StemCells Inc. To Float More Stock

StemCells (STEM) shareholders did not like the company floating more stock. Dilution, dilution, dilution. On Thursday, 02011.12.15, STEM hit an intra-day high of $1.71. The next day, Friday, 02011.12.16, STEM closed at $0.83.

The company anticipated STEM shares getting hit, so prior to announcing the selling of more stock, the company issued a press release having the title: "StemCells, Inc. Completes Enrollment of First Cohort in Landmark Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Trial."

StemCells, Inc. Announces Pricing of Public Offering to Raise Up to $20 Million

From the StemCells Inc. press release...

[...] 8,000,000 units and 8,000,000 Series B Warrants, each to purchase one unit, at a public offering price of $1.25 per unit for gross proceeds of $10 million, [...]

Each Unit consists of (i) one share of the common stock, par value $.01 per share, of the Company's common stock and (ii) one Series A Warrant to purchase one share of common stock.

The Series A Warrants are immediately exercisable at an initial exercise price of $1.40 per share and expire on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance.

The Series B Warrants are exercisable immediately at an exercise price of $1.25 per Unit. The Series B Warrants will expire at the close of business on the ninetieth (90th) trading day after the date of issuance.

StemCells Inc. executed a 1:10 stock split on 02011.07.06 and has approximately 14.33 million STEM shares.

Aastrom Biosciences: Not Yet a Penny Stock

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) has dropped below $2 closing yesterday (02011.12.15) at $1.91. 52-week range: $1.85 - $3.47. The last couple of insider buys were recorded during early August 02011 at $2.11 - $2.36. It would be nice to see some more insider buying at ASTM's current price. Insider ownership appears to be less that one-half of one percent.

Yesterday (02011.12.16) Have Aastrom Shares Finally Bottomed Out? was posted to SeekingAlpha.com.

Stewart Enterprises and StemCells: Death and Life

Stewart Enterprises (STEI) closed yesterday (02011.12.12) at $5.80. 52-week range: $5.14 - $8.39. The Short Interest Ratio (SIR) in STEI is a whopping 31.3. Stewart reports 4th-quarter results after the markets close on Thursday, 02011.12.15. If the company exceeds expectations, then STEI could experience a short squeeze.

StemCells Inc. (STEM) hit a new 52-week low of $1.32 yesterday (02011.12.12) before closing at $1.35. Trading volume was 300k+ vs. t3m avg. of 83k+. Today, STEM opened at $1.43 and spiked to $1.78. Trading volume is already 230k+. The last press release posted to StemCellsInc.com is dated 11/28/02011. The SIR (Short Interest Ratio) in STEM is somewhat high at 10.1, but I am not expecting any type of short squeeze on STEM shares.

Nanosphere: Insider Sale Recorded

I checked to see if there had been any new insider buying at Nanosphere (NPSH), but was bummed to see an insider sale. There is usually only one reason for an insider buy, but there are an array of reasons for why an insider sells.

NSPH had a volatile day yesterday (02011.12.07). Previous close was $1.56; opened at $1.59; hit an intra-day low of $1.38 before closing the day at $1.52. Right now (9:32am MST on 02011.12.08), NSPH is down 5+% at $1.44.

NSPH hit a low at $0.08 on 2011.10.03 and its most recent high was $1.75 on 2011.11.21. 52-week range: $0.89 - $5.62.

Illumina: We're Living in the Genomics Age

Illumina (ILMN) showed signs of life yesterday (02011.12.05). Previous close was $27.78; intra-day high $32.00; close $29.44, up ~% for the day. Trading volume was 7.58 million vs. trailing-3-month average of 3.04 million. 52-week range: $25.57 - $79.40.

I read this yesterday (02011.12.05): Illumina Climbs on Speculation Gene-Analysis Toolmaker Is Takeover Target. It is no surprised that ILMN's depressed stock price is causing some big companies (e.g. General Electric and Samsung) to take a closer look at acquiring Illumina.

I read this today (02011.12.06): 5 New Buys From Colombia Professor John Griffin. From the SeekingAlpha.com posting: Griffin holds 865,000 shares of Illumina, buying the entire holding in third-quarter 2011. The average purchase price per share was $56.80.

Kratos: Is $5.45 a Bottom for KTOS?

I tend to ignore certain stocks in the GDT::Portfolio and San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (KTOS) is one of those stocks. Press release from yesterday (02011.12.01): Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Announces Repurchase of 2,000,000 Shares. The shares were bought at $5.45 per share. KTOS closed yesterday at $6.01. 52-week range: $4.61 - $14.77.

Our investment in KTOS has drowned, but I remain optimistic that will eventually float to the top (break even). Right now KTOS has a low PSR (price-sales-ratio) of 0.33. 13% of the approximate 34.4 million KTOS shares are closely held. SIR (short-interest-ratio) is high at 13.2.

Back on 14 November 02007, Wireless Facilities, Inc. changed its name to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. in order to better reflect its focus on being a "defense contractor and security systems integrator for the federal government and for state and local agencies."

Yahoo! For PIPEs? I Don't Know

If I've said it 'n' times, I've said it 'n+1' times... Being a Yahoo! (YHOO) shareholder is like being a resident of Peyton Place.

Learned a new acronym this morning... PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity). PIPE is an investment in a company that results in less than 20% ownership. PIPEs can be Board approved without a vote of the shareholders.

It appears as though there have been two PIPE offerings priced at $16.50 and $17.50, respectively. YHOO closed yesterday (02011.11.30) at $15.71. 52-week range: $11.09 - $18.84. Back in late-September of 02007, my target price for YHOO was $52. These days my YHOO target price is $26 and I frequently think this price is a pipe dream.