Tag - Isph

Calavo Growers Inc. (Nasdaq:CVGW), FiberNet Telecom Group Inc. (Nasdaq:FTGX) and Bridgford Foods Corp. (Nasdaq:BRID) are among the new 52-week highs in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: NeurogesX Inc. (Nasdaq:NGSX), Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:ISPH), NCI Inc. (Nasdaq:NCIT), Todd Shipyards Corp. (Nasdaq:TOD), Florida Public Utilities Co. (Nasdaq:FPU) and RehabCare Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:RHB).

Third Wave Technologies Inc (Nasdaq:TWTI), Iconix Brand Group Inc (Nasdaq:ICON) and Royale Energy Inc (Nasdaq:ROYL) are among the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

TASER International Inc (Nasdaq:TASR), China Sunergy Co Ltd (Nasdaq:CSUN) and Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:ISPH) are also among the most actively traded companies.

Crocs Inc (Nasdaq:CROX), Hoku Scientific Inc (Nasdaq:HOKU) and Sequenom Inc (Nasdaq:SQNM) were additionally included among the results.

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

Small-cap stocks reversed course Friday, erasing much of the steep gains from Thursday as monthly employment data served up a shocking rise in the jobless rate and crude oil prices exploded to new record highs. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) shed 22.90, or 3%, to 740.37, ending a volatile week in dizzying fashion. The abrupt decline Friday registered the largest one-day percentage loss since March 6, and marked just the fourth time this year that small caps tumbled 3% in one day.

One could argue that today’s morning setup brewed up a “perfect storm” for stock market declines. Equities came into the session ripe for a bad news surprise following an overdone rally Thursday, and when the unemployment rate shockingly rose to 3½-year highs, it triggered a rout on the U.S. dollar, which in turn fueled a dramatic surge in crude oil prices.

“I think today’s decline was a combination of negative factors: we took out the short base during Thursday’s rally, the jump in oil is negative for the economy via poor growth and inflation, there are rumors of Israel attacking Iran and the labor market is weak,” said Nick Kalivas, vice president of financial research with MF Global, in an email interview with SmallCapInvestor.com.

Today’s monthly employment report showed a baffling jump in unemployment to 5.5%, way beyond the median forecast for a mild rise to 5.1% from 5% the previous month. In fact, the last time the unemployment rate jumped 0.5% in one month took place 22 years ago. Data spin doctors explained away the rise as a sudden surge in college and high school students out looking for summer jobs, or as the number series simply “catching up” with the weak job picture. While the summer job explanation plays well, it’s worth noting that this data is seasonally adjusted, and it’s not as if we’ve never had college kids looking for work in May before. However, some economists cautioned that collection time-frame quirks this go around may have moved a bunch of the summer job crowd up into the May report from June. If so, then a dip in the jobless rate should be seen in next month’s employment data.

“The labor market is under severe stress, firms have stopped expanding payrolls, (there is) no ambiguity here,” Asha Bangalore, economist with Northern Trust, said in an email.  “The National Bureau of Economic Research could take several more months to declare an official onset of a recession, but there is no doubt the U.S. economy is experiencing one. The Fed will not raise the federal funds rate until the unemployment rate falls, [but] the unemployment rate has not even peaked yet, so considerations of a higher federal funds rate by year-end appear far-fetched,” Bangalore . . .

Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:ISPH), Genesco Inc (Nasdaq:GCO) and C&D Technologies Inc (Nasdaq:CHP) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

FieldPoint Petroleum Corp (Nasdaq:FPP), Mexco Energy Corp (Nasdaq:MXC) and Vision Sciences Inc (Nasdaq:VSCI) are also among the biggest percentage gainers.

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

After opening sharply lower, small-cap stocks are continuing to get pummeled mid-session by the worst jobs data this economic cycle has seen yet, rekindling concerns about the state of the U.S. economy. Crude oil gushed back to near record highs, also dragging the market lower.

At 1:18 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) had plummeted 15.5, or 2.03%, to 747.77, while the Dow plunged 298.65, or 2.37%, to 12,305.80

Wall Street got a reality check this morning after the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate jumped a shocking 0.5% to 5.5% in the month of May, the highest since October 2004 and the largest month-to-month increase since February 1986. Economists had forecast a much lower uptick in the unemployment rate to 5.1% from 5%. Non-farm payrolls clocked in at minus 49,000, which was better than the forecast for a slide of 58,000.

“In the post World War II period, every time the unemployment rate has jumped by a full percentage point in the course of a year, the economy has slipped into recession,” Steven Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics, said in an email report. “The bottom line is that jobs declined in May and the economy has clearly slipped into a mild jobs recession because the housing meltdown and credit market turmoil has spread to the broader economy. Persistent job losses will eventually pull the overall economy into recession.” 

BMO Capital Markets foreign exchange strategist Andy Busch says the question is whether the survey week of May 12th captured skewed data or if the seasonal adjustment was somehow unable to correct for a surge, which accounted for two-thirds of the increase in the move from 5.1% to 5.5%.

“This month underscores that volatility and disconnect with a massive increase in job seekers as the labor force rose 577,000 and the participation rate rose to 66.2% from 66%,” Busch said in an email. “Without it, we see employment at only 5.2%. Also, the data toward the end of the month is showing that the economy is not . . .

Small-cap stocks opened lower, pulled down by a surprising jump in the unemployment rate, which climbed to 5.5%, the highest rate in 3 ½ years. At 9:53 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 7.37, or 0.97%, at 755.90.

The headline non-farm payroll figure came in at minus 49,000, which was better than the forecast for a slide of 58,000, but the payroll figure was upstaged by the stunning jobless rate number. Economists had forecast a rise in the unemployment rate to 5.1% from 5%, and a jump of 0.5% is extraordinarily rare. In fact, this marked the biggest monthly jump in the unemployment rate in 22 years.

“The unemployment rate soared in May because of huge surge in the labor force, perhaps because of seasonal adjustment difficulties associated with the ending of the school year,” Steven Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics, said in an email report. “However, this big increase may also have been a catch-up from its slow rise in the past few months. In any event, the number of unemployed has increased by 1.6 million to 8.5 million and the unemployment rate has increased by 1 percentage point to 5.5%. In the post World War II period, every time the unemployment rate has jumped by a full percentage point in the course of a year, the economy has slipped into recession.”

Even the headline figure, which might have been embraced by equity bulls if not for the unemployment rate surge, wasn’t exactly a sign of great things. According to Wood, “The bottom line is that jobs declined in May and the economy has clearly slipped into a mild jobs recession because the housing meltdown and credit market turmoil has spread to the broader economy. Persistent job losses will eventually pull the overall economy into recession.”

This was the kind of head-scratching, out-of-leftfield numbers surprise that can hatch an entire cottage industry of data conspiracy theorists. For now, traders and analysts tilted toward the bullish side of things were explaining away the sudden jump . . .

Marchex, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHX), Directed Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq: DEIX) and Scientific Learning Corp. (Nasdaq: SCIL) are the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage losers:

San Francisco-based Novacea Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVC) received $60 million from a licensing agreement for its prostate cancer drug from Schering-Plough Corp., the company announced this morning. It could receive as much as $380 million in pre-commercial milestone payments and royalties for its orally-administered prostate cancer drug Asentar. The stock is up $0.69, or 7%, to $10.20.

Shares of Progen Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Nasdaq: PGLA) are rising following news this morning that the Australian company’s Phase III clinical trial of a liver cancer drug will allow for a potentially faster and more cost effective trial with a higher likelihood of success than previously reported. The stock is up $0.05, or 1%, to $3.60.

These are the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million:

		Price at		%
		1:00p.m. et	Change	Change	Volume	Year High	Year Low
LYTS	LSI INDS INC	17.20	+1.93	+12.6%	35.7k	20.81	12.83
IEAM	INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES AMER	5.53	+0.48	+9.5%	48.9k	8.65	2.85
AVRX	AVALON PHARMACEUTICALS INC	5.50	+0.39	+7.6%	15.4k	6.38	2.20
SPAN	SPAN AMER MED SYS INC	23.28	+1.38	+6.3%	0.6k	29.04	10.45
BIOD	BIODEL INC	21.73	+1.23	+6.0%	13.0k	20.60	16.26
ANSV	ANESIVA INC COM	7.10	+0.37	+5.5%	0.2k	8.71	6.31
SMIT	SCHMITT INDS INC ORE	9.10	+0.46	+5.3%	0.1k	8.99	6.27
AIXD	ACCESS INTEGRATED TECHNLGS I	7.20	+0.35	+5.1%	27.0k	11.30	5.23
FFHL	FUWEI FILMS HLDGS CO LTD	7.65	+0.35	+4.8%	47.7k	18.43	5.58
ISPH	INSPIRE PHARMACEUTICALS INC	6.00	+0.25	+4.3%	1.3k	8.70	3.92

Shares of Waltham, Mass.-based Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIOX) are trading higher on news this morning that earnings beat expectations.  Net income for the quarter ended March 31 was $4.4 million, or $0.07 per share, compared with $0.9 million, or $0.01 per share in the final quarter of 2006.  Wall Street was expecting the provider of globalization and offshoring services to break even.  Shares are up $0.06, or 1%, to $5.21.

The following are the most actively traded companies in pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:

The following are the most actively traded companies at 2:01 ET among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:

Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ISPH) stock hit a new 52-week-high this morning on Friday’s news that its AzaSite treatment has received the green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA approved AzaSite, an eye-drop therapy for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis, Inspire announced late Friday. Bacterial conjunctivitis is more commonly known as “pink eye” in the United States.

Durham, N.C.-based Inspire said it plans to launch AzaSite in the latter part of the 2007 third quarter. It expects the drug to generate $30 million to $45 million in sales in 2008.

In light of federal approval, Inspire said it will provide revised 2007 financial guidance in its first quarter 2007 financial results release on May 9. The new results will include estimated changes in 2007 revenue and expenses based on the upcoming AzaSite launch.

 

Shares of Durham, N.C.-based Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISPH) are trading higher following news after Friday’s close that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company’s treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis, a type of eye infection.  Shares are up $0.53, or 7.74%, to $7.38.

The following are the most actively traded companies in pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million at 8:44 ET: