Closing Bell: Forget the tape, biotechs and others move big

Posted Jun 10th 2008 4:28PM by Jon Ogg
Filed under: Gap Inc (GPS), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), CMGI Inc (CMGI)

Today was indicative of another mixed day for equities, and other markets were mixed as well. We saw a sharp rise in bond yields due to a more hawkish fear from Wall Street about the FOMC rather than the wider than expected trade deficit reported this month. Oils closed down again on increased production today, although we still sit north of $130/barrel. Here are the unofficial closes of major US index levels:

DJIA 12286.18 (+5.86)
S&P500 1358.10 (-3.66)
NASDAQ 2448.94 (-10.52)
10YR T-NOTE 4.099% (+0.107%)
Top 10 Analyst Calls

There were also many biotech stocks today (ACHN, CRXL, MNKD, SQNM, CYTR, CYTX, INGN, ATHX, MITI, GTOP) which saw mystery moves to the downside on either not big news or as a follow-on trading move after news from the last few days.

American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC) saw a sharp rise and shares were up almost 20% to $43.25 in the final minutes of trading today. The company secured a follow-on order today from China worth more than two-year's worth of revenues for the company.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) regained at least some losses today. The diabetes biotech player saw shares up 3% at $27.64 late in the day after the company presented positive data at a diabetes and obesity conference two days after great news from a competitor sent its shares tumbling.

CMGI inc. (NASDAQ: CMGI) saw shares go tumbling today after the owner of ModusLink and the Internet and alternative energy incubator lowered guidance ahead after its earnings last night. Shares were down 25% at $11.25 in the final minutes of the day.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) shares were up 4.4% at $17.74 in the final minutes of the day after new CEO Glenn Murphy outlined plans to shrink their store numbers and store size to save on expenses as part of its restructuring plan.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA) was down 2.4%at $43.66 in the final minutes today after a competitor signed to distribute a generic form of its Copaxone for MS.

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) saw shares up over 4.5% at $7.31 in the final minutes today after the company also showed some very positive data on its diabetes and obesity mid-stage trials.

Tags: american superconductor, AmericanSuperconductor, amlyn pharma, AmlynPharma, cmgi, teva pharma, TevaPharma, vivus