Sunday, November 20, 2005
Net sales for Kyphon (Nasdaq: KYPH) in the third quarter totaled $79.0 million, an increase of 42% over net sales in third quarter of 2004. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter increased 86% to $0.26 compared to earnings per diluted share of $0.14 for the same period a year ago. Kyphon develops and markets medical devices designed to restore spinal function using minimally invasive technologies. The company's KyphX line of products are used in Balloon Kyphoplasty, a minimally invasive procedure to treat spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis or cancer.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Abgenix trial could spell trouble for ImClone
Abgenix's big success in the latest clinical trials for cancer drug, Panitumumab, could mean problems for its competitor, Erbitux by ImClone. Panitumumab appears to have an advantage over Erbitux. See previous biotech post for more on Abgenix trial.
More biotech
More biotech
Disaster Recovery and Mitigation
. . . Offshore repair continues - Hornbeck Offshore Services (NYSE:HOS), which provides vessels for offshore repair services, saw record results in the third quarter. Third quarter revenues increased $13.6 million, or 41.3%, to $46.5 million compared to $32.9 million for the third quarter of 2004. Operating income was $16.8 million, or 36.1% of revenues, for the third quarter of 2005, compared to $9.2 million, or 28.0% of revenues, for the same quarter in 2004. The Company's record results continue to be driven primarily by the strong OSV (Offshore Vehicle) market conditions in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. According to Todd Hornbeck, CEO, "These recent hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast region had a significant impact on offshore drilling and production facilities and resulted in offshore inspection, repair and construction activity that we believe may last two years or more."
More on Disaster Recovery stocks
More on Disaster
More on Disaster Recovery stocks
More on Disaster
Biotech Stocks
. . . Gene mouthwash - Colgate-Palmolive took a major stake in Austin biotech company Introgen Therapeutics (Nasdaq: INGN) as part of a new partnership to develop and potentially market oral health care products. The partnership will pursue the development of special formulations of Introgen's gene therapies targeted at oral cancer and precancerous conditions of the mouth. The company is already in early stages of human testing of a mouthwash containing a tumor-suppressor gene. Colgate-Palmolive will have priority regarding products that might be developed through the partnership. Introgen focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of molecular therapies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
. . . Colon Cancer drug exceeds expectations - Abgenix (NasdaqNM: ABGX), and its partner Amgen, had expected Panitumumab, the colon cancer drug they were developing, to slow the progression of the disease by 33%. It did a lot better than that. It slowed the progression of the disease by 46% in patients receiving the drug compared to those who didn't in a 463-patient experiment. The drug is produced by mice genetically engineered with human genes to make molecules that help prevent the cancer from growing in patients. Standard & Poor's Equity Research analyst Frank DiLorenzo upgraded Abgenix to "buy" from "hold" after news of the study was released.
More biotech
. . . Colon Cancer drug exceeds expectations - Abgenix (NasdaqNM: ABGX), and its partner Amgen, had expected Panitumumab, the colon cancer drug they were developing, to slow the progression of the disease by 33%. It did a lot better than that. It slowed the progression of the disease by 46% in patients receiving the drug compared to those who didn't in a 463-patient experiment. The drug is produced by mice genetically engineered with human genes to make molecules that help prevent the cancer from growing in patients. Standard & Poor's Equity Research analyst Frank DiLorenzo upgraded Abgenix to "buy" from "hold" after news of the study was released.
More biotech
Friday, September 30, 2005
Oil and Gas Stocks
. . . It stands to reason that companies involved in the repair of oil facilities on the Gulf coast will have plenty of new work. While some of that new business has already been built into the stock prices of those companies, the further effects of Rita are yet to be seen as the storm looms toward the Texas coast. Companies involved in repair include Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII), which inspects and repairs underwater infrastructure of oil facilities and Global Industries (Nasdaq: GLBL), a rig repair company. Oceaneering recently authorized approximately $40 million in a variety of new capital projects, of which $20 million is anticipated to be spent in 2005. The company stated it was making these investments in "response to the escalation in market demand for the niche market products and services we provide."
. . . Open the spigots. Hurricane Rita has caused a slowdown in natural gas facilities in the Gulf Coast, so look for natural gas producers like Chesapeake Energy, which were not affected by Rita, to further rev up production.
. . . Refineries Rule. While all sectors of the oil business have been up, refineries have risen the furthest. Some cooling had been expected in the Fall, but Katrina's rampage has changed the game, and the refinery earnings boom looks like it will go into extra innings, extending for another year. While Valero's (NYSE: VLO) price is over 100, refineries with room to grow into the century mark include Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO), Holly Corp (NYSE: HOC), and Tesoro (NYSE:TSO).
. . . Dune in the Bayou - Dune Energy (AMEX:DNE) has entered into a participation agreement with American Natural Energy Corporation (ANEC) (Vancouver:ANRU.V). Dune will acquire certain exclusive exploration and development rights in ANEC's Joint Development Agreement with ExxonMobil, covering approximately 11,000 contiguous acres in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana (the "Bayou Couba Field''). The Bayou Couba Field has 30 potentially productive sands. Preliminary analysis indicates numerous hydrocarbon traps at depths ranging between 4,000 and 20,000 feet.
ANEC reported that damage from Hurricane Katrina was minimal and that production has resumed. And Parker Drilling (NYSE: PKD), a Houston-based, global energy company specializing in offshore drilling, had no structural damage to its rigs in the path of Katrina.
. . . Underwater contract - ENSCO (NYSE:ESV) has entered into a drilling contract with a consortium of three independent oil companies to provide a new ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig, to be named ENSCO 8500. The aggregate revenue expected to be paid under the contract during the four-year primary term is approximately $385 million, which includes approximately $20 million payable upon delivery of the rig.
From: InvestingIN Oil and Gas
More on oil stocks
* * *
To read about the potential of Canada's Oil Sands region and the stocks that can benefit, read the article:
The Biggest Oil Opportunity in the World - and how you can profit from it
. . . Open the spigots. Hurricane Rita has caused a slowdown in natural gas facilities in the Gulf Coast, so look for natural gas producers like Chesapeake Energy, which were not affected by Rita, to further rev up production.
. . . Refineries Rule. While all sectors of the oil business have been up, refineries have risen the furthest. Some cooling had been expected in the Fall, but Katrina's rampage has changed the game, and the refinery earnings boom looks like it will go into extra innings, extending for another year. While Valero's (NYSE: VLO) price is over 100, refineries with room to grow into the century mark include Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO), Holly Corp (NYSE: HOC), and Tesoro (NYSE:TSO).
. . . Dune in the Bayou - Dune Energy (AMEX:DNE) has entered into a participation agreement with American Natural Energy Corporation (ANEC) (Vancouver:ANRU.V). Dune will acquire certain exclusive exploration and development rights in ANEC's Joint Development Agreement with ExxonMobil, covering approximately 11,000 contiguous acres in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana (the "Bayou Couba Field''). The Bayou Couba Field has 30 potentially productive sands. Preliminary analysis indicates numerous hydrocarbon traps at depths ranging between 4,000 and 20,000 feet.
ANEC reported that damage from Hurricane Katrina was minimal and that production has resumed. And Parker Drilling (NYSE: PKD), a Houston-based, global energy company specializing in offshore drilling, had no structural damage to its rigs in the path of Katrina.
. . . Underwater contract - ENSCO (NYSE:ESV) has entered into a drilling contract with a consortium of three independent oil companies to provide a new ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig, to be named ENSCO 8500. The aggregate revenue expected to be paid under the contract during the four-year primary term is approximately $385 million, which includes approximately $20 million payable upon delivery of the rig.
From: InvestingIN Oil and Gas
More on oil stocks
* * *
To read about the potential of Canada's Oil Sands region and the stocks that can benefit, read the article:
The Biggest Oil Opportunity in the World - and how you can profit from it
Smallcap and Microcap Stocks
Sun New Media Inc. (OTCBB:SNMD) has acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Sun New Media Group Ltd. from Shanghai based Sun Media Investment Holdings Ltd. ("SMIH"). The Company began trading under the new symbol "SNMD" on September 20, 2005...
The new management team includes Kay Koplovitz. Ms. Koplovitz is the Founder of USA Networks, and was the first female network president in television history, serving as chairman and CEO from 1977 to 1998. Under her direction, USA became the largest provider of original basic cable programming. Ms. Koplovitz also launched the Sci-Fi The Company aims to secure a major share of the multimedia market in China, which is expected to become the largest sector in the Chinese economy by 2010, exceeding aggregate revenues of $181 billion. RMB 1500 Billion(See note) (USD 181 Billion).
From The Smallcap Recap Report
The new management team includes Kay Koplovitz. Ms. Koplovitz is the Founder of USA Networks, and was the first female network president in television history, serving as chairman and CEO from 1977 to 1998. Under her direction, USA became the largest provider of original basic cable programming. Ms. Koplovitz also launched the Sci-Fi The Company aims to secure a major share of the multimedia market in China, which is expected to become the largest sector in the Chinese economy by 2010, exceeding aggregate revenues of $181 billion. RMB 1500 Billion(See note) (USD 181 Billion).
From The Smallcap Recap Report