Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) is Free Falling

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) hit a new 52-week low of $0.61 yesterday (02013.04.29). I looked for recent news and came across the headline: Aastrom files to sell $25M in common at stocktheflyonthewall.com. I did not find any follow-up news, but I suspect the headline is accurate. What a bummer to have to sell part of the company at such a low stock price. These days it is generally regarded as bad news when a company has to sell shares to raise money.

ASTM closed at $0.62 on 02013.04.29. 52-week range: $0.61 - $2.61.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Nanosphere (NSPH) Announces Management Changes

Nanosphere (NSPH) issued a press release yesterday (02013.04.25) after the market closed that contained the following: (a) Ken Bahk appointed as Chief Strategy Officer. (b) Tim Patno departing as Chief Technology Officer. (c) Chad Mirkin, Ph.D. departing as a Member of the Board of Directors.

Chad Mirkin is why NSPH is in the GDT::Portfolio, so I don't know what his departure means.

Two NSPH Pi moments today (02013.04.26): (1) I placed an order to sell some NSPH at $Pi. (2) At 7:09am MST NSPH was down Pi%.

NSPH closed yesterday (02013.04.25) at $2.83. It opened today at $2.73. 52-week range: $1.55 - $3.89.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Sold Some Yahoo! (YHOO) at 8 $Pi ($25.13)

Yahoo! (YHOO) issued a press release today (02013.04.25) having the headline: Now on Yahoo!, It's Saturday Night! I don't watch SNL anymore, but I still like Yahoo! YHOO hit a new 52-week of $25.20 this morning and I sold a small chunk at 8 $Pi. [Yet another 3.14 moment.]

NeuroMetrix (NURO) Has a Wild Ride On 24 Apr 02013

Yesterday (02013.04.24) NeuroMetrix (NURO) announced that it had "entered into an agreement with Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd. to be the exclusive distributor for NC-stat® DPNCheck® in Japan." The press release stated: "Japan one of the top ten countries globally in terms of prevalence of the disease [diabetes], and second among developed nations after the United States." Two days ago NURO closed at $2.23. Yesterday it opened at $2.20, spiked to $2.68 on the Japan news, fell to an intra-day low of $2.10 and closed at $2.12.

Today (02013.04.25) NeuroMetrix (NURO) reported 1Q'13 results prior to the market opening and the 1Q'13 press release ends with the following: "The Company reported a net loss of $2.8 million for the first quarter of 2012 or $1.99 per share. NeuroMetrix reported net cash usage of $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2013 and ended the period with cash resources of $6.9 million.

[02013.04.25] NURO hit a new 52-week low of $1.98 today before closing at $2.05, down 3.13% for the day. Volume was ~67,707 vs. t3m-avg. of ~21,294. I'm going to read the transcript of the company's 1Q'13 conference call, which started prior to the market opening, when time permits.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Weird Headlines (depends on how one defines "weird")

When analysts are ANALysts. Here are two headlines that caught my attention.

"US Airways Group Earnings: Here’s Why Investors Don’t Like These Results" at Wall St. Cheat Sheet (Tue, Apr 23)

US Airways reported 1Q'13 results prior the market opening yesterday (02013.04.23). LCC closed yesterday at $16.30, up 5% for the day. I guess it all depends on how one defines "like."

"Yahoo's Recent Pullback Offers Investors A Great Entry Point" at Seeking Alpha (Wed, Apr 24, 3:51AM EDT)

YHOO closed at $24.38, ~2.4% below its 52-week high. 52-week range: $14.59 - $24.99. I guess it all depends on how one defines "pullback."

DJIA and a Cracker's Tweet on 23 Apr 02013

Yesterday (02013.04.23) The Twitter account for the Associated Press got cracked yesterday and the crackers tweeted the following tweet: "Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured". The DJIA fell on the bogus tweet and I captured the chart.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

iRobot (IRBT) Reports 1Q'13 Results

iRobot (IRBT) reported 1Q'13 results after the market closed today (02013.04.23). IRBT was up almost 13% in after hours trading. From the company's press release.
Based on our view of the rest of the year, we are increasing our full-year financial expectations for both revenue and profit.

