Mid-day Movers (ALIM, TBET, ODP, PEIX, CECO)

February 28, 2012 by Paul Ausick

At about noon today, all three major US stock indexes pushed their way into positive territory, with the DJIA up nearly 24 points at about 13,005, the Nasdaq up more than 19 points at 2,986, and the S&P 500 up more than 4 points to 1,372. After moving lower this morning, markets rebounded following a strong report on consumer confidence, which came after weak reports on durable goods orders (more coverage here) and home prices (more coverage here). The dollar is weaker today, with the dollar index down -0.35% at 78.260. The stronger dollar is pushing most commodities up, although crude oil is down.

Among the major movers at around noon today are Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM), Tibet Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: TBET), Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP), Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX), and Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO).

Alimera is up about 67% at $3.86. Volume is already nearly 13x the daily average of about 256,000 shares traded. The eyecare drug maker received a positive outcome from a European regulatory body for its ILUVIEN treatment.

Tibet Pharma is up about 26% at $1.89. Volume is already 35x the daily average of 106,000 shares traded. The drug maker is being taken private by its CEO and chairman for $3/share.

Office Depot is up nearly 17% at $3.52. Volume is already 2.5x the daily average of around 4 million shares traded. The office supply retailer reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues this morning.

Pacific Ethanol is down about -24% at $1.23. Volume is already nearly double the daily average of around 6.6 million shares traded. The ethanol maker’s reported earnings fell short of expectations. More coverage here.

Career Education is down nearly -16% at $31.67. Volume is already higher than the daily average of around 1.6 million shares traded. The for-profit education company posted a weak earnings report this morning.

Paul Ausick

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