanoma drug news out of ASCO and after Goldman Sachs raised the rating to Buy.  Shares are up over 8% at $24.27 versus a 52-week range of $19.12 to $27.07.

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDX) is lower on what sounded to be good news on the surface.  The company showed “promising clinical data” on CDX-011 in metastatic melanoma. The phase 2 study met its primary endpoint and the results support additional studies in this indication for the treatment of melanoma and advanced breast cancer.  It also presented the study design for its recently initiated Phase II trial of CDX-1307 in bladder cancer, an antibody-based cancer vaccine candidate that is being evaluated as a treatment for bladder cancer.  Shares are trading lower by 14.6% at $5.60 on 1.8 million shares; average volume is 822K and the 52-week range is $4.16 to $11.82.

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) is up after data presented at ASCO this weekend AND on an analyst upgrade.  Jefferies upgraded the stock to “Buy” this morning.  Shares are up 5% at $54.10 on 5.2 million shares; 52-week range is $42.00 to $65.79.

Delcath Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCTH) released data at ASCO this weekend which appeared to be positive, but shares are lower.  It highlighted the Phase III trial data presented on June 5 at ASO comparing percutaneous hepatic perfusion with melphalan to the best alternative care for patients with hepatic metastases from ocular or cutaneous melanoma.  Shares are trading down 23% at $11.27 on over 7 million shares; average volume is 2.05 million shares and the 52-week range is listed as $2.71 to $16.45.  Ouch.

Javelin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: JAV) announced that on June 4 it received notice from Hospira that the company will fund a $2 million loan to Javelin on June 10, 2010 under the existing loan agreement between the two.  Shares are up almost 7% at $1.41 on 1.5 million shares; 52-week range is $1.08 to $2.28.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX) is not feeling any love…. The company announced Phase I data of its Perifosine in the treatment of recurrent pediatric solid tumors, with data including patients with advanced brain tumors and neuroblastoma.    Shares are down 7.7% at $4.43 on 2.45 million shares.  Average volume is 3.9 million shares and the 52-week range is $0.69 to $6.67.

Pharmacyclics Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) was up at first this morning as it announced a presentation of results from a Phase I trial of its first-in-Human BTK Inhibitor called PCI-32765.  The pop has faded, and now shares are down by 10% at $5.90 on almost 700,000 shares.  The 52-week range is $1.10 to $8.60.

Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: TLCR) is a strange performer despite the notion that it is being acquired for $3.4 billion in a friendly merger deal from Spanish firm Grifols.  The cash and stock deal came to roughly $26.19 before the effects of any share price changes, but the share performance today was grossly different from perhaps what the two companies anticipated.  Shares were up 0ver 50% in pre-market trading above $24.00… Currently, shares are up by just under 25% at $19.89 on 15 million shares.  Shares did not even put in a 52-week high today.  This came public in late-2009 and had slid lower.

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) announced positive results from the phase 3 REVIVE-Diabetes study of avanafil.  This is for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The REVIVE-Diabetes study did meet all three of its primary endpoints across the two doses studied by demonstrating statistically significant improvement in erectile function and improvements in the International Index of Erectile Function score.  There were also not instances with certain foods and alcohol.  Shares opened up as high as $12.77 and traded as high as $12.80, but now the stock is in negative territory by 0.5% at $12.28 on only 1.8 million shares.  Investors have seen, heard, or anticipated most of these results.  The 52-week range is $5.24 to $13.68.