I also liked reading the following from the press release.

We began shipping the RP-VITA to InTouch Health during the quarter. Roughly one dozen of the robots are currently in use in hospitals.

iRobot.com::iRobot Reports First-Quarter Financial Results Exceeds Expectations; Increases Full-Year Outlook

IRBT closed at $24.66 on 02013.04.23. 52-week range: $16.25 - $27.16.

[update::02013.04.24] IRBT closed at $28.04 after hitting a new 52-week high of $28.85. Volume was 2.3 million vs. t3m-avg. of 0.4 million.

[update::02013.04.25] IRBT was upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy.

Illumina (ILMN) Reports 1Q'13 Results

Illumina (ILMN) reported 1Q'13 results after the market closed yesterday and today (02013.04.23) ILMN is up almost 8% in pre-market trading. Some observations I made from the 1Q'13 press release: (a) "Cash flow from operations of $88 million and free cash flow of $66 million for the quarter." (b) "Research and development (R&D) expenses for the first quarter of 2013 were $61.5 million compared to $48.8 million in the first quarter of 2012." (c) "Repurchased $25 million of common stock under our previously announced share repurchase program."

ILMN closed yesterday (02013.04.22) at $55.12. 52-week range: $37.77 - $58.65. ILMN's SIR (Short Interest Ratio) was 27.1 on 02013.03.28.

[02013.04.23] After I posted this posting, I reviewed out ILMN investment and prior to the market opening placed an order to sell some ILMN at 19 $Pi ($59.69). The sell order got executed, but the sale price was $60.00. ILMN spiked to $62.77 at the open and that's six cents shy of 20 $Pi ($62.83).

[02013.04.23] Hmm... With respect to ILMN, Finance.Yahoo.com says: "% of Shares Held by Institutional & Mutual Fund Owners: 116%". Hmm...

Monday, April 22, 2013

Nanosphere (NSPH) Gets an 'Outperform' Rating

Nanosphere (NSPH) got an upgrade to 'Outperform' at Cowen & Co. NSPH closed today (02013.04.22) at $2.69 after hitting an intra-day high of $2.74. NSPH had an intra-day low of $1.72 on 0203.02.14 (i.e. just over two months ago). A couple of days after this low there was some insider buying at $1.965. 52-week range: $1.51 - $3.89.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

McDonald's Most Recent All-Time Was On 12 Apr 02013

McDonald's (MCD) is not a GDT::Portfolio stock and these days I rarely go to McDonald's. None the less, last week I saw a headline about MCD hitting a new all-time high and that prompted the following if only moment...

If only... I don't remember the first time my parents took us to McDonald's, but it was probably the late-01960s. It would have cost my parents approximately $21 (excl. commission, which would have more than doubled the cost) to buy 100 MCD shares on 2 Jan 01970. On 12 Apr 02013, MCD hit an all-time high and that $21 investment would be worth $10,370.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Google (GOOG) Reports 1Q'13 Results

Google (GOOG) reported 1Q'13 results after the market closed. Here's the press release: Google Inc. Announces First Quarter 2013 Results . My take: Google ended 1Q'13 with $50.1 billion in "cash" and free cash flow during 1Q'13 was $2.43 billion. Google's capital expenditures during 1Q'13 were $1.2 billion. Google's effective tax rate was only 8%, which helped net profits. Google ended 1Q'13 with 53,891 workers (38,739 Googlers).

GOOG closed yesterday at $765.91, almost 10% below its 52-week/all-time high of $844.00. GOOG was up slightly in pre-market trading.

Quoting Google's CEO Larry Page: "We are working hard and investing in our products that aim to improve billions of people's lives all around the world."

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Yahoo! (YHOO) Reports 1Q'13 Results

Yahoo! (YHOO) reported 1Q'13 results after the market closed yesterday (02013.04.16). I liked their numbers, but YHOO opened down when the market opened today. I was pleased to see YHOO was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Neutral' by Bank of America Merrill Lynch earlier today.

YHOO closed yesterday (02013.04.16) at $23.79. 52-week range: $14.59 - $24.99. I have not cancelled my good-till-cancel order to sell some YHOO at 8 $Pi ($25.13).

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Bought Some NeuroMetrix (NURO)

NeuroMetrix (NURO) tanked on 02013.04.15 (Boston bombings) and that caused my good-till-cancel buy at $2.20 order to be executed. There was NURO insider buying on 02013.03.11 at $2.39. NURO 52-week range: $1.98 - $5.10.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Tax Day 02013 Was a Bad, Bad, Bad Day

Today (02013.04.15) was tax day and the stocks markets tanked. DJIA was down ~1.8% and the NASDAQ was down ~2.4%. In addition, two bombs went off that Boston Marathon. The GDT::Portfolio really tanked. The following were down at least 4%: MACE down 19.1%; NURO down 10.3%; NSPH down 6.4%; STEI down 5.1%; TRMB down 4.6%; HGR down 4.3%. Another seven stocks were down more than 3%. Only two of 30 stocks were up.

Red Hat (RHT) Announces a Stock Buyback

Red Hat (RHT) announced today (02013.04.15) that they are going to buyback up $300 million in RHT shares. From Red Hat's press release.
"Over the last 13 months we have repurchased $300 million or 5.9 million shares of Red Hat common stock under the current program, equivalent to 3% of our shares outstanding as of February 28, 2013," stated Charlie Peters, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Red Hat. "Our management team and Board of Directors have a strong conviction in our long-term growth prospects and our ability to generate profits and cash flow. We believe that stock repurchases demonstrate our commitment to building shareholder value as well as confidence in achieving long-term growth."

RHT closed on 02013.04.15 at $49.26. 52-week range: $46.34 - $62.75.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Mace Security Intl. (MACE) Up 55.56%

Mace Security Intl. (MACE) experienced an end-of-day pop on 02013.04.12. Prior to the the market opening on same day I was lamenting to myself what a bummer it is MACE is a penny stock. I came up with a new investment strategy: When MACE hits $2, I sell all stocks. MACE spiked at the end of the day closing at $0.42. Hmm... 42... the "Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything".

55.56%... If only that was a growth factor for a GDT::Portfolio growth investment function!

.

Tried to Buy Some More NeuroMetrix (NURO), But It Didn't Happen

NeuroMetrix (NURO) hit an intra-day low of $2.04. Finance.Yahoo.com was showing NURO $2.12 and put in 'buy' order at $2.20. The buy never got executed an NURO ended the day (02013.04.12) at $2.36. 52-week range: $1.98 - $5.10. The 'buy' order is good-till-cancel.

StemCells (STEM) Gets More Cash

StemCells (STEM) is an important stock in the GDT::Portfolio. If stem cells were a technology, then it's possible they will be a disruptive technology. Headline from yesterday (02013.04.11): "StemCells, Inc. Enters Agreement to Receive $19.3 Million From California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to Help Fund IND for Alzheimer's Disease GlobeNewswire(Thu, Apr 11)". Two days earlier there was this headline: "StemCells, Inc. Closes $10 Million Debt Financing GlobeNewswire(Tue, Apr 9)".

STEM had an intra-day low of $1.60 on 02013.14.08. Yesterday, 02013.04.11, STEM had an intra-day high of $1.87. STEM closed yesterday at $1.77. 52-week range: $0.59 - $2.67.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Illumina (ILMN) Hits a New 52-Week High

Illumina (ILMN) hit a new 52-week high of $57.29 before closing at $57.27 yesterday (02013.04.10). I am of the belief that we're living in the Age of Genomics and Illumina is a genomics company. One month ago ILMN had a SIR (Short Interest Ratio) of 25.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Level 3 Communications (LVLT) Gets a Buy Recommendation

Level 3 Communications (LVLT) got a 'Buy' recommendation yesterday (02013.04.09) by Deutsche Bank. LVLT closed yesterday at $21.20, up 6% for the day. Volume was 4.08 million vs. 1.73 million. LVLT 52-week range: $16.36 - $25.99. I've placed a good-till-cancel order to sell some LVLT at 7 $Pi ($21.99).

[update::02013.04.11] I cancelled the LVLT sell order. Yesterday LVLT closed at $21.00 after hitting an intra-day high of $21.72. Today (02013.04.11), prior to the market opening, Level 3 Communications announced "Jeff K. Storey has been appointed by the Board of Directors to be the company's president and chief executive officer (CEO), effective immediately."

Yahoo! (YHOO) Keeps Climbing

Yahoo! (YHOO) hit a new 52-week high yesterday (02013.04.09) and it hit yet another new 52-week high this morning. YHOO closed yesterday at $23.83 and today it open at $24. YHOO hasn't been this high since approximately July 02008. I liked this headline from this morning: "Apple, Yahoo in Talks to Broaden Mobile Partnership".

Sunday, April 7, 2013

GDT::Portfolio Didn't Like the 1st Week of April 02013

The stock market week that just ended on Friday, 5 April 02013, was a bad week for the GDT::Portfolio.

Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI) lost 18.57% of its market value during the week. ALTI closed at $2.28 compared to $2.80 one week earlier.

Cray (CRAY) closed at $21.32 on 02013.04.05. CRAY is 10% below its most recent 52-week high hit on Monday, 02013.04.01.

Google (GOOG) is having a hard time staying above $800. GOOG closed on 02013.04.05 at $783.05.

Mace Security Intl. (MACE) fell ~17.14% on Friday, 02013.04.05, closing at $0.29. Volume was 123,240 vs. 14,474.

On the plus side...

Facebook (FB) ended the 1st week of April at $27.39, up ~7.1% for the week.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Bruker (BRKR) Enabling Sub-Nanometer Observations

Bruker (BRKR) is representative of the "investment in the future" strategy of the GDT::Portfolio. When it comes to the future, it's possible graphene is going to be a disruptive material; therefore, I liked the following Bruker press release from a couple of days ago (02013.04.02): UK National Graphene Institute Selects Bruker’s Dimension FastScan AFM.
"Bruker’s Dimension FastScan provides our team with the best available technology to support the complex demands for sub-nanometer observations of graphene." -- 02010 Nobel Prize in Physics winner Professor Kostya Novoselov.

BRKR closed yesterday (02013.04.03) at $18.57. 52-week range: $9.91 - $19.46.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Stewart Enterprises (STEI) Increases Its Dividend

Stewart Enterprises (STEI) announced that they are increasing their dividend from $0.16 to $0.18 (a 12.5% increase).
Thomas M. Kitchen, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The Board's decision to increase the cash dividend reflects its continued confidence in our solid balance sheet, our ability to consistently generate strong cash flow, and the continued positive momentum in revenue growth. The Board last increased the dividend rate in March of 2012. This represents a 50% increase in our dividend rate in the last two years."

STEI closed yesterday (02013.04.02) at $9.24. 52-week range: $5.87 - $9.54.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Bought Some Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS) ended 1Q'13 at #25 in the GDT::Portfolio. I hope I wasn't being a fool, but today (02013.04.01; April Fools' Day) I bought some KTOS at $5.01. 52-week range: $4.08 - $6.19.

KTOS had some insider buying last month (March 14th [Pi Day] and March 17th) in the $4.47 - $4.77 range. In addition, on April 1st KTOS had a SIR (short interest ratio) of 14.4 and a PSR (price sales ratio) of a 0.29.