Morning Movers (ISTA, MRT, CALL, QTWW, CVC, RIMM, SINA, STEM)

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ISTA), Morton’s Restaurant Group, Inc. (NYSE: MRT), magicJack VocalTec Ltd. (NASDAQ: CALL), Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: QTWW), Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC), Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), Sina Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA), and StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM).

After the first half hour of trading this morning, ISTA Pharmaceuticals is up more than 57% at $6.11. Volume is already more than 10x the daily average. The eye-care drug company is the target of a hostile takeover bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX) at a 68% premium to last night’s closing share price, or $6.50/share. More coverage here.

Morton’s Restaurants is up nearly 32% at $6.81. Volume is nearly 200x the daily average. The restaurant operator has agreed to an all-cash acquisition by privately held Landry’s Inc. at $6.90/share, for a total price of about $116.6 million.

magicJack is up more than 12% at $22.77. Volume is about 4x the daily average. The VoIP company has cancelled a proposed secondary offering and announced that sales of its magicJack PLUS device totaled 365,000 in the past 30 days. More coverage here.

Quantum Fuel Systems is down more than -33% at $0.78, after posting a new 52-week low of $0.75 earlier. Volume is already nearly 10x the daily average. The alternative energy company has priced a secondary offering of units comprised of one share and one warrant at $0.95/unit. The company expects net proceeds of $10.5 million, and plans to use the funds to pay down debt.

Cablevision is down nearly -15% at $11.85, after posting a new 52-week low of $11.69 earlier today. Volume is about 3x the daily average already this morning. The cable TV company’s COO resigned unexpectedly last night.

Research in Motion is down nearly -11% at $13.50, after posting a new 52-week low of $13.12 earlier this morning. Volume is already nearly equal to the average of around 22 million shares traded daily. The smartphone maker reported decent earnings after markets closed yesterday, but announced a delay until the end of next year for delivery of its new operating system. More coverage here.

Sina is down nearly -7% at $49.17, after posting a new 52-week low this morning of $46.86. Volume is already nearly equal to the daily average of 6.2 million shares traded. The Chinese online media company is being hit with new regulations in Beijing that prohibit users from registering under a false name.

StemCells Inc. is down nearly -38% at $0.87, after posting a new 52-week low of $0.84. Volume is more than 10x the daily average. The biopharmaceutical company has announced a secondary offering to raise $20 million, which will be used for general corporate purposes.