Somaxon, The Great Double (SOMX)

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOMX) has soared in after-hours trading after it provided an update on the status of its New Drug Application for Silenor for the treatment of insomnia and said that the FDA acknowledged that this resubmission would be considered a complete response.  This also noted that no additional safety or efficacy data was needed and it now sees a decision from the FDA by March 21, 2010.

At 6:13 PM EST we have shares up literally over 100% at $2.56 (52-week range is $0.18 to $4.80).  The last prints show that it traded 1.79 million shares in the after-hours session since the 4PM closing bell.

JON C. OGG

Some Banks May Win In Regulation (CMA, FITB, STI, KEY, RF)

We won’t bother telling you about the proposed regulation that was just proposed by the White House today, nor will we bother telling you how bad that regulation will be for the bulge bracket brokerages and money center banks on huge volume losses earlier after the news broke this morning.  Oddly enough, this may actually be a positive development for many of the regional banks who do not rely upon extensive trading gains, hedge fund operations, private equity dealings, and other ‘risk-based activities’ that are now being directly targeted even after most ha ve repaid their debt back to the government.

• Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) up 10% at $36.97
• Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) up 9.3% at $12.36
• SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) up 8.7% at $25.46
• KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) up 7.76% at $7.50
• Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) up 5.2% at $7.09

Price moves as of 2:00 PM EST
JON C. OGG

Top Tech Movers (EBAY, GRMN, LOGI, PLXS, JAVA, ORCL, STX)

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) ex-Skype figures were up 18% and the company beat estimates and raised guidance.  Frankly, after a 125% gain the guidance did not seem strong enough to justify this move, but the market is always stronger than one voice or one opinion.  Shares are up 8.8% at $24.20 on 1.47 million shares. (8:46 AM EST)

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) is getting o deal with a free navigation tool, this time from Nokia rather than from Google.  You know what  this will do to the stock on ‘free’ GPS and PND services even if Garmin is a far leader.  Shares are down 7% at $33.62 on about 30,000 shares.  8:48 AM EST)

Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) profits rose over 40% on cost cuts and the sales decline slowed; guidance: $500 million and $515 million in sales, gross margin of about 34%, and operating income between $15 million and $20 million.  Shares are trading up 0.3% at $18.52 on 173,000 pre-market shares (total average volume is only 1.05 million shares).  (8:50 AM EST)

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) is running higher after posting $0.44 EPS vs. $0.34 estimates and sees next quarter $0.44 o $0.52 EPS vs. $0.31 estimates from Thomson Reuters.  Shares are up 7% at $31.02, a new high above the 52-week high of $31.00.  pre-market volume is only 37,000 shares versus average volume of 226,000 shares per day. (8:52 AM EST)

Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) is finally going to be acquired by Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) after the EU figured out they could clear the takeover after a drawn out investigation brought to light that Sun just can’t make it on its own.  Oracle is up 0.15% at $25.10 but was up almost 2% in overseas trading at one point this morning.  Sun Microsystems is up 0.5% at $9.48 on the news.  (8:41 AM EST)

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) proved that the world is addicted to storage and drives after significantly beating estimates and please on guidance. This sets up a very high bar for rival Western Digital that is reporting earnings after he close. Shares are trading up almost 11% at $19.70 after a $17.76 close, making a new 52-week high above $19.04. We have also seen 624,000 shares. (8:42 AM EST)

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JON C. OGG