Tag - Infi

Universal Forest Products Inc.(Nasdaq:UFPI), Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:INFI) and Renesola (Nasdaq:SOL) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: East West Bancorp Inc.(Nasdaq:EWBC), CVB Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:CVBF), Patriot Coal Corp. (Nasdaq:PCX), EnerNOC Inc. (Nasdaq:ENOC), Esterline Technologies Corp.(Nasdaq:ESL) and Cascade Corp. (Nasdaq:CASC).

A bleak picture of the nation’s employment picture sparked a solid opening decline for small-cap stocks. Bearish momentum was furthered by a batch of weak profit reports and outlooks for various companies, but another firm tone in commodities offered up support. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. (NYSE:CEA), China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. (NYSE:ZNH) and Amylin Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:AMLN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The International Trade report also came out this morning and the deficit widened to $57.19 billion, well above the forecast for a deficit of $53.5 billion.  
• The number of continuing claims, which tracks people who are out of work and just can’t a job, rose to 4.429M, above the 4.1M forecast  
• Energy stocks were a dominant force on Wed.'s rally, will be closely watched today to see if commodities can carry the bullish banner again.  
• The unemployment figure marked not just a high for the current economic crisis, but was the biggest number in 26 years. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. soared 56% after the Chinese government served up an aid plan for airlines. See (NYSE:CEA).  
• China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. is up 33% on Chinese government aid news. See (NYSE:ZNH).   
• Amylin Pharmaceuticals up 11.11% in pre-market after reaffirming plans for Exenatide Once Weekly NDA submission by end of first half of 2009. See (Nasdaq:AMLN). 
• Silver Standard up 8% in pre-market after it reports successful follow-up diamond drilling at Maverick Springs. See (Nasdaq:SSRI). 

Small Cap Losers:

• Gildan Activewear Inc. collapsed 43% as the sports apparel maker badly missed profit expectations. See (NYSE:GIL).  
• Pain Therapeutics gapped lower and shed 25% as the FDA turned down the firm’s experimental pain killer drug. See (Nasdaq:PTIE).  
• Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell 19% on news that AstraZeneca decided to ditch two of Infinity’s experimental cancer drugs. See (Nasdaq:INFI).
• Retailer lululemon Athletica Inc. releases Q4 results, guides below estimates. Shares fall 18% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:LULU).

 

A bleak picture of the nation’s employment picture sparked a solid opening decline for small-cap stocks. Bearish momentum was furthered by a batch of weak profit reports and outlooks for various companies, but another firm tone in commodities offered up support. At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 4.03, or 0.85%, at 472.37.

The weekly unemployment claims report headline figure came in at 573,000, which swamped the forecast of 525,000 and which was a cycle high so far in the economic malaise. What’s more, it also marked the highest claims number in 26 years. Even more scary is that the number of continuing claims, which tracks people who are out of work and just can’t get a job, rose to 4.429 million, way above the 4.1 million forecast and the highest point since November 1974. It has been fashionable to rally on “bad” economic news lately amid ideas that the market will be forward looking and rally away from the lows long before the news bottoms out, but it is difficult to look past numbers as bad as today’s claims report – especially if you don’t see things getting better for some time to come.

“Although the labor force is much larger now that it was 25 years ago, the number of people actually covered by unemployment insurance has declined substantially,” Steven Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics, said in an email. “More importantly, the deterioration in initial claims, continuing claims, and the insured jobless rate has been as bad as they were during the 1981-1982 recession, which was the most severe in the post-World War II period. Although these data are not for the survey week, they suggest another substantial decline in payroll employment and another jump in the unemployment rate for December.”

The International Trade report also came out this morning and the deficit widened to $57.19 billion, well above the forecast for a deficit of $53.5 billion. The U.S. dollar extended overnight losses against the euro after the report, with the . . .

DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS), Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:AMLN) and Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLE) are among the most actively traded companies in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Gymboree Corp. (Nasdaq:GYMB), Perfect World Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq:PWRD), Given Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq:GIVN), Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc.(Nasdaq:INFI), Stratasys Inc. (Nasdaq:SSYS) and Capella Education Co. (Nasdaq:CPLA).

Small caps have been on a rollercoaster ride in Tuesday’s trading, falling in morning trading on soft economic data, a global rout in equities and a record-low U.S. dollar, but rebounding in afternoon trading after crude oil plunged more than $8. Continuing worries over the health of the American economy prompted a widespread sell-off in stocks, which sent oil dropping. At 1:10 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 6.5, or 0.98%, at 671.