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

Abovenet Inc. (NASDAQ: ABVT) +5.2%
AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) +2.6%
Cbeyond Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY) +3.6%
Checkpoint Systems Inc. (NYSE: CKP) +10.6%
China Automotive Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CAAS) +5%
CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) +2.9%
Cinemark Hldgs Inc. (NYSE: CNK) +4.4%
Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) +5.7%
Elizabeth Arden Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEN) +5.7%
Healthtronics Inc. (NASDAQ: HTRN) +32%
Health Net Inc. (NYSE: HNT) +5.8%
Ion Geophysical Corporation (NYSE: IO) +3.7%
Intermune Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN)… although it imploded this week.
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX) +6.8%
Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED) +7.8%
MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) +4.1%
Pacer International (NASDAQ: PACR) +10%
Polypore International Inc. (NYSE: PPO) +15%
Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC) +3%
Titanium Metals Corp. (NYSE: TIE) +12%
The Advisory Board (NASDAQ: ABCO) +11%

Imagine how well some of these might have done had the market not been a blood-bath.

JON C. OGG

We have outlined the news and the impact, volume and relative moves, and added in color on each where appropriate.

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) is up ahead of tomorrow’s R&D day for the first time.  We outlined this in full at InvestorPlace, but the other thing to consider is a potential stock split.  Shares are up almost 1% at $63.92.

DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: DUSA) is a mystery move other than a large block trade, which may be enough to whip it around since average volume is barely 60,000 shares.  Shares are now up 17.7% at $2.06 on 475,000 shares.  This marks a 52-week high as well and the new 52-week range is $0.88 to $2.06.

Encorium Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENCO) continues to be a puzzle…. Shares are up 13% at $3.48 on 1.8 million shares.  This is the new micro-cap stock for day traders looking for those ten-baggers.  The market cap is a mere $11.43 million.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX) is up after an analyst praised it in a “Wall Street Transcript” interview.  Shares are up 4.7% at $3.33 on 2.6 million shares (almost 150% normal volume) and the 52-week range is $0.14 to $3.56.

NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP) is higher after Needham & Co. began coverage today with a BUY rating.  Shares are up 2.7% at $5.25 on 300,000 shares (over 150% normal volume).

OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIP) may seem boring and not worthy of coverage today on the surface.  However, Joe Kunkle of OptionsHawk.com pointed out an unusual trade in options confirming some of our concerns that the Astellas $52 offer may not ever get above the $60 price seen in the quest for a higher buyout.

Twitter has, by most estimates, 75 million visitors a month, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million Twitter users.

24/7 Wall St. will look at the Twitter posts at Reuters Biz, WSJ, Financial Times, CNN Money, MarketWatch, CNBC, and 24/7 Wall St. each day to see which stocks are most frequently mentioned. It is clear that in this area of social media these tweet are a sign of which companies the Twitter universe is interested in. These financial sites are followed by a combined 625,000 Twitter users which makes them a sizeable sample of Wall St.’s interests. In some cases, we will publish the actual tweets from the sites.

Among the daily top trending  symbols on stock twitter aggregator StockTwits, Cree (CREE), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Grand (MGM), PMI Group (PMI), AIG (AIG), Patriot Coal (PCX), Joe’s Jeans (JOEZ), Keryx (KERX), and Apple (AAPL)

CNN Money: Apple 2.0: Predicting iPad sales: How close were the analysts? http://bit.ly/acEmOv $AAPL

Reuters Biz: Peabody raises bid for Australia’s Macarthur http://link.reuters.com/xeq56j

MarketWatch: Apple iPad: The early user reviews are in, and they include some complaints http://on.wsj.com/dsxtLQ

CNBC: Foreclosures Update: Let the Housing Short Sales Begin -> http://bit.ly/aa8Tbe #housing #realestate

FT: iPad sales fall shy of upbeat expectations: Apple sold about 300,000 iPads on the tablet computing device’s first … http://bit.ly/908L0e

Douglas A. McIntyre

We have outlined the news, volume and relative moves, and added in color on each where appropriate.

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS) is up after it announces that perifosine has received an FDA Fast Track Designation for treating refractory advanced colorectal cancer.  Shares were back even above $1.00 this morning, but right before 1:00 PM EST we have 7.6 million shares traded (30X-volume) and the stock is up 21% at $0.976.

Also tied to AEZS is that its Perifosine partner is Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX), which is seeking approval for the treatment of colorectal cancer.  Keryx shares are up over 21% at $3.34 on the news.

