. . . D.C. Boom. Look at any job growth figures and the Washington D.C. area is at, or near, the top. With jobs come people and demand for more housing, which is the main reason regional builder, Comstock Homebuilding Companies (Nasdaq: CHCI) is seeing big growth in its business. For the first two months of 2005, net new orders increased 71% and net new order value increased 86% over the same period last year. In addition, backlog contract value has increased 243% during this same period.(From
www.SmallcapRecap.com)
. . . The next disaster movie, book or TV show about the Ebola virus will have to mention Crucell NV ADS (NasdaqNM:CRXL) if they want to be accurate. The Dutch biotech company received an exclusive license for certain National Institutes of Health patents to develop a commercial vaccine to protect against the Ebola virus. This license uniquely positions Crucell to commercialize an Ebola vaccine.(From www.SmallcapRecap.com)
. . . Big trial coming. Patient enrollment has been completed for a pivotal trial evaluating panitumumab as monotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer patients who have failed standard chemo therapy. Panitumumab, co-developed by Abgenix (Nasdaq: ABGX) and Amgen is an investigational product in a new class of targeted cancer treatments called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) inhibitors. Although EGFr normally helps regulate the growth of many different cells in the body, EGFr can also stimulate cancer cells to grow. Panitumumab binds to EGFr, preventing EGF and TGF alpha from binding to the receptor and interfering with the signals that would otherwise stimulate growth of the cancer cell and allow it to survive.. . . Versar (Amex: VSR) integrates a wide variety of skills, including chemical and biological expertise, engineering and architectural design, construction, and environmental skills to support America's chemical and biological defense. Recently, it was awarded an engineering services contract from the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical/Biological Center. The contract is for a five-year term with a ceiling of $100 million. . . . Closing in on 100%. Global Diversified Industries (GDVI.OB), focused on the modular building industry with an emphasis on the education market, reported revenues for the nine months ended January 31, 2005 were up 99.8% compared to revenues for the previous nine months. It also marked the company's third consecutive quarter of positive earnings. Modular construction, particularly big in the building of education properties, offers advantages of speed and consistent quality.. . . The Cramer Effect. Jim Cramer started off his new CNBC show Mad Money by lighting a fire under CMGI (Nasdaq:CMGI). He praised the new direction of the company he, like many others, has reviled since the days of the Internet stock bust. Sure enough, the next day share price went from 1.80 to 2.25. It has since gone down a bit, but remains above its price before Cramer's show. The praise was based on the fact that CMGI posted positive operating income for the second consecutive quarter, and the company is now in the very real business of supply chain management as opposed to its previous "Internet incubator" model.(From www.SmallcapRecap.com)
. . . Have you been checked for Nanobacteria? You might be at some point, depending on the outcome of research from Nanobac Life Sciences (OTCBB:NNBP). The company reports that its preliminary research has indicated a relationship between nanobacteria and urological disorders such as prostatitis, kidney stones, and Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). The company focuses on research into the role of nanobacteria in disease and on developing therapeutics to treat nanobacterial infection.
. . . You see them at Starbucks and hotel lobbies, an army of wireless entrepreneurs tapping away at their laptops. Trouble is, their frequent use of unprotected hotspots leave them particularly vulnerable to viruses, worms and spyware. SonicWALL (Nasdaq: SNWL) has introduced a wireless firewall product designed expressly for small businesses and home offices. The TZ 150 Wireless is the first sub-$500 wireless firewall capable of scanning both wired and wireless traffic at the gateway for viruses, spyware and application-level attacks.
. . . The demand for better protection for US troops in Iraq and the acquisition of ESK Ceramics, helped Cerdayne (NasdaqNM:CRDN) more than double its profits in the 4th quarter compared to a year ago. For the year, sales were 112% better than last year. The defense contractor saw orders for its ceramic armor plates reach record levels. On March 10, Kauffman Bros. initiated coverage on the company.(From www.SmallcapRecap.com)
