A Muted Goldman Day Two, So Far (GS)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is looking to be rather dull in comparison to what we saw on Friday.  Friday’s 12.8% drop to $160.90 is being followed up by a 1.2% drop to $158.70 on 655,000 shares as of 8:54 AM EST.  This one traded over 100 million shares on Friday, something not seen on a single trading day since September 2008.  The stock was removed from the Top Picks List at FBR in a research call this morning.  The story dominated every major newspaper front page headlines over the weekend and continued to be the talk of Main Street.  Friday after the closing bell, Goldman Sachs issued a detail of what its side of the story was.  The only surprise is that the move up or down is not more than 1%.  The move may come later today, but you know that the volatility here is going to be elevated for some time now.

JON OGG

Goldman Sachs Options Records (GS)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) saw major volume, of course, on all the news on Friday.  What we wanted to look at was the options activity in our weekend reviews, and the volume was massive.  The stock itself traded 102 million shares on the day it fell 12.8% at $160.70. The last time we have ever seen 100 million shares of Goldman trade was September 2008 :

JON C. OGG

FAS/FAZ Seeing Record 2010 Trading Volume (FAS, FAZ, GS)

You know the news on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) today about being charged with civil fraud by the SEC over its role in some mortgage derivatives.  We won’t bother telling you that GS is down over 10% at $164.37 (-10.8%) on 75,000,000 shares as of 2:10 PM EST.  What is more important is that the triple leverage ETFs have gone berserk in trading volume:

• Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: FAZ) is up almost 8.7% at $11.99 on 158,000,000 shares at 2:11 PM EST.
• Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: FAS) is down 8.5% at $106.50 on 39.4 million shares.  That is far from a record in trading volume for the year because traders tend to bet directional in these.

March 11, 2010 the FAZ traded 110 million shares, and this traded over 100 million shares on only 3 days in February and 2 days in January.  That is a record for the year and there is still almost 2 hours to go before the market closes.

For the FAS, the 39+ million shares is the highest Feb. 9 when it traded over 48 million shares and it had higher volume than today’s 2:11 snapshot on only 5 sessions from January 1 to before the Feb. 9 day.

If you add up the two triple-leverage ETFs, today will mark a record day for the combined volume so far in 2010.

JON C. OGG

Analyst Outlines Palm Scenario (PALM)

Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) is trading up on a positive research call this morning oin the chances of a buyout.

RBC has maintained an Outperform rating on Palm with an $11 target.  The firm has said it has a $10 to $14 breakup value and it sees a better chance than not of a deal getting done.

The stock trades an average of 27,360,600 and the 52-week trading range is $3.65 to $18.09.

At 8:58 AM EST we have seen 1,145,896 shares trade hands and the stock is up 3.9% at $5.61.

JON C. OGG

AEterna Zentaris Stalls on Secondary (AEZS)

AEterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS) is killing the week’s gains after it announced that it has received commitments from institutional investors to purchase $15 million of securities in a registered direct offering for an aggregate of approximately 11.1 million common shares of its capital at a price of $1.35 per share.   The company will issue warrants to acquire an aggregate of approximately 4.4 million common shares at an exercise price of $1.50 per share.

At 8:51 AM EST this is down 18% at $1.35 on 967,000 shares.  The 52-week range is $0.75 to $3.25 and it trades 985,000 shares per day.

This stock was under $1.00 less than 5 days ago and shares were up over $1.70 this week.

JON C. OGG

MGM Drags Casinos Lower (MGM, WYNN, LVS)

MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) is down this morning after it gave preliminary earnings for a loss of -$0.22 and a securities sale to pay off existing debt.  Shares are down 5.6% at $14.54 on over 500,000 shares.  Last night the news had the stock down 5.9% at $14.50 on over 1.5 million shares before we published.

This will act as a drag on casino stocks most likely…. Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) is down 1.5% at $85.10 on about 14,000 shares; Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is down 2.3% at $23.45 on 150,00 shares.
8:51 AM EST.

JON OGG

SIRIUS Keeps Growing (SIRI)

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is up big on active trading after announcing that its Q1 subscriber growth was 171,441 net subscribers.  That compares to a decline of 404,422 in the first quarter of 2009.   The satellite radio monopoly now has 18,944,199 subscribers, up 344,765 over the year ago quarter.

The company also noted that gross additions increased by 29% and deactivations decreased by 11% from a year ago; the self-pay churn improved to 2.0% for the first quarter of 2010 from 2.2% a year ago; and the conversion rate to a self-pay subscription improved in the first quarter of 2010 to 45.2%, up from 44.6% from a year ago.

At 9:10 AM EST shares are up over 7$ and back over the $1.00 mark at $1.03 on over 7 million shares.  The 52-week high is $1.18, so even at $1.00 it has been here before.

JON OGG

Banks Chasing JPMorgan (JPM, BAC, C)

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is showing that things are continuing to improve in earnings and credit metrics.  That is what $3.3 billion in earnings does, or earnings $0.74 EPS vs. $0.64 estimates.  Dimon talked up credit and punted the dividend down the road as he said regulators would not likely allow a dividend hike for the time being so that banks can build their capital (and probably be taxed more) in the recovery.  Shares are up 2.8% at $47.18 on almost 2 million shares as of 8:48 AM EST and the 52-week high is very close at $47.47.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is also trading higher despite its earnings report being 48 hours out.  Shares are up 2.3% at $19.10 on 3 million shares.  Its 52-week range is $7.00 to $19.10.

Even Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is higher ahead of next week’s earnings report.  Vikram’s stock is up 2.1% at $4.72 on over 14 million shares.

JON OGG

Xoma Scores Patents (XOMA)

Xoma Ltd. (NASDAQ: XOMA) is surging on patent news this morning: “XOMA Issued Two New U.S. Patents for Methods of Treating Type 2 Diabetes and Inflammatory Diseases Using Interleukin-1 Beta Antibodies.”  At 8:52 AM EST we have seen 951,000 shares trade hands and the stock is up about 20.5% at $0.82.  The 52-week trading range is $0.40 to $1.34.

JON OGG

California FuelCell Dreaming (FCEL)

FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) is trading up after winning approval to install fuel cells at several university locations in California.  California’s Public Utilities Commission approved the deal with 1.4-megawatt fuel-cell plants being installed at 4 sites in the state’s university system.

Shares had been up 7% earlier this morning.  At 9:32 AM EST we have shares up 4.5% at $3.00 on 120,000 shares.  The 52-week range is $2.57 to $5.47 and the stock trades almost 800,000 shares on average.

JON C. OGG

Netlist Grabs News (NLST)

Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) is one of the top gainers in percentage terms this morning.  The company issued a press release saying that it has qualification of HyperCloud™ memory on Super Micro Computer high-density servers.

Shares are up 10% at $3.70 on about 30,000 shares as of 8:35 AM EST.

This one has been very volatile on news, and its 52-week range is $0.18 to $7.98.

JON C. OGG

Casey Above Buyout (CASY)

Casey’s General Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: CASY) is soaring this morning on a press release that Couche-Tard is proposing to acquire the company for $36.00 per share in cash.  The stock closed at $31.59 yesterday and the 52-week trading range is $2358 to $33.06.  At 8:50 AM EST we have seen some 357,000 shares trade hands and 339,000 shares is an average day.  The interesting notion is that the current price is up almost 22% at $38.50, above the proposed buyout price.

JON OGG

Uncompelled in Compellent (CML)

Compellent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: CML) is trading lower after last night’s announcement that it sees its Q1 revenue below market expectations.  Shares were down 16% last night.  The stock is now indicated down 21.4% at $13.80 on over 67,000 shares as of 8:39 AM EST.  The stock trades 644,000 shares trade on average and the 52-week range is $9.94 to $24.95.  The company is into enterprise-class network storage solutions, a sector which is supposed to be strong.

JON OGG

Top Day Trader Alerts (AMSC, RDEA, CA, CPBY, MEE, CIGX, TIVO)

These are this Tuesday’s top day trading alerts.  We have included news, the relative price moves, and added color on each where applicable.  Time stamps as of 8:50 AM EST:

American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) is up almost 4% at $29.95 on thin volume after it reported that it has received an initial order for full wind turbine electrical control systems worth more than $20 million from Ghodawat Energy in India.

Ardea Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEA) is trading lower on the pricing of a public offering of 3,500,000 shares of its common stock via Jefferies.  Shares are down over 7% at $20.15 on about 30,000 shares.  The 52-week range is $8.78 to $23.90.

CA Inc. (NASDAQ: CA) is down after it announced its Fiscal 2010 Restructuring Plan that includes a workforce reduction of approximately 1,000 positions and additional global facilities consolidations. For 2010, its guidance comes to Non-GAAP earnings growth of 7-15% or $1.60 to $1.71 EPS, while Thomson Reuters hgas estimates of $1.69 EPS.

China Information Security Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPBY) is soaring after it reported that the State Grid Corporation of China selected its proprietary GeoStar and GeoGlobe geographic information systems as one of its only two suppliers for the build-out of the nationwide Smart Grid in China.  Shares are up 31% at $6.97 on over 700,000 shares, although this is still under its 52-week high as the trading range is $2.50 to $7.97.

Massey Energy Co. (NYSE: MEE) is down after a blast at one of its mines has killed at least 25 workers.  Jefferies has already reiterated a BUY on the stock calling it undervalued.  Massey was right at a 52-week high right before this accident, and shares are down over 7% at $50.65 on about 400,000 shares.

Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: CIGX) is up again on the initiation of a panel review over the ’safety’ of tobacco, at least in menthol.  Shares are up 7.4% at $3.04 on 125,183 shares.  The 52-week range is $0.51 to $5.89.

TiVo INc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) is trading up this morning after Janney Montgomery Scott reiterated a Buy rating and hiked its price target to $26 from $22… Shares are up 4.6% at $17.64 on about 80,000 shares.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Top Day Trader Alerts (BGP, CRAY, ENER, MRNA, MVSN, RPRX, SD)

These are today’s top day trader and active trader alerts.  We have shown the price moves, added in the news summaries and offered color where appropriate on each:

Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) is seeing profit taking after a near-50% gain on Thursday over its new credit line.  Barron’s also panned its prospects as dismal over the weekend.  Shares are down 4.7% at $2.42 ahead of the closing bell.

Cray Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAY) has yet to trade this morning.  But after the Thursday close it announced the win of a $45 million supercomputer contract order fro a U.S. agency.  Shares were up 10% around $6.60 on the news but only indications are available so far as this trades only about 245,000 shares per day.

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is down again, on yet another Barron’s pan calling it a value trap and potentially worthless and almost definitely worth less.  At 8:50 AM EST we have shares down 3.1% at $7.44 on 19,000 shares.  The 52-week low is $7.10 and average volume is over 2 million shares.

MDRNA, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) is trading higher after it announced a study effort with Pfizerto focus on the evaluation of MDRNA’s proprietary di-alkylated amino acids platform and UsiRNA constructs for RNA interference.  At 8:50 AM EST shares are up 10.9% at $1.32 on almost 500,000 shares.

Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVSN) is trading up after announcing that it has received an $8.5 million purchase order for new PicoP Laser Projection Display Engine.  This company is in the infancy stage and did not even have $1 million in revenues last quarter.  At 8:50 AM EST shares are up 13.6% at $3.43 on about 50,000 shares.

Repros Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RPRX) is trading up after it requested a lift of the clinical hold on Proellex being developed for the treatment of uterine fibroids and endometriosis. The hold was put on  August 4, 2009 when the FDA noted that further testing of Proellex was placed on full clinical hold due to findings of liver toxicity as a serious adverse event.  Repros had suspended its Proellex studies the day before.  Shares are up almost 20% at $0.73 on almost 150,000 shares as of 8:50 AM EST.  Shares were up almost 30% around 8:20 AM EST.

SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) is down on the reports that it plans to buy Arena Resources for $1.6 billion versus a closing market cap of $1.65 billion.  At 8:50 AM EST we have shares down almost 4% at $7.55 on over 1.5 million shares. The 52-week trading range is $6.79 to $15.00 and the average daily trading volume is about 6.3 million shares.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Top Day Trader Alerts (BGP, MU, NCOC, RIMM, SKIL, XRTX)

This is it… 4 days with no more updates until after Easter.  Many big movers, a few left off because of thin volume….

Borders Group (NYSE: BGP) was the surprise winner considering that a loan package had been rumored for days.  It repaid a $42.5 million loan from Ackman.  The company also posted a profit despite lower sales.  Shares are up a whopping 43% at $2.47 on over 400,000 shares as of 8:48 AM EST.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was a real surprise, even for a skeptic.  The DRAM maker posted an unexpected profit in its latest quarter in its results last night.  At 8:48 AM EST we have shares up 6% at $11.00 on 2.3 million shares.  The 52-week high is $11.34.

National Coal Corp. (NASDAQ: NCOC) is getting slapped this morning after last night’s filing of its year-end results… a loss, in credit default and has a going concern note… everything skeptical investors run from or bet against.  Shares are down 23% at $0.43 on 100,000 shares as of 8:48 AM EST.

Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) speaks for itself.  The company’s earnings were light and the guidance was not a raise.  Shipments were also soft.

SkillSoft plc (NASDAQ: SKIL) is extremely active and trading higher after it announced an agreement on the terms of a revised recommended acquisition for $11.25 per share in cash by a private investor group.  Shares are up 7.6% at $11.11 but the trading volume is over 14 million shares as of 8:50 AM EST.

Xyratex Ltd. (NASDAQ: XRTX) is jumping after its Q1 earnings report beat estimates and after it gave a strong Q2 outlook.  At 8:49 AM EST shares are uo 13% at $19.16 on 80,000 shares.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Top Day Trader Alerts (AIB, IRE, APWR, ARQL, CATM, F, HON, MWE, OXGN)

These are this Wednesday’s top day trader and active trader alert stocks seen with news impacting the price of the stock:

Allied Irish Banks plc (NYSE: AIB) is actually indicated up marginally this morning. Irish banks are stabilizing on the Irish reforms presented last night and after it said it would sell a US bank stake.  This stock has lost roughly one-quarter of its value in the last two trading sessions this week.  We show shares only up 0.3% at $3.30 on 800K shares as of 8:45 AM EST but the early indications had shares up close to 5%.  To show the contrast, The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is up 7% at $8.46 on 244K shares.

A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Ltd. (NASDAQ: APWR) is getting clipped this morning after earnings.  Shares are down 8.2% at $11.05 on 235,000 shares as of 8:45 AM EST.

ArQule Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) is soaring on news that results of Phase II trial with ARQ 197 in NSCLC (lung cancer) showed promise.  At 8:47 AM EST we have already seen over 1.65 million shares and the stock is up 67% at $5.86.

Cardtronics Inc. (NASDAQ: CATM) is lower after its 7 million shares public secondary offering priced at $12.00 per share.  Shares closed at $12.62 yesterday and the 52-week range is $1.65 to $13.44.  At 8:45 AM EST shares are down 2.5% at $12.30 on about 170,000 shares.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is lower after announcing that the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust has priced a secondary public offering of 362,391,305 warrants to purchase Ford common stock.  The warrant offering priced at $5.00 via a modified Dutch auction; net proceeds to the UAW VEBA will be about $1.78 billion.  At 8:45 AM EST we have seen some 22 million shares trade hands already and the stock is down 3.5% at $12.82.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) raised earnings guidance for the first quarter due to strong orders and strong sales; guidance is $0.45 to $0.49 EPS versus $0.44 consensus and versus $0.40 to $0.45 EPS prior guidance. Shares are off of highs after ADP’s disappointing jobs numbers.  At 8:45 AM EST we have shares up 1.7% at $45.72 on about 25,000 shares.

MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE) is down this morning after it has filed to sell 4 million common units in a public secondary offering.  At 8:45 AM ESt we have shares (units) down 4% at $30.32 on almost 100,000 shares (units).

Oxigene Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is soaring after the stock was started as “Buy” with a $4.00 target at Roth Capital.  This is versus a $1.00 close yesterday.  At 8:45 AM EST we have already seen well over a day’s volume and the market is not even open.  Shares are up 26% at $1.26 on 470,000 shares versus less than 200K shares per day.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Top Day Trader Alerts (AIB, GNVC, MYGN, PEIX, RIMM, AAPL, PALM, WEDC)

Allied Irish Banks plc (NYSE: AIB) is down again on fears of a broader nationalization move as the the Irish government is expected to announce plans for another round of bank recapitalizations and details on a previously disclosed program for troubled banks.  At 8:48 AM EST we have shares down almost 9% at $3.26 on 630,000 shares.

GenVec Inc. (NASDAQ: GNVC) is getting crushed this morning on its report that it has decided to discontinue its Phase III clinical trial of TNFerade in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer based on results of an interim analysis showing that it did not meet endpoints.  At 8:45 AM EST shares are down 70% at $0.84 on over 6.7 million shares.  The 52-week range is $0.40 to $3.35.

Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) is down after it announced that a Federal District Court ruled that isolated DNA claims are not patentable.  At 8:47 AM EST we have shares down 7.5% at $23.05 on almost 200,000 shares.

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is down a second day after Monday’s reorganization plan.  At 8:45 AM EST shares are down 3.5% at $1.13 on 85,000 shares.

Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) is down over 2% around $74.00 on abouy 650,000 shares as of 8:45 AM EST after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is reportedly coming out with an iPhone this summer that will run a CDMA network via Verizon.  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is up 2% at $237.24 on about 335,000 shares as of 8:45 AM EST.  Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) is not going to be a winner if the iPhone goes over to Verizon either, and its shares are proof: at 8:45 AM EST we have shares down 2.5% at $3.80 on about 55,000 shares.

White Electronic Designs Corporation (NASDAQ: WEDC) is trading up over 27% at $6.96 on about 1 million shares as of 8:45 AM EST after Microsemi agreed to pay $100 million or $7.00 per share to acquire the company.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Top Day Trader Alerts (AIB, IRE, AIG, APOL, ABIO, BELM, CKXE, ORCT)

Allied Irish Banks plc (NYSE: AIB) is down sharply this morning but off the lows after it is in discussions with the Financial Regulator in order to agree its capital requirements.  Shares were down close over 15% in early ADR trading this morning and at 8:44 AM EST shares are down 14.6% at $3.80 on over 700,000 shares.  Average volume is 3.75 million and the 52-week range is $1.42 to $10.42.

Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) ADRs are down in sympathy with Allied Irish Banks.  Shares are down 6.3% at $6.97 on 70,000 shares.

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) is up 2% at $34.90 after Barron’s interviewed fund manager Berkowitz and he touted the reason why he has been accumulating shares.  At 8:50 we have seen roughly 75,000 shares trade hands.

Apollo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) is recovering after the online educator beat earnings this morning; it reported Q2 earnings of $0.84 EPS vs. $0.81 estimates; revenue rose over 20% to $1.1 billion, inline with estimates.  At 8:44 AM EST shares are up 5.5% at $64.70 on 42,000 shares.  That volume is surprisingly light.

Arca Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABIO) is seeing some profit taking after its 220% gain Friday.  The stock closed at $8.22 on Friday and shares are down almost 4% at $7.90 on 600,000 shares as of 8:47 AM EST.

Bell Microproducts Inc. (NASDAQ: BELM) is soaring on a $252 million buyout by Avnet.  The price represents $7.00 per share versus a $5.38 close Friday and a $5.55 52-week high.  At 8:44 AM EST we have seen some 6.9 million shares trade hands and the stock is up 28% at $6.90.

CKX, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE) is trading higher after it confirmed that it is in talks to sell the company, which includes the rights to Elvis, Muhammed Ali, and American Idol.  Shares are up 4% at $6.20 on thin volume and the 52-week range is $3.87 to $8.24.

Orckit Communications, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ORCT) is trading lower after it announced a registered offering of approximately $10.6 million in ordinary shares and warrants. The market cap here was only about $79 million. At 8:47 AM EST we have seen triple a days volume already with 230,000 shares traded.  The stock is down 17% at $3.98 and the 52-week trading range is $2.04 to $5.81.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Top Day Trader Alerts (APP, CPWM, NBG, ORCT, PALM, TUTR, RIMM, SOMX, SMOD)

American Apparel, Inc. (AMEX: APP) is losing its edge.  After earnings, the company’s profit slid but was in-line.  It has deferred on offering a 2010 outlook.  Most importantly, it announced layoffs.  That doesn’t sound like a growth story anymore, does it… Shares are down 9.3% t $3.48 on 17,000 shares at 8:48 AM EST.

Cost Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) is one of the larger gainers this morning.  The company unexpectedly posted a Q4 earnings profit and expects to be profitable in Q1 after a long long losing streak. Shares are up 26% at $2.68 on 23,000 shares as of 8:48 AM EST.  The 52-week high is $3.40 and the average volume is just over 200,000 shares.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is trading up this morning as this is now the traders’ proxy for betting on Greece and after the aid package by the E.U….. Shares were up over 5% earlier but at 8:49 AM EST shares are up 4.65% at $4.28 on about 65,000 shares.

Orckit Communications, Limited (NASDAQ: ORCT) is one of the larger losers today. We’ll have to check overseas for news.  At 8:49 AM EST we have shares down 14% at $4.05 on over 100,000 shares.  This trades only about 66,000 shares per day.

Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) might not be able to help itself, but it got outside help.  JPMorgan raised its rating to Market Perform from Outperform after the selling onslaught.  Shares are up 3% at $3.82 on about 110,000 shares.

Plato Learning, Inc. (NASDAQ: TUTR) closed at $4.91 and its 52-week range was $1.50 to $5.00.  The company went into a $143 million merger agreement with Thoma Bravo, which is $5.60 per share in cash.  The PLATO Learning board of directors unanimously approved the agreement and will recommend that shareholders approve the transaction.  This is a thin volume stock but shares are indicated up around $5.55 to $5.65.

Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) is up after its rating was raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; GMP also lifted its target today.  At 8:51 AM EST shares are up 2% at $74.90 on over 150,000 shares.

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOMX) priced an underwritten public offering of 6,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $8.25 per share.  This was originally supposed to be 4 million shares but he demand raised the size.  Shares closed at $9.51 Thursday and at 8:51 AM EST shares are down 3% at $9.22 on 1.15 million shares.

Smart Modular Technologies (NASDAQ: SMOD) is trading after its Q2 earnings beat expectations and on a strong Q3 outlook.  Shares are up over 16% at $8.37 on 78,000 shares as of 8:51 AM EST.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG