Tag - Ptie

Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:SVNT), WSP Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq:WH) and M & F Worldwide Corp. (Nasdaq:MFW) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Shamir Optical Industry Ltd. (Nasdaq:SHMR), Meta Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:CASH), Pain Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:PTIE), Atlas Pipeline Holdings L P (Nasdaq:AHD), Cowen Group Inc. (Nasdaq:COWN) and NxStage Medical Inc. (Nasdaq:NXTM).

G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (Nasdaq:GIII), Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. (Nasdaq:HTV) and Movado Group Inc. (Nasdaq:MOV) are among the new 52-week lows in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

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 . . .

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (Nasdaq:LULU), Pain Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:PTIE) and Integral System Inc. (Nasdaq:ISYS) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Ciena Corp. (Nasdaq:CIEN), Tempur Pedic. International Inc. (Nasdaq:TPX), Merchants Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:MBVT), Digi International Inc. (Nasdaq:DGII), Aceto Corp. (Nasdaq:ACET) and American Greetings Corp. (Nasdaq:AM).

Otelco Inc (Nasdaq:OTT), TBS International Ltd (Nasdaq:TBSI) and Zoran Corp (Nasdaq:ZRAN) are among the most actively traded companies in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Oceanfreight Inc (Nasdaq:OCNF), II VI Inc (Nasdaq:IIVI), AEP Industries Inc (Nasdaq:AEPI), Fred's Inc (Nasdaq:FRED), Ares Capital Corp (Nasdaq:ARCC) and Pain Therapeutics Inc (Nasdaq:PTIE).

Hooked on oxycodone, morphine, codeine or tramadol? Acura Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ACUR) is on the way, intent on saving the world from addiction while defeating acute pain.

Acura wants to be the Superman of pain relief, but for now it’s just a Mighty Mouse in the making. As a development stage company, Palatine, Ill.-based Acura addresses what it terms the growing societal problem of prescription drug abuse. Its job is to make products that deter misuse but still ease discomfort. It has no revenue to date — only payments from a license agreement with King Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:KG), which agreed in October 2007 to market certain Acura products should they be approved for sale. 

Acura, actually, is just getting off the ground. Its shares moved onto Nasdaq in February after a reverse stock split, having traded previously on the OTC Bulletin Board. The company hoped to attract analyst coverage after its move to Nasdaq, but no analyst yet follows Acura. There also haven’t been presentations at investor conferences, so visibility into the company is limited.

But one thing is clear: becoming profitable depends on payments from King, and on the successful commercialization by King of future licensees of products using Acura’s Aversion Technology platform. The platform is key: Acura believes it has the power to develop a range of abuse-deterrent pain drugs. King expanded its arrangement in May, paying Acura $3 million for a license on a third Acura drug.

Acura’s agreement with King includes milestone payments for meeting goals of a late stage study on Acurox tablets — the company’s lead drug. An application for Acurox is expected to be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for approval by the end of 2008. The most recent Acurox payment was $5 million in June.

Acurox is an immediate-release opioid analgesic that discourages misuse, including intravenous injection of dissolved tablets or capsules, nasal snorting of crushed tablets and swallowing pills in excessive numbers.

Mash a tablet and snort the powder, and your nose will burn. Try to separate . . .

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures have moved up and the small-cap index will open in the green.

Investors are waiting to see what kind of relief President Bush will offer to borrowers at risk of losing their home. The plan will most likely feature a temporary hold on low mortgage rates that would otherwise increase sharply with time.

In economic news, the number of unemployment claims for the week ended Dec. 1 was 338,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure of 353,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Economists were expecting to see a slightly larger decline.

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:

• Hoku Scientific, Inc. (HOKU), up 33% on news it will borrow up to $185 million for the construction of a polysilicon production plant.
• Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (PTIE), up 14% on news a drug trial met its endpoint.
• DURECT Corp. (DRRX), up 14% on news of a successful drug trial.

Biggest percentage losers:

• BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BCRX), down 10% on news it has decided to discontinue a drug trial.
• Advanta Corp. (ADVNB) down 4%.
• Force Protection, Inc. (FRPT) down 3% on news of an unfavorable article published about the company.

The major indices moved into positive territory today following reports of stronger-than-expected U.S. factory orders and solid earnings from some big companies.  In small cap developments, shares of Tri-S Security Corp. (Nasdaq: TRIS) got a boost on news of a contract with the National Park, while Pain Therapeutics Inc.’s (Nasdaq: PTIE) profit shot up.

The Russell 2000 added 12.21 points, or 1.50 percent, to 828.46, its second consecutive day of gains.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average improved on Tuesday’s record close, adding 75.74 points, or 0.58 percent, to 13,211.88.

These are the biggest percentage gainers among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million:

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