Stockman

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Merck Plant Dumps Vaccine Waste and Chemicals Into Water Supply

Merck, the maker of the very controversial Gardasil vaccine, has a pharmaceutical plant located in West Point, Pennsylvania, that discards pollutants from this facility into the Upper Gwynedd Township Publicly Owned Treatment Works (UGT POTW), according to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice. The treated wastewater is released into the Wissahickon Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River. A federal court complaint was filed alleging that Merck violated the Clean Water Act with various discharges that caused numerous pass through and interference violations at the UGT POTW.

On June 13, 2006, Merck released potassium thiocyanate (KSCN) into the water that reacted with the chlorination at UGT POTW which resulted in extensive fish kills in the Wissahickon Creek on June 14th and 15th. The Philadelphia Water Department had to shut down its Schuylkill River drinking water intake for several days, and a health advisory was issued stating that all recreational uses on the Wissahickon Creek were prohibited from June 14th – July 10th. Then, on August 8th and 9th, Merck released a batch of spend substrate used in vaccine production which caused large-scale foam discharge into the creek. Later, on the 16th, Merck released a massive amount of cleaning agents that when treated at UGT POTW caused another major foam discharge.

full article:
Merck Plant Dumps Vaccine Waste and Chemicals Into Water Supply

Small Cap pre-market gainers and losers

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $50 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (Nasdaq:BWLD), up 15% after reporting after Tuesday’s close that first-quarter earnings rose 18%. The stock was also upgraded this morning by KeyBanc Capital.

• Cardica, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRDC), up 6% after issuing fiscal 2008 revenue guidance after