24/7 Wall St. » MNTA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GD, VALE, GMCR, GLW, CHK, ARG, ACAT, T, BMY, CAT, CY, LMT, MKC, MWW, POT, RTN, VIST, RNWK, MNTA, NFLX, EFSC)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:08:29 +0000

All three major US indexes opened higher this morning, but enthusiasm tapered off quickly and steadily, if not sharply. A drop in the number of new home sales and a smaller-than-expected rise in the leading economic indicators index. Hope that talks between Greece and its creditors would yield an agreement also pushed markets higher. But the weak housing report and no further news from Europe kept share prices moving down. WTI crude gained 0.35% at $99.75/barrel and Brent crude is up 1.02% at $110.93. Gold is higher by 1.27% at $1,724.60.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 22 points to 12,734.63 (-0.18%), the NASDAQ fell about 13 points (-0.46%) to 2,805.28, and the S&P 500 fell -0.57% or nearly 7 points to 1,318.45.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) cut to ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer; Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) started as ‘perform’ at Williams Capital; Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) cut to ‘underweight’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed on last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) is down -3.66% at $77.29; Arctic Cat Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAT) is up more than 19% at $28.40 after posting a new 52-week high of $29.20 earlier today; AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is down -2.65% at $29.41; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is down -0.92% at $32.40; Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is up 1.95% at $111.18; Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) is down more than -11% at $17.03; Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is up 0.95% at $82.51; McCormick & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MKC) is up 0.90% at $78.55; Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) is down more than -20% at $7.18; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) is up 1.61% at $45.96; and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) is up 0.34% at $49.88.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

VIST Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: VIST) is up more than 62% at $11.20 after posting a new 52-week high of $11.50 earlier today. The bank holding company has agreed to be acquired by Tompkins Financial Corp. (AMEX: TMP) in an all-stock deal at an 86% premium to last night’s closing price, or about $85 million.

RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) is up more than 35% at $9.98. The digital media company has sold a video codec and a number of patents to Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) for $120 million.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) is down nearly -21% at $15.13. The biotechnology company lost its bid for an injunction against certain competitors.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up about 22% at $116.01. The digital video streaming and rental company reported a better-than-expected number of new subscribers after markets closed last night.

Enterprise Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ: EFSC) is down more than -19% at $12.51. The bank holding company will restate earnings for 2010 and the first three quarters of 2011 and expects to dilute 2010 earnings by half as a result.

Stay tuned for Friday. New York Fed President William Dudley is giving a speech in the morning. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – US GDP report
9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: ACAT, ARG, BMY, CAT, CHK, CY, EFSC, GD, GLW, GMCR, LMT, MKC, MNTA, MWW, NFLX, POT, RNWK, RTN, T, VALE, VIST

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MT, AVNR, CTRN, ETH,INTC, IGT, KALU, LVS, MA, MGM, MNTA, NOR, SFD, SO, SE, URBN, V, WYNN)

Administrator — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:35:40 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) Started as Equal Weight at Barclays.
Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNR) Reiterate as “Buy” with a $6 price target by Canaccord Genuity.
Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE: ETH) Started as Hold at Argus.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Maintained Outperform but cut estimates at Credit Suisse; maintained Hold with $24 price target objective at Canaccord Genuity.
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ: KALU) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE: LVS) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) Started as Buy at Nomura.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) reiterate as Buy with a $23 price target objective by Canaccord Genuity.
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NYSE: NOR) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) Cut to Hold from Buy for short-term coverage but maintained a Buy for long-term at Argus.
Spectra Energy Corporation (NYSE: SE) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Maintained Neutral and lowered estimates at Credit Suisse; Maintained Underperform with $17 price target objective by Jefferies.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Buy at Nomura.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) resumed with “Market Perform” at Wells Fargo.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AVNR, CTRN, ETH, IGT, INTC, KALU, LVS, MA, MGM, MNTA, MT, NOR, SE, SFD, SO, URBN, V, WYNN

24/7 Closing Bell (AET, AGP, JBHT, SNDK, WY, CRM, SWY, SHAW, L, INVE, HUM, MNTA, PATH, NPSP, YGE, TSL, GEVO)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:17:38 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning, and continued to fall before holding at around -150 points for most of the day on the DJIA. Japan’s yen sale pushed the dollar sharply higher and pushed down commodity prices, virtually all of which are priced in dollars. There might also have been some profit-taking, but Japan’s intervention in the currency market set the tone. The Chicago PMI index came in a bit lower than expected and had no visible impact on equity prices. Crude oil has recovered to be nearly flat, but gold is down about -1.3%, at $1,724/ounce in the last hour of trading. Silver, copper, platinum, and palladium are all down as well. The DJIA fell almost -50 points in the final half hour of trading.The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than -276 points to 11,955.70 (-2.25%), the NASDAQ fell more than -52 points (-1.93%) to 2,684.41, and the S&P 500 fell -2.48% or nearly -32 points to 1,253.29.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including the addition of Aetna, Inc. (NYSE: AET) to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction Buy list. Goldman also raised Amerigroup Corp. (NYSE: AGP) to ‘buy’. JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) cut to ‘neutral’ at Sterne Agee; Weyerhaeuser Corp. (NYSE: WY) raised to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) cut to ‘equal-weight’ at Global Equities Research; and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) started at ‘neutral’ by JP Morgan.Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Shaw Group (NYSE: SHAW) up nearly 5.5%, at $23.39; Loews Corp. (NYSE: L) is down about -3%, at $40.07; Identive Group Inc. (NASDAQ: INVE) is down more than -6.5%, at $2.37; and Humana, Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is up more than 6.5%, at $85.68.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) is up more than 22%, at $14.96. The shares jumped following a court ruling that will hamper the introduction of competing drugs.

NuPath Inc. (NASDAQ: PATH) is up more than 15%, at $2.68. The company reported positive results on tests of its patch treatment for migraine headaches.

NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP) is down more than 33%, at $5.18. The company said that two patients for its new bowel drug died and another developed cancer.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) is down more than -15%, at $4.06. This could well be caused by bit of profit-taking on solar stocks that posted sharp gains on Friday.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL), another solar maker, is also down about -14%, at $8.04. Just another day in the solar whirlwind.

Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is down about -16%, at $7.31. The biofuel maker was refused a re-examination of a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. A two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve board of governors begins tomorrow. The first data on auto sales in October is expected tomorrow as well. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. — ISM Manufacturing index released
10:00 a.m. — US construction spending for September 2011

Filed under: Market Close Tagged: AET, AGP, CRM, GEVO, HUM, INVE, JBHT, L, MNTA, NPSP, PATH, SHAW, SNDK, SWY, TSL, WY, YGE

Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (ASML, CP, HMC, MNTA, PCRA, YHOO)

Mike Sauter — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:52:06 +0000

Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Monday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE: CP), Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE: HMC), Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MNTA), Pacira Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PCRA), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).

ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) is down nearly 3% before market open to $42.28, relative to a 52-week range of $30.65 – $45.92.

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE: CP) is up 5% premarket to $67.82, relative to a 52-week range of $44.74 – $69.92.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) is down 7.5% premarket to $30.10, within a 52-week range of $28.04 – $44.56.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MNTA) is up 16.4% before market open to $14.25, relative to a 52-week range of $10.15 – $21.00.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PCRA) is up 12% premarket to $11.40, relative to a 52-week range of $6.16 – $15.34.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is down 3.2% premarket to $16.03, relative to a 52-week range of $11.09 – $18.84.

Filed under: General Tagged: ASML, CP, HMC, MNTA, PCRA, YHOO

Against the Grain: Mid-Day Movers (KIPS, BFLY, GR, GEDU, CVOL, EDZ, VALV, MNTA, JKS, AMBT, EDC)

Administrator — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:06:35 +0000

The DJIA was down about -230 points at mid-morning and now that the European markets have closed the DJIA is down “only” about -175 points. Continuing concerns about Greek debt and worries about European sovereign debt are leading the day’s concerns. Here’s a look at several of the big movers — in both directions. First, the contrarians… You just have to love the big winners on a down day:

Kips Bay Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIPS) is up nearly 22%. The company is developing a new device for use in coronary artery bypass grafts. The share price rise doesn’t appear to be attributable to any specific news from or about the company.

Bluefly Inc. (NASDAQ: BFLY) is an e-commerce retailer of men’s and women’s designer clothes and eyewear. Shares are up more than 13% this morning as the stock continues to benefit from a large share purchase last week by investor George Soros.

Goodrich Corp. (NYSE: GR) is up more than 11% on continuing speculation that the company would be acquired by United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) in a $17 billion takeover. Goodrich is a supplier of aircraft parts and services, and its aftermarket business is strengthening.

Global Education & Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: GEDU) shares are up more than 12% this morning. The company provides foreign language training and test preparation services in China. The company’s CFO resigned in late August.

C-Tracks Citi Volatility Index Total Return ETN (NYSE: CVOL) is up nearly 14% this morning. The fund is a directional measure of the implied volatility of US large-cap stocks.

Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bear 3X ETF (NYSE: EDZ) is up about 12% this morning. The fund is a triple-leveraged play on the opposite price-performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The stocks leading the downturn:

Shengkai Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: VALV) is down more than -40% this morning on last week’s announcement that the company was re-directing its business away from its traditional markets and attempting to secure new business in the oil and chemical markets. Some investors have raised concerns over the company’s accounting practices, a particular problem for many Chinese companies recently. The stock has already traded more than 4x its average daily volume.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) is down more than -25% as the company has been unable to prevent its stock from falling below technical support levels. So far today about 3x normal daily volume has been traded.

JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) is down more than -22% after being forced to close a factory that has been accused of polluting a nearby river. The company’s shares also received two new downgrades this morning. So far today volume is about 3x normal.

Ambient Corp. (NASDAQ: AMBT) shares are down more than -15%. The company provides smart grid communications software and platforms. There’s no particular news, but investment in smart grid projects is likely to stall as the US economy remains weak.

GT Advanced Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) shares are down nearly -10% as the entire solar sector continues to get pounded. Customers for GT’s semi-conductor making equipment are not expected to keep placing orders for more as the market for solar PV panels continues to be oversupplied.

The Direxion Emerging Markets Bull 3X ETF (NYSE: EDC) is off nearly -10%, as it is expected to perform in exactly the opposite direction of the 3X bear fund we noted earlier.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Trading Alert Tagged: AMBT, BFLY, CVOL, EDC, EDZ, GEDU, GR, JKS, KIPS, MNTA, VALV

Stocks That Got Hammered The Most This Week (AMZN, ARNA, BNVI, EK, F, INFN, MWW, MNTA, MMI, MYGN, PSTI, PMCS, QTM, TSRA)

Administrator — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:18:12 +0000

Friday was a sea of red in the markets, but earnings season creates many winners and losers. This last week brought on another interesting aspect: Many Stocks Got Hammered! It was no easy task counting the number of stocks that fell by well into the double-digit percentages or major stocks which fell by close to that amount. This week’s tally was fourteen of the most bruised and battered actively traded stocks.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) fell 7.2% to $171.14 on Friday on nearly 20 million shares. Despite a 36% gain in earnings revenues fell short of estimates and its guidance was mixed as the margin pressure continues here. Shares had hit an all-time high of $191.60 just a week before.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) died on Friday as shares fell 18.5% on more than 10 million shares to $1.63 after the company announced a 25% workforce cut while it focuses on regulatory approval of its diet drug called lorcaserin. Biotechs cutting workforce… bad.

Bionovo Inc. (NASDAQ: BNVI) is not as commonly discussed because of a low price, but its shares were hammered down by 20.9% Friday after a stock and warrant sale to help advance its menopause drug to late-stage trials. Some 4.7 million shares traded and it fell to $0.87 versus a 52-week range of $0.84 to $3.15. Friday marked a new 52-week low.

Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) is about as ugly as it gets. It lost a patent case and then on Wednesday announced a 95% drop in profits that missed expectations due to film, digital, and IP-licensing revenues. Nothing ever works here and selling volume peaked at 70 million shares on Wednesday. On Monday shares were $5.22, but on Friday shares closed at $3.64. The tally comes to a drop of a whopping 30%… At least the short sellers cleaned up.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) caught everyone off guard on its earnings miss. After so much improvement, what goes up exponentially must fall back down to reality. Friday’s drop came to 13.4% in the red and on a massive 480 million shares on Friday alone.

Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) was another huge loser on Friday with shares falling 17.9% to $7.37 on more than 11.2 million shares. Its adjusted profit beat its forecasts, but the communication equipment maker gave guidance that was well under estimates. Its 52-week range is $5.70 to $12.90.

Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) was a serious loser this week. After earnings and revenue came in very lackluster, its guidance was soft, it switched CFOs, and LinkedIn filed for an IPO. Monster shares fell 25.4% to $15.95 on more than 21 million shares.

Momenta Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) was battered this week on fears that its role in selling generic blood thinners may be ending. Shares closed on Monday at $15.80 and closed out Friday at $12.49, withe the peak volume on Tuesday of almost 9 million shares. Its drop for the week: -20.9%. At $12.49, its 52-week range is $10.77 to $26.20.

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI) got its first dose of earnings as its own public company this week. Earnings beat estimates but the first quarter is put at only break-even on an operational basis. Shares were down over 12% on Thursday’s 12.65 million shares, but the drop continued on Friday. The pre-earnings high of $34.83 on Wednesday turned into $29.59 on Friday by the close. The drop here came to 15% from Wednesday’s close to Friday.

Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) had a very hard Friday as ist Q2-profit fell by 32%. Income tax provisions and margins were not enough to matter even after it affirmed the annual guidance. Shares fell by 13.8% to $19.30 on Friday on volume of more than 7 million shares.

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PSTI) was crushed on Thursday as shares were down by 26% to $3.09 after the cell therapy company showed the size and price of stock and warrant offering was very dilutive. If it helps at all, shares were back up a whole 1.29% to $3.13 on Friday.

PMC-Sierra Inc. (NASDAQ: PMCS) saw its shares punished this week and Friday’s drop was 12.8% to $7.77 on more than 25 million shares after the provider of broadband communication chips said Q4 earnings fell by about 28% as margins fell and R&D costs rose. On Monday, shares were at $9.00 on the close… making for a loss of almost 14% from Monday’s close to Friday’s close.

Quantum Corp. (NYSE: QTM) went from bad to worse after profits missed estimates due to an inability to close business in the quarter. Guidance was weak too. Shares were down more than 16% on Thursday to $3.01, but then shares slid yet another 8.3% on Friday down to $2.76. After a close lower each day since Monday’s close of $3.93, the drop from Monday’s close to Friday’s close was a whopping 29.7%.

Tessera Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: TSRA) wished that Friday would not have come. Despite a large gain in profit, revenue, and margins, Tessera lowered guidance and announced job cuts. Shares closed down 19.3% to $17.11 on Friday on more than 2.8 million shares.

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

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Biotech, Earnings, Technology Companies, The Week, Trading Alert Tagged: AMZN, ARNA, BNVI, EK, F, INFN, MMI, MNTA, MWW, MYGN, PMCS, PSTI, QTM, TSRA

Top Active Trader Alerts (PAR, DELL, GES, MNTA, NFLX, PCBC, SCON, TRMA, YRCW)

Administrator — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:53:28 +0000

Active traders and day traders have several big movers to choose from this morning. Stocks on the move are 3PAR, Inc. (NYSE: PAR), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES), Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), Pacific Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ: PCBC), Superconductor Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SCON), Trico Marine Services Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMA), and YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW).

3PAR, Inc. (NYSE: PAR) is actually lower despite a raised bid from Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL). Dell’s new bid is $24.30, which is only $0.30 above the $24.00 offer by Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ). 3PAR shares are down 2.95% at $25.97 versus the $26.76 close due to the notion that a bidding war now looks tighter and smaller rather than more robust. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) shares are actually up 1.8% at $12.00 on the news.

Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) was not expected to cut 2010 guidance, but its views are short of estimates. Shares are down 6.2% at $35.85, but keep in mind that its 52-week range is $30.54 to $51.28.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) is on the rise on strong volume after a district judge denied Sanofi-Aventis request for a preliminary injunction directing the FDA to suspend and withdraw its approval of the Abbreviated New Drug Application filed by the Momenta’s collaboration partner, Sandoz, for enoxaparin sodium injection USP, a generic version of Lovenox. The decision is subject to appeal. Still, shares are up 7.8% at $16.90 on more than 300,000 shares.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up with momentum this morning. Shares are up 2.6% at $127.50 on over 50,000 shares.

Pacific Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ: PCBC) ahead of a rights offering. Shares are down 60% at $0.64 on over 2.8 million shares.

Superconductor Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SCON) is not super nor is it conducting this morning. The company priced a 4 million share secondary offering at $1.50 per share to raise about $5.3 million. Shares are down 17% at $1.55 on 185,000 shares. This is already triple of a day’s average volume and this marks a 52-week low as the prior range was $1.86 to $3.99.

Trico Marine Services Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMA) is getting crushed after its U.S. operations filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Shares are down 29.4% at $0.18 on about 200,000 shares in pre-market trading.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) ebbs and flows each day with the direction of the market, and this morning it is flowing. Shares are up 7% at $0.28 on 130,000 shares.

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

Filed under: Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: DELL, GES, MNTA, NFLX, PAR, PCBC, SCON, TRMA, YRCW

BioHealth Business Daily (AEZS, ACHN, EXEL, MNTA, NBIX, OXGN, PGNX, SQNM, SCLN, VVUS, VICL)

Administrator — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:33:58 +0000

There were many stocks in Biotech and BioHealth with plus-signs after their share prices today. The BioHealth Business Daily is smoothing out the brief winners and losers to only weed out the market moves. Those on the move with news or events were AEterna Zentaris, Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS), Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN), Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXEL), Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA), Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX), OXiGENE, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN), Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNX), Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM), SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCLN), VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) and Vical Incorporated (NASDAQ: VICL).