In a highly volatile session, crude oil has fallen $8.14 from its intraday high to $137.04 a barrel in recent trading.

In testimony this morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that the U.S. economy is faced with "numerous difficulties.” Bernanke’s comments came on the heels of the Fed and Treasury’s announcement that it would financially support Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) if necessary. The Fed chairman said that the financial markets remain under “considerable stress” and that consumer spending was likely to be “restrained” in coming quarters.

On the inflation front, the PPI headline figure came in at plus 1.8%, which was well ahead of the forecast for a rise of 1.3% and the year-over-year figure was a sobering plus 9.2%, the largest rise since June 1981. On the consumer spending ledger, the news was also dour, with June retail sales up just 0.1%, well down from the median forecast for a rise of 0.4% as car sales notched their biggest drop in more than two years. Even when excluding autos, June sales were up just 0.8%, which also missed the forecast for a rise of 1%.

Retail sales in May were strong, and although this month’s figure missed the estimate, it was still a decent number. The problem is that May and June sales were temporarily boosted by government stimulus checks and the strength is seen as temporary from most analysts. “Despite recent strength, consumers are slowly and grudgingly succumbing to job losses, high energy prices, the housing meltdown and the financial market turmoil,” Steven Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics, said in an email.

The U.S. dollar was dumped en masse as global investors elected to steer clear of financial uncertainty. The greenback has recovered some losses during . . .

Small-cap stocks fell hard this morning, pulled down by soft economic data, a global rout in equities, record lows in the U.S. dollar and a sobering outlook from central bank leaders. At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 13.92, or 2.09%, at 650.59, the lowest level seen since March.

In Senate testimony this morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will address the economy and monetary policy. In a release of the advance text, Bernanke said that the financial markets remain under “considerable stress” and that consumer spending was likely to be “restrained” in coming quarters. The immediate response to the Bernanke text headlines was that stock markets extended the morning slide.

The stock market was already taking a beating in after-hours trading before a fresh batch of economic data came out on the weak side ahead of the opening. On the inflation front, the PPI headline figure came in at plus 1.8%, which was well ahead of the forecast for a rise of 1.3% and the year-over-year figure was a sobering plus 9.2%, the largest rise since June 1981. On the consumer spending ledger, the news was also dour, with June retail sales up just 0.1%, well down from the median forecast for a rise of 0.4% as car sales notched their biggest drop in more than two years. Even when excluding autos, June sales were up just 0.8%, which also missed the forecast for a rise of 1%.

Retail sales in May were strong, and although this month’s figure missed the estimate, it was still a decent number. The problem is that May and June sales were temporarily boosted by government stimulus checks and the strength is seen as temporary from most analysts. “Despite recent strength, consumers are slowly and grudgingly succumbing to job losses, high energy prices, the housing meltdown and the financial market turmoil,” Steven Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics, . . .

Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:INFI) is down nearly 12% today after announcing Monday’s close that it was discontinuing its prostate cancer drug study. The Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company specializes in products for cancer treatments. It is stopping further enrollment in its phase two study of IPI-504 in advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer. The company said it hasn’t seen proof that the drug helped patients with the disease, but those enrolled in the trial may continue getting the drug after consultation with a doctor. Infinity said it will continue to study the impact of IPI-504 in patients with other diseases including lung cancer and refractory gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

In today’s trading, Infinity shares are at $6.67 at 9:50 a.m. ET, down $0.88 from Monday’s close.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) ended March with a solid gain on news of a better-than-expected gauge of business activity and a plan to overhaul financial regulation. The small-cap index rose 4.79 points, or 0.70%, to 687.97. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 46.49 points, or 0.38%, to 12,262.89.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 is down 10.19%, while the Dow has shed 7.55% and the S&P 500 has declined 9.92%.

Small-cap stocks began the session mixed, trading with no clear direction as investors awaited economic and financial news.

The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago reported after the start of trading that its purchasing managers’ index rose to higher-than-expected level of 48.2 in March from 44.5 in February. The news eased concerns of a decline in business investment even though readings below 50 signify a contraction.

Also grabbing the headlines was a plan by the Bush administration for a major overhaul of the existing financial regulation. The proposal, outlined by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson after the opening, would broaden the powers of . . .

Life Partners Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPHI), The Aristotle Corp. (Nasdaq: ARTL) and Super Conductor Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCON) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage losers: