WFAA
DALLAS â" Camp Fire usa's Lone Star Council has created an afterschool program in a Dallas neighborhood where there are 27 ...
and more »
Welcome to my new trading blog based of after hours stocks. Please subscribe for updates.
Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) saw high trading in the stock and in the options today. The stock was up all day on hopes that it could be the next takeover in the biohealth and life sciences sector, although nothing definitive seems to be on the table. Call options trading was high with the DEC09 $5 CALLS trading 2,057 contracts versus an open interest of 625 contracts. What is interesting here on that is the DEC09 options expire in just 9 days now. The stock closed up 13.5% at $5.38 on an unofficial closing bell basis on 2.79 million shares. Average volume is 1.08 million shares and the 52-week trading range is $1.78 to $10.06.
JON C. OGG
AVANIR Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNR) may hold and it may not, but the stock is now the highest pre-market gapper on NASDAQ in the early trading. This is also news on a low-priced biotech, so trading leverage is often strong here as everyone wants to find the next big biotech runner. At 8:44 AM EST shares were up over 22% at $2.24 on 142,000 shares. The company offered up additional data from the subset of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) enrolled in the confirmatory Phase III STAR trial. In the ALS patient subset, both Zenvia 30/10 mg and Zenvia 20/10 mg met the primary efficacy endpoint by significantly reducing daily PBA episode rates compared to placebo. This was presented today during a podium presentation at the 20th International Symposium on ALS/MND in Berlin, Germany. The stock has already come off and is up 16% at $2.12 on 185,000 shares as of 8:47 AM EST.
The 52-week trading range is $0.25 to $4.09 and average daily volume is 1.2 million shares.
JON C. OGG
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) is trading higher this morning, although on somewhat light trading volume for the news. It provided updated sales guidance for its December quarter: sales are expected to be up approximately 16% to 20% sequentially. above its previous sales guidance of up approximately 6% to 10% sequentially due to broad-based strength across all end market categories and geographies. Gross margin is now expected to be approximately 64%, above a prior target of 62% to 63%.  Xilinx is seeing a 1.1% gain on 22,000 shares as of 8:38 AM EST. Its 52-week high is $24.49.
JON C. OGG
Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) is seeing shares mostly flat on the day with implied volatility up 3% to 35% ahead of the 12/15 earnings date. More than 9,000 puts have traded as of 11:30 AM EST, with 94% bought offer side in massive blocks of December $37 and $36 puts. Shares have been rejected at the $37 breakout level multiple times in the past few weeks. Adobe shares are trading rich at 20.6X earnings, 6.16X sales, and a PEG of 2.3. JMP placed a $46 target on shares last week. Adobe is launching new products and making strategic collaborations as part of its recent restructuring plan. Put volume is already 3X average on the day.
-JOE KUNKLE, OptionsHawk.com
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) is surging after we noted it as an unusual suspect this weekend based on Barron’s calling the stock undervalued by as much as 50% and a deal closure with iPCS separately. Shares are up 4.8% at $3.87 on 1.9 million shares as of 8:51 AM EST. Average volume is close to 60 million shares and the 52-week range is $1.57 to $5.94.
JON C. OGG