Today was one of those perfect storms where nothing went right for the bulls. China's oil demand was brought down unofficially, existing home sales was the worst in years, Richmond Fed index data did not have any oomph, and Europe is acting like the problems of May and June are starting back up. The DJIA even momentarily went back under 10,000. Yet the market actually held up considering the run of bad news.

Here were today's unofficial closing levels:

Dow Jones 10,040.45 -133.96 (-1.32%)
S&P 500 1,051.88 -15.48 (-1.45%)
Nasdaq 2,123.76 -35.87 (-1.66%)

Top Analyst Calls

"Geron (GERN) is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure and diabetes," says Tom Bishop.

In his BI Research advisory he explains, "The company is also a, if not the, world leader in the development of human embryonic stem cell-based therapeutics." Here's his in-deth analysis of the company.

"Biotech company Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) is a prime example of a stock that plays both offense and defense," says Ian Wyatt.

In his Top Stock Insights, he explains, "The valuation is low and growth is attractive. With the pipeline of products in development, Celegene offers investors a huge upside potential."

"Celgene offers investors a steady product base, a variety of drug treatments in development and a cash pile ready to purchase existing technologies.

"Celgene engages in the discovery of therapies designed to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory related diseases. They have a number of products at the commercial stage.

"In all the excitement over the new future for embryonic stem cell, it seems investors have forgotten about adult stem cell products," notes growth stock specialist Dave Dyer.

In his Dave Dyer's Newsletter, he explains, "In fact, there are adult stem cell products either already on the market or in late clinical trials. We view this as an excellent opportunity." Here, he looks at NuVasive (NASDAQ: NUVA).

"Stem cells can grow into any type of organ or tissue and the promise is that damaged organs may be repaired or even replaced with spare parts grown from stem cells. This amazing potential could revolutionize the life sciences.

"NuVasive is a rapidly growing company with unique technology for minimally-invasive back surgery; named Osteocel, it is a stem cell-based product used to help with bone grafts done as a part of spinal surgery.

News events of the day are providing a dramatic illustration that not all biotech companies are the same.

Just as President Obama lifted the executive order banning the use of embryonic stem cells for research, Roche and Genentech (NYSE: DNA) appear to have reached an agreement on Roche's bid to acquire the 44% of DNA that Roche does not currently own.

Shares of biotech companies engaged in stem cell protocols rallied after the Obama announcement. While most of these companies are small in size with stock prices below $2 per share, the announcement gave impetus to price increases of 17% to 100%.

We had the possibility of three or four big mergers today and no major macroeconomic news to rock us down other than added overseas selling. But a general lack of enthusiasm and additional selling from the public kept today from chasing the late Friday stock market gains. Even a slighty less pessimistic Nouriel Roubini, a.k.a. "Dr. Doom," failed to inspire any contrarian thoughts. Despite this, there were many winning stocks and sectors.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 6,523.48 -103.46 (-1.56%)
S&P 500 676.53 -6.85 (-1.00%)
Nasdaq 1,268.64 -25.21 (-1.95%)
Top Analyst Calls

Do not underestimate the power of a new administration in Washington. With the ability to spend a huge amount of dollars, team Obama can wield tremendous influence in the market.

Case in point is the stem cell space. It is widely expected that Obama will issue an executive order eliminating restrictions on stem cell research.

Stocks like StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) and Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) have been moving higher since the inaugural.

Coincidentally, on Friday, GERN announced approval for human trials for its treatment of spinal chord injuries using stem cells. Both GERN and STEM were up big as a result.

Another space expected to do well under the Obama administration is construction. A massive stimulus plan is said to be coming in February. A key point of the plan will be to boost infrastructure spending.

The dollars will benefit companies like Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) and Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC). Unlike stem cells, the market has yet to move these stocks higher. FLR is down more than 10% and JEC is down nearly 18% so far this year.

During the past few months my colleagues and I have been pondering what, if any, stocks might do well during an Obama administration. I posted Obama Pick: StemCells Inc. about 10 weeks ago, and so far the stock is up today (with almost everything else down) StemCell (NASDAQ: STEM) and continues to look promising.

The closing price of this small cap stock on the day of the report was $1.58. It is a volatile stock for sure because I bought in at $1.20 and now it is trading up about 27% (as I type) from yesterday's close of $2.15 to $2.73.

Obviously ten weeks although a short time in general, may be a long time in a stormy market, but I will ride this one out even though I could reap 128% gain at this moment. Forgive me, all you day traders, who think I think I should sell and book over a 500% IRR. (Might be worth it just for bragging rights later in the year as I have seen others do)

I have no information that would lead me to understand why the stock is up so much. The clinical trials I reported before have not added anything new I can glean today. There was a report last week by a small research house I never heard of calling for the stock to reach $3.00 (Dawson James Securities Initiates Research Coverage of StemCells, Inc. With Buy Recommendation) but I think that is all wild speculation. It could be that in a day, and it could also collapse.

Ignoring today's bounce I still think STEM is one to watch if you can get in at a lower price. If it gets away -- let it, and pursue something else. There is nothing you have to do -- except taking care of your family and friends in these trying times. I will update after the market close.

Update: Stem closed the day at $2.53, up $0.38 of 17.67% as of 4:00 EST.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of STEM.

It was only two weeks ago I posted about one of the stocks I own and follow closely Chasing Value: Intuitive Surgical Earnings -- what now?, a company that I consider an "Obama pick". My frequent readers know that the company is one of my older investments and one that has paid off handsomely. Although Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) may still be a profitable investment at it's current level, at this point, it is well covered.

Searching for something less known, and certainly more controversial, I have the ideal Obama stock pick to add to your watchlist, StemCell Inc. (NASDA: STEM) which closed yesterday at $1.90. per share. It is not profitable, spends heavily on Research and Development and is highly speculative. So was ISRG when I got in very early.

The company profile states that STEM "discovers cell-based therapies to treat diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), such as cerebral palsy and Alzheimer's disease, as well as spinal cord injury. It is researching stem cell and progenitor cell (cells that have developed from stem cells) therapies to repair neural tissue damaged by disease and injury, and has discovered markers for CNS stem cells and a way to reproduce them for transplant."

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Last November, Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and 30 partners were said be developing a new type of handset using Android that was expected to revolutionize the industry. The first new phones were expected to be available in this year's second half but are now slated for the fourth quarter the Wall Street Journal reported.
• According to people familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) will make sharp cuts in its investment banking division this week.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Live Nation Inc's (NYSE: LYV) Chairman, Michael Cohl, stepped down down as a director and executive to end the strategy feud with CEO Michael Rapino. over how to pursue the "360 deals" with music superstars.
• The Financial Times reported that there are worries that investment banks will accelerate the pace of their layoffs this summer, after it became known that The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) gave pink slips to workers in its investment banking division last week. Goldman is now expected to lay off up to 10% of the workers at the division.

OTHER PAPERS:

• New Jersey put its $150M center for stem cell research on hold, the Star Ledger reported, eight months after ground was broken on the project.

In Greek mythology, Pan is the god of nature, who tirelessly watches over the shepherds and their flocks. Bridging the awkward gap between man and beast, Pan possesses the bottom half (plus horns) of a goat, and the torso and face of a man. Thousands of years later, myth is threatening to become reality; scientists developed a creature that is 85-percent sheep, 15-percent human. While this sounds straight out of the tabloids, it is disturbingly true (could "Bat Boy" be that far off?).

The technique at work reportedly involves injecting human cells into a sheep's fetus, and the new discovery furthers the concept of using animal organs as transplants for humans.

Professor Esmail Zanjani of the University of Nevada, who has worked on creating his sheep/human hybrid for the past seven years, says he hopes to one day be able to utilize a transplant patient's stem cells (from the patient's bone marrow) to produce a personal flock of sheep. Lambs from this flock would be born with a liver, heart, lungs and brain that are partially human and available for transplant.

Naturally, this story has caused a bit of conjecture among my colleagues. Nick Perry thinks the alleged furthering of science is simply a cover-up for the "master plan of the looming animal uprising ..."

Perhaps the image of a steadily increasing number of sheep isn't such a great insomnia cure anymore ...

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.