Temple-Inland Inc. (TIN) gallops on rejection of takeover bid

Posted on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Temple-Inland Inc. (NYSE: TIN) shares climbed 41.6% to $29.75 Tuesday, a day after International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) made a $3.31-billion hostile bid for the maker of corrugated packaging and building products. Volume for Temple-Inland surpassed 10.8 million shares, trouncing an all-day average of 1.2 million.

The bid amounts to $30.60 per share. Monday, Temple-Inland’s Board of Directors, after careful consideration with its independent financial and legal advisors, voted unanimously to reject International Paper’s proposal after the Board determined unanimously that the proposal grossly undervalues Temple-Inland and is not in the best interest of Temple-Inland’s stockholders.

The Board authorized Temple-Inland CEO Doyle R. Simons, to communicate its rejection to John Faraci, International Paper’s Chairman and CEO. Simons stated, “Since we launched the ‘new’ Temple-Inland in January 2008, we have delivered superior results to our stockholders compared with our corrugated packaging peers (including IP), building products peers, and the S&P 500. Since that time, our total return to stockholders of 22% greatly exceeds the 5% total return that IP has achieved.

“Through our proven ability to execute our strategy focused on maximizing return on investment (ROI) and profitably growing our business, the Board believes the Company will continue to provide superior results for our stockholders,” continued Mr. Simons. “As the economic recovery continues and the benefits from our strategy continue to be realized, it is the stockholders of Temple-Inland who should gain from those anticipated benefits, not the stockholders of IP.”

The Austin-based Temple-Inland Inc. is a manufacturing company focused on corrugated packaging and building products. The fully integrated corrugated packaging operation consists of seven mills and 59 converting facilities.

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Posted in Consumer Discretionary Stocks, Consumer Staples Stocks by Glenn | No Comments »


ADA-ES Inc. (ADES) stock hikes after sale of joint-venture interest

Posted on Monday, June 6th, 2011

ADA-ES Inc. (Nasdaq: ADES) stock surged 54.7% to $15.47 Monday afternoon, on word it was selling its Clean Coal Solutions LLC holdings to an affiliate of Goldman Sachs. Volume of 594,000 shares proved nearly six times its normal daily average.

The sale concerns a 15.8% equity interest in Clean Coal, ADA’s 50:50 joint venture with an affiliate of NexGen Resources Corporation, by ADA and NexGen for $60 million to GSFS Investments I Corp., an affiliate of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Closing of the transaction was simultaneous with signing.

Clean Coal’s patented coal technology, CyClean, is a cost-effective coal technology to produce Refined Coal, which reduces emissions of NOx and mercury.

Dr. Michael D. Durham, CEO of ADA-ES said, “We are very pleased to welcome this additional investment by Goldman Sachs. We believe that their continued financial interest in Clean Coal further validates the environmental and financial benefits of this proven emissions control technology.

“As we continue to assess ADA’s liabilities resulting from the arbitration panel’s recent interim award to Norit Americas, Inc. and related indemnity obligations, this cash infusion enhances our balance sheet and our ability to fulfill those obligations.”

ADA-ES is a leader in clean coal technology and the associated specialty chemicals, serving the coal-fueled power plant industry.

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OXiGENE Inc. (OXGN) surges on new cancer treatment

Posted on Monday, June 6th, 2011

OXiGENE Inc. (Nasdaq: OXGN) shares rose 13.8% to $4.87, after the biotech company on Saturday reported encouraging data on a potential treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. Share volume for the stock tallied 2.3 million shares, already surpassing an all-day high of 1.7 million.

The San Francisco-based company announced Saturday that it presented updated safety and clinical activity data from the FALCON trial, a stratified randomized, controlled Phase 2 study of ZYBRESTAT™ (fosbretabulin tromethamine, or CA4P) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.

An updated analysis conducted approximately 11 months after the enrollment of the last patient in June 2010 showed that the combination regimen of ZYBRESTAT plus bevacizumab, carboplatin and paclitaxel (ZYBRESTAT Arm) was observed to be well-tolerated with no significant cumulative toxicities when compared with the control arm of the study. In addition, a pre-specified subgroup analysis showed meaningful improvements in median time to progression for patients with poor performance status.

Said Dr. Peter Langecker, CEO of OXiGENE, “With several clinical trials completed in multiple indications, we now have a large body of data showing the excellent combinability potential of ZYBRESTAT.

“In addition,” Langecker continued, “this study provides data in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) suggesting that ZYBRESTAT may benefit patients with more advanced stages of disease…. We believe that designing a development plan based on targeting this subgroup of patients could represent a sensible and achievable clinical strategy and we look forward to discussing further development of ZYBRESTAT with potential pharmaceutical partners.”

OXiGENE is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases. The Company’s major focus is developing vascular disrupting agents that selectively disrupt abnormal blood vessels associated with solid tumor progression and visual impairment.

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Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) benefits from government ruling

Posted on Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

Apollo Group Inc. (Nasdaq: APOL) shares rose 10.2% to $46.50, after the U.S. Education Department softened a rule that had threatened some aid to for-profit colleges.

The Department of Education on Thursday rolled out a rule that denies federal aid if programs don’t lead to “gainful employment” in a recognized occupation.

But the final rule would deny assistance as early as 2015, rather than immediately, if three tests over student loan repayment weren’t met.

“If you get three strikes in four years, you’re out,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. The department estimates that 18% of for-profit programs are expected to fail the thresholds at some point, with 5% of them failing to improve and ultimately losing eligibility.

Phoenix-based Apollo Group was one of a number of companies in the sector that jumped on the news.

Apollo Group, Inc. is one of the world’s largest private education providers and has been in the education business for more than 35 years. The Company offers innovative and distinctive educational programs and services both online and on-campus at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels through its subsidiaries: University of Phoenix, Apollo Global, Institute for Professional Development and College for Financial Planning.

The Company’s programs and services are provided in 40 states and the District of Columbia; Puerto Rico; Latin America; and Europe, as well as online throughout the world.

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Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW) celebrates legal win with stock surge

Posted on Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) shares surged 25.8% to $2.78 Thursday morning, after an Illinois court ruled Wednesday that American Airlines must let the online travel company resume selling its tickets. Volume for the stock was 1.3 million shares, or more than four times its all-day average.

American (owned by parent AMR Corporation) had removed its information from the website in December while it disputed the terms that it shares with the global distribution systems that currently act as the distributors for flight data of more than 90% of flights bought by consumers in the U.S.

American and other airlines want to be able to sell more flights of products through their own websites, cutting out the fees that they currently pay to GDS providers. The former re-entered a court dispute with GDS providers Sabre and Travelocity with an antitrust suit it filed in a Texas court Wednesday.

“This reinstatement of American Airlines’ full schedule of flights on Orbitz.com and Orbitz for Business is a win for transparency, consumer choice and for all of our mutual customers,” Orbitz said in a statement.
The decision grants Orbitz and Travelport, which owns nearly half of Orbitz, injunctive relief that was denied late last year by a different judge. Travelport later appealed that ruling.

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Posted in Consumer Discretionary Stocks by Glenn | No Comments »


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