Tag - Dvax

Stocks closed higher for a fifth day in a row as in investors were encouraged by a successful Treasury bond auction and consumer products maker Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG) confirmed its earnings forecast for this quarter and suggested that sales should improve in the next quarter.

The Dow closed at 9,627, up 80 points; the Nasdaq finished at 2,084, up 24 points; and the S&P 500 ended the day at 1,044, up nearly 11 points.

The Russell 2000, the leading index for the top 2,000 small-cap stocks, finished up over 7 points to end the session at 594.

Advances lead declines by a margin of 3 to 1 on the NYSE and Amex and 10 to 3 on the Nasdaq.

Small-cap price gainers trading over 1 million shares were lead by Quest Energy Partners (Nasdaq: QELP), up 98%; MIND C.T.I. (Nasdaq: MNDO), up 54%; Dynavax Technologies (Nasdaq: DVAX), up 47%; and YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq: YRCW), up 19%...

Stocks finished lower today with the Dow ending seven straight trading sessions closing up. The Dow closed down 35 points to 8,881 while the Nasdaq was up 10 point to close at 1,926 and the S&P 500 edged lower by half a point to close at 954.

The Russell 2000 was up just over 3 points to close at 529.

Leading small-cap price gainers include Media General (NYSE:MEG) up 84% on news that its Q2 EPS was $0.90 versus an EPS loss of $25.12 last year. Much of the firm's gains were attributed to cost cutting measures and selling off a Panama City, Florida television station WMBB and Alexandria, Louisiana television station KALB. Both stations were purchased by Hoak Media.

Other small-cap gainers for today include Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:SOMX) up 31%; Dynavax Technologies (Nasdaq:DVAX) up 24%; and Reddy Ice Holdings (NYSE:FRZ) up 22%.

Small-cap decliners include Hemispherex Biopharma (AMEX:HEB) down 27%; Aaron's Inc. (NYSE:AAN) down 14%; and Fuqi International (Nasdaq:FUQI) down 13% after announcing a proposed public offering of 4.5 million shares of common stock.

*****Fed Chief Ben Bernanke went before Congress yesterday to reassure lawmakers that he has an exit plan for his inflationary monetary policies. And apparently the markets were soothed by his plans, because everything rallied - bonds, stocks and the U.S. dollar. 

Most importantly, Bernanke has been pretty adamant that inflation is not a threat right now. Prices are still falling for homes and commercial real estate. Demand for oil is down. Unemployment is rising. None of these conditions suggests that more money will be entering the economy in the form of spending.  

What's his plan, you ask? He didn't say exactly. But it will involve higher interest rates and hopefully Treasury buybacks. 

*****Interestingly, Congress is very interested in problems with the commercial real estate market and what the Fed plans to do about them. Right now, $108 billion in commercial real estate is either in default, foreclosure or bankruptcy. That's the double the dollar amount since the start of the year.  

I'm not sure exactly what Bernanke can do about this. The Fed and the Treasury have made it possible for banks to make some money. That, in turn, will give the banks more ability to offset bad assets currently on their books and increase loss reserves for looming problems, like commercial real estate.  

But ultimately, we are seeing an actual deflationary spiral in the real estate sector. There's too much supply and not enough demand and prices are falling. Eventually, as we saw with my 7-Eleven story from yesterday, real estate will move from weak hands too small hands. But prices have to be attractive. Also, given my expectation that unemployment will remain high and the U.S. economy will grow weakly for a few years, it's highly likely that some real estate will simply remain dormant.  

*****Earnings season is rolling along. Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) beat expectations handily. But the company guided revenues for the rest of the year slightly below consensus. I thought that might be a problem, but apparently not. The stock's up 4%, even after a 10% rally last week.  
 
 Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO) and US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) have reversed early losses to trade in the green. After a long consolidation for stock prices, it looks like we might be breaking out for another upside move. But after the move we've seen over the last seven trading days, I can't help but to be a little skeptical.  
 
Best Regards,

Ian Wyatt
Editor
SCI Daily

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures have gained and the small-cap index is poised to open in the green.

The bulls are ready to go following news that fiscal first-quarter profit at investment banking giant The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) fell 53% but beat Wall Street’s projections. Investors are looking to see if investment banks will be able to weather the financial turmoil, particularly after Bear Stearns’ (NYSE: BSC) spectacular demise.

All eyes will be on the U.S. Federal Reserve today as the Fed gets together for its regularly scheduled policy meeting. The market is pricing a full 1% cut in the federal funds rate, dropping it to 2% from the current 3%. A decision will be announced at about 2:10 p.m. ET.

In economic news, the U.S. Labor Department reported this morning that producer prices rose an expected 0.3% in February. Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that housing starts fell more than expected in February, a sign that the housing slump continues in full force.

Small-cap stocks took a dive again on Monday, with the Russell 2000 sinking 12.43, or 1.87% to 650.48, the second lowest daily close since Nov. 1, 2005. The market did generate a mild bounce off the morning lows, and sits on an immediate test into Tuesday’s opening at 650; below there, the next support is at 644. A breach of the latter could see the market back into freefall mode. Look for resistance Tuesday at 660, then at 667 and 677.

The afternoon promises some potential sparks, as the market will react to the FOMC meeting announcement.

 

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures are lower and the small-cap index will open with a drop on news of a disappointing profit at Exxon Mobil.

The bears are dominant in pre-market trading following news that Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported a bigger-than-expected drop in third-quarter profit and missed Wall Street’s expectations.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, booked a net income of $1.70 per share, down from $1.77 per share a year earlier and below analysts’ projected earnings of $1.75 per share.

In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that personal income increased at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.4% in September, compared with a rise of 0.3% in August. That’s in line with economists’ expectations.

However, personal consumption in September increased 0.3%, below the projected rise of 0.4%. In August, personal consumption added a downwardly revised 0.5%.

Meanwhile, initial jobless claims for the week ended Oct. 27 fell 6,000 to 327,000 on a seasonally-adjusted basis. That’s a larger drop than the one expected by economists. But on the other hand, the four-week average—which is a more stable measure—increased 1,750 last week to 327,000.

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Dynavax Technologies Corp. (DVAX), up 22% on news of a partnership with pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. (MRK).
• Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (SPRD), up 15% on news of higher third-quarter earnings.
• i2 Technologies Inc. (ITWO), up 14% on news of a higher third-quarter profit.

Biggest percentage losers:

• Smith Micro Software Inc. (SMSI), down 22% on news of a decline in third-quarter profit.
• Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VNDA), down 17% on news it plans to offer $100 million of convertible senior notes due 2014.
• China Precision Steel Inc. (CPSL) down 11% on news it has agreed to issue and sell an aggregate of 7,100,000 shares of its common stock.