We have included some basic color and news, as well as relative volume and the price moves where applicable. Closing prices are snapshots right at 4:00 PM EST so these may be different from official closing prices posted after 4:30.

AEterna Zentaris, Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS) was up after the FDA approved its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for doxorubicin targeted conjugate compound called AEZS-108 as a treatment to fight bladder cancer. Shares closed up 14% at an unofficial closing price of $2.09 on over 21 million shares. That is 7-times normal volume and the 52-week range is $0.75 to $3.25.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) released additional preliminary data on a Phase 1b ACH-1625 trial in hepatitis C treatments. Shares closed up 12.3% at $2.65 on right at 1 million shares. Average volume is 222K and the 52-week range is $1.10 to $3.89.

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXEL) posted a strong recovery after having been lower on losses and job cuts. Shares were up over 17% at $6.27 right at the bell.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) looked like its names was Momentum Pharmaceuticals more than anything. We saw over 500,000 shares trade and the unofficial closing bell price was up 11% at $13.85.

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) was also up in a mystery move… Shares were up almost 12% at $2.90 on actually light trading volume of 309,000 shares. A seller’s strike.

OXiGENE, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) was up 12% at $1.00 in a late day move after yesterday’s earnings report.

Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNX) rose and rose throughout the trading day. What is odd is that there was a seller’s strike. No sellers showed up for trading today. There were only 118,000 shares traded at the 4PM close and the stock was up 11.7% at $6.12. The 52-week range is $3.53 to $7.00.

Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) is of course in the testing space rather than in biotech… Its stock held up extremely well considering how deep of a discount it got a private placement off. It raised more than $50 million in a private placement.

SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCLN) was up ahead of a presentation next week with a company overview and business update. Shares closed up 14.8% at $4.02 on 901,000 shares.

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) was up again after yesterday’s late-day big bullish options trade. Shares closed up 2.4% at $12.40 on almost 5.5 million shares.

Vical Incorporated (NASDAQ: VICL) was trading higher on word that its cancer drug showed promise in mid-stage trial results of Allovecton-7.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Biotech, Drug companies, FDA, Medical, Trading Alert Tagged: ACHN, AEZS, EXEL, MNTA, NBIX, OXGN, PGNX, SCLN, SQNM, VICL, VVUS

Weekend of Cancer Data at AACR Ahead of ASCO (ALTH, AMGN, ARIA, ARRY, AZN, BIIB, CELG, CRIS, IMMU, IMGN, INFI, MEDX, MNTA, ONCY, PFE, PCYC, SUPG, TELK, THLD)

247wallst — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:05:16 +0000

This weekend will be a potentially important oncology and cancer news weekend for drug and biotech stocks. The American Association for Cancer Research Meeting will actually have a 100th annual meeting, and some traders and investors may be using this as a preview for what lies ahead at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in a month. The following companies which are presenting data:

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTH)
Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN)
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA)
Array BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY)
AstraZeneca’s (NYSE: AZN) Medimmune unit
Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB)
Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG)
Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS)
Immunomedics, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMMU)
ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN)
Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INFI)
Medarex, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX)
Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MNTA)
Oncolytics Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY)
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC)
SuperGen Inc. (NASDAQ:SUPG)
Telik, Inc. (Nasdaq: TELK)
Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: THLD)

You can see a full summary of the data being presented at BioHealthInvestor.com site. There will be others presenting data this weekend, and these were from the press releases of the meeting ahead of time.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Biotech, Calendar, Drug companies Tagged: ALTH, AMGN, ARIA, ARRY, AZN, BIIB, CELG, CRIS, IMGN, IMMU, INFI, MEDX, MNTA, ONCY, PCYC, PFE, SUPG, TELK, THLD

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (BIG, CSH, CS, ERIC, GT, MRVL, MMR, MNTA, NTRS, PCZ)

247wallst — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:33:55 +0000

These are ten of the top analyst calls we see affecting shares in pre-market indications this Monday morning:

Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) Raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Cash America (NYSE: CSH) Cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.
Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) Raised to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) raised to Neutral from to Sell at Goldman Sachs; downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE: GT) cut to Neutral at JP Morgan.
Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) raised to Outperform at FBR (stock indicated +2%).
McMoRan Exploration (NYSE: MMR) Cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.
Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MNTA) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Northern Trust (NASDAQ: NTRS) Cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) raised to Outperform at CINC World Markets.

Jon C. Ogg
April 28, 2008