C, SPY, BAC shares fly off shelves

Posted on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) eked ahead 0.72 percent to $4.18 on 83,470,881 shares, to lead the midday volume pack Tuesday. Three-month daily average is 445,224,000. The stock’s 52-week range travels between $3.11 and $5.07. On Monday, Citi announced that its Global Transaction Services had been appointed depositary bank by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. one of the largest banks in Japan.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEArca: SPY) picked up 0.65 percent in price to $119.37 by noon, on runner-up volume of 65,526,631, compared to three-month daily average of 192,600,000 shares. The stock’s 52-week range slid to 101.13 before vaulting to a peak of 122.12.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) settled back 1.26 percent to $11.35 at lunchtime, on volume of 64,880,210 shares, compared to the three-month average of 182,537,000 shares.  BAC was among the banks helping CITIC Dameng raise up to $400 million U.S. in an initial public offering of shares in Hong Kong by the end of this year.

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CFS, ARTG, IIIIU lead midday gainers parade Tuesday

Posted on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Comforce Corp. (AMEX: CFS) advanced 51.86 percent to $2.46, as the clock approached noon ET, on 621,038 shares, compared to a daily average of 9,408 shares. The volume and sharp rise comes amid news that the company agreed to be taken over by an affiliate of ABRY Partners for $2.50 per share of common stock, a premium of approximately 77.4 percent over Comforce’s 30-day average closing stock price, and a 52-week high for the issue. Comforce Corporation is a leading provider of outsourced staffing management services.

Art Technology Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ARTG) leaped 45.37 percent by midday to $5.96, on volume of 59,981,921shares, towering above its three-month daily average of 1,135,700 shares, on the verge of an announcement that Oracle was about to buy ATG for $1 billion, thus adding the maker of e-commerce software to Oracle’s business-software offerings. Oracle will pay $6 a share, a 46 percent premium to Monday’s closing price and a level last seen in 2001 as the Internet bubble was still deflating.

Information Services Group, Inc. Units (Nasdaq: IIIIU) was ahead 24.48 percent to $3.86 nearing lunchtime in New York, on volume of 3,616 shares. The industry-leading information-based services company will release its third-quarter 2010 financial results on Tuesday, November 9. Neither the stock’s 52-week range nor average volume was available at press time.

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CFS, ARTG, CCUR – Buzz Stocks With Unusual Activity

Posted on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Comforce Corp. (AMEX: CFS) advanced 53.71% in the opening half-hour of trading to $2.49, on 299,974 shares, compared to a daily average of 9,408 shares. The volume and sharp rise comes amid news that the company agreed to be taken over by an affiliate of ABRY Partners for $2.50 per share of common stock, a premium of approximately 77.4% over Comforce’s 30-day average closing stock price, and a 52-week high for the issue. Comforce Corporation is a leading provider of outsourced staffing management services.

Art Technology Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ARTG) leaped 45.49% to $5.97, on volume of 41,975,948 shares, towering above its three-month daily average of 1,135,700 shares, on the verge of an announcement that Oracle was about to buy ATG for $1 billion, thus adding the maker of e-commerce software to Oracle’s business-software offerings. Oracle will pay $6 a share, a 46% premium to Monday’s closing price and a level last seen in 2001 as the Internet bubble was still deflating.

Concurrent Computer Corporation (Nasdaq: CCUR) took it on the chin 30.43% to $4.80 in the first hour of trading, on early volume of 262,578, compared its daily three-month average of 32,128 shares. The news comes a day after Concurrent declared disappointing third-quarter figures. The company, a worldwide leader in video and media data and advertising solutions, reported revenue for the quarter of $15.5 million, with a loss of 14 cents a share. The stock’s 52-week range bottomed out at 3.38 and peaked at 7.31

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Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Posted on Monday, November 1st, 2010

Shares of network security systems maker, Fortinet, Inc. (Nasdaq: FTNT) were up as much as 22 percent from Friday’s closing price in morning trading on Monday, after rumors of a takeover approach from International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM).

Although it has not yet been made public, discussions between the two companies may be at an advanced stage, though a deal could still fall apart, Bloomberg reported. IBM approached Fortinet six to eight weeks ago, a source told Bloomberg. The world’s largest computer services provider has spent more than $20 billion on 100 acquisitions since CEO, Sam Palmisano took over in 2002.
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Fortinet focuses on all-in-one network security systems, and has customers ranging from small businesses to large phone carriers. To date, Fortinet has shipped more than 500,000 appliances to more than 75,000 customers worldwide. The Sunnyvale-based company was founded in 2000, and went public last year.

The company was taken public by Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank on November 17, 2009 and raised $156 million in gross proceeds. Fortinet rose 33 percent on its first day of trading and continued upward, ending the year up 41 percent, making it one of the top ten performing IPOs of 2009.

Fortinet’s profit increased almost two-fold to $14 million or 17 cents per share in the third quarter, up from $6.4 million, or 10 cents per share a year ago. Sales in the quarter were $85 million, a 29 percent increase over the same quarter last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 11 cents per share.

“We are very pleased with our third quarter results, which marks the fourth consecutive quarter as a publicly traded company that we have exceeded our expectations in terms of billings, revenue and profitability,” said Fortinet’s chief financial officer, Ken Goldman in a statement.

Shares of Fortinet, Inc. are up more than 97 percent over the past three months.

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Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AVNR) – After-hours Buzz Stock of the Day

Posted on Friday, October 29th, 2010

Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVNR) were up more than 15 percent in after-hours trading on Friday after it was reported on TheStreet.com that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Avanir’s Nuedexta for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect.

Pseudobulbar affect (PBA), sometimes called emotional incontinence refers to a neurologic disorder characterized by involuntary crying or uncontrollable episodes of crying and/or laughing, or other emotional displays. Prevalence estimates place the number of people with PBA between 1.5 million and 2 million in the United States alone. However, given the fact that PBA is a relatively common disorder among patients with various neurologic conditions, its actual prevalence may be higher.
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Carol Werther of SummerStreet Research Partners, an independent healthcare research firm, predicted the approval in an Oct. 15 note to clients.

“We expect a label to treat the signs and symptoms of PBA with warnings not to use with drugs that increase QTc wave prolongation,” the note stated. “Data from the advanced cardiac safety study (ACSS) indicates that AVP-923, even using a 10mg dose of quinidine, still prolongs the QTc (mean of 8.9 ms), just above the level the FDA considers no risk for Torsades de Pointes. (5 msec). Nevertheless, we do not think this will stop approval as many marketed drugs have similar profiles. AVNR submitted a risk map program to prevent abuse of AVP-923.”

Nuedexta, formerly known as AVP-923 and the trade name Zenvia™, is a combination of two well-characterized compounds, the active ingredient dextromethorphan, and the enzyme inhibitor quinidine, which serves to increase the bioavailability of dextromethorphan. Avanir is developing Nuedexta for use in PBA and diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain.

“The FDA approval of NUEDEXTA marks an important milestone for people living with PBA, an under-recognized and debilitating neurologic condition,” said Keith Katkin, president and chief executive officer of Avanir in a statement. “The approval of NUEDEXTA also marks AVANIR’s transition toward becoming a commercial enterprise, ready to support the successful launch of the first FDA-approved treatment for PBA. We expect that NUEDEXTA will be available by prescription during the first quarter of 2011.”

Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals are down about 13 percent in the past three months.

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