Hot small caps
As a general rule people are living longer, and while that is mostly a good thing, the longer we live the more chance we have of developing a serious medical condition such as Alzheimer’s.
Little wonder then, that the race is on to find a drug that arrests the onset of a disease that frightens the victims and places an incredible burden on their nearest and dearest.
Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL, OTCMKTS:AVXL) is one company working on an Alzheimer’s drug, and it shot up today after it revealed the US Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) had provided the company with guidance on its proposed strategy for the drug candidate.
The company said it will advance a larger and more innovative Phase 2/3 trial for the drug, ANAVEX 2-73.
Anavex is the top performer on Nasdaq, and playing yin to its yang is Net Element (NASDAQ:NETE), which has lost almost a quarter of its value after its results yesterday.
The provider of global mobile payment technology services reported a net loss of US$4.54mln, which was at least a slight improvement on the previous year’s loss of US$4.97mln.
Things are looking bleak for Iona Energy, which revealed that the planned farm-out of the Orlando project will not proceed. This was a key component of the proposed restructuring of the company, and faced with the impossible task of raising funds to finance its share of capital expenditure related to the Orlando project, the company said it is highly likely its two wholly-owned UK subsidiaries will commence insolvency procedures.
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Money World
A mention on the Mad Money TV broadcast has done the business for Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX), the designer footwear company.
Shares stomped up to US$27.21 in the morning session from US$25.32 overnight, before ebbing to just over 27 bucks.
The magic of a mention on Mad Money worked less spectacularly for biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD), though shareholders are unlikely to sniff at a 2.9% gain.
Microsemi Corporation (NASDAQ:MSCC), the semiconductor company, has eked out a rise despite James Peterson, who is not only chairman of the company but also chief executive (so his annual appraisals must be quick affairs), has lobbed out almost 19,000 shares in the company, following on from the 87,827 shares he sold a few weeks back.
The latest transaction grossed him US$680,460, so maybe he is planning to splash out on Black Friday.
Top Risers
CSN (NYSE:SID), up 18.4%. The American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional shot up in a delayed reaction to results published last Friday. It is worrying to believe that in this Internet age this might be a case of the news taking a while to percolate through.
Dago New Energy (NYSE:DQ), up 10.8%. Another foreign company, this one from China; its ADRs were a hot property after the manufacturer of polysilicon for the solar panel industry underlying earnings jump 79% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter.