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.

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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.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

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

Citigroup (NYSE: C) sells off because bank may have to raise more money. Down to $19.74 from 52-week high of $55.55.

Level 3 (NASDAQ: LVLT) loses its president, raises issues about next quarter. Sells down to $1.87 from 52-week high of $6.46.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) drops on negative comments in Barron’s. Sells off $18.50 from 52-week high of $70.57.

Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE: TMA) Capital calls raise concerns about bankruptcy. Goes down to $.75 from 52-week high of $28.40.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX) Big clinical trial falls short. Shares trade off to $.60 from 52-week high of $11.70.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The study was aimed to achieve therapeutic success at 6-months as compared to placebo. The results showed that Sulonex and the placebo appeared to be similar.  Interestingly enough, the company lost its CFO last summer.

It will focus efforts and resources on rapidly moving Zerenex forward for ESRD patients with hyperphosphatemia and Perifosine for cancer. It listed its goal of having Perifosine in a pivotal program this year and to be well into its Zerenex high-dose Phase II trial before the end of the year.

Keryx notes that while this is the end of one chapter, it is not the end of Keryx as it noted that it has built up a portfolio of potential product candidates.  Wall Street isn’t taking that at face value.  With the SUN-MICRO name, you’d think that disappointment there could have been expected. 

At the end of 2007 it had $62 million in cash and equivalents with another $2.296 million in long-term investments.  It also had $36.6 million in total liabilities.  Its market cap before today’s implosion was $230 million.  We don’t have to wonder for too long about how much capital it will have to burn through for these two other phase studies.

Keryx closed at $5.26 on Friday and its prior range over the last year had been $5.01 to $11.70.  Shares are trading down over 80% at $0.80 in pre-market activity.

Jon C. Ogg
March 10, 2008

• Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) Cut To Sell From Hold at Citigroup.
• AbitibiBowater (NYSE: ABH) Raised to Market Perform at Raymond James.
• Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) Started as Equalweight at Morgan Stanley.
• JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) & Nordstom (NYSE: JWN) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
• Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX) Cut to Neutral at JP Morgan.
• Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
• Omniture (NASDAQ: AMTR) Raised To Outperform at FBR.
• ShoreTel (NASDAQ: SHOR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS) cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
March 10, 2008