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is still reeling from its volatility with a special shareholder meeting event coming up this Friday.  Shares were up 1% earlier and the stock is now down over 2% at $0.519 on almost 9 million shares.

Forest Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: FRX) is down after pre-panel FDA comments due this week on Wednesday.  Headlines crossing the tape showed “Effectivess of Forest Lung Drug Daxas ‘Quite Modest’” did not help out.  Its shares are down over 2% at $30.75 on 4.6 million shares (about 150% of normal trading volume).

MDRNA, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) is trading higher after it announced a study effort with Pfizer to focus on the evaluation of MDRNA’s proprietary di-alkylated amino acids platform and UsiRNA constructs for RNA interference.  MDRNA is up 5% at $1.25 and we have already passed the 1.2 million shares on average.  Shares hit a high of $1.31 this morning and the 52-week range is $0.65 to $3.55.

Oxigene Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is one of our weekend cast members of The Unusual Suspects due to an analyst call looking for a 300% gain to $4.00 over the last week.  Shares are up 2.5% at $1.20 today, and this is the beginning of a long tug of war among traders deciding where the right price should be.  The 52-week range is $0.71 to $2.78.

PharmAthene, Inc. (AMEX: PIP) is soaring after it named Thomas R. Fuerst, Ph.D., as the company’s Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer.  The company is in medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, and Fuerst is a former government official. He was Director, Vaccines and Biologics (2004-2007), and Senior Science and Technology Advisor (2007-present) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  PharmAthene shares are up 13.9% at $1.64 and the 52-week range is $1.13 to $4.31.

RegeneRX Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (AMEX: RGN) is tanking today.  Shares are down 9,5% at $0.533 on 3-times normal volume of 260,000 shares today.   Thursday came the news that its accounting firm has a “going concern” notation in its report.

Repros Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RPRX) is up after seeking a lift of the clinical hold on Proellex being developed for the treatment of uterine fibroids and endometriosis. The hold was put on back on August 4, 2009 when the FDA noted liver toxicity as a serious adverse event, although the company had suspended its Proellex studies the day before.  Shares are up 16.7% at $0.713 on 2.5 million shares.  The 52-week range is $0.61 to $8.30.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: RNN) is up on news that it submitted a Phase II protocol to the FDA for the clinical study of Serdaxin for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.  Shares are now up 14% at $1.86 on just over 2 million shares (180% of normal volume).  The 52-week trading range is $0.40 to $2.00 and the intra-day high seen was $1.94.

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII) is surprisingly down on late last week’s report that its CEO would present at the Future Leaders in the Biotech Industry investment conference on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 3:30 pm ET.  Rxi is down 10% at $4.15 on over 410,000 shares traded, which is 130% of normal volume and a rather strange move.

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

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is up on sentiment by almost 7% earlier this morning.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX) ran on positive colorectal cancer news.

Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PARD) is trading down on an analyst call despite some positive internal news on colorectal cancer.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is up almost 5% on an analyst call.

CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) is trading up over 3% this morning on an analyst call.

Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) is trading higher by 5% after Barron’s called for a run of up to 40% in the coming year.

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JON C. OGG

AEterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS) and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX) are both ramping higher an FDA orphan-drug designation news.

Agco Corp. (AGCO) is trading lower by 7% on lower guidance.

American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACAS) is surging almost 20% after Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) paid $400 million in cash for shares of another portfolio company.

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is up 5% on very active volume on more pixantrone for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma news, but this is on positive data.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) is up again on strong volume… we have color on prior day’s price levels here for inference.

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) is surging by almost 9% this morning after a Jim Cramer tout last night.. we are watching EMS rivals like Celestica Inc. (NYSE: CLS), Sanmina-SCI Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) and Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) on this.

Omniture, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMTR) is the biggest volume stock in the pre-market at NASDAQ after getting acquired by Adobe Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE).

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG
SEPTEMBER 16, 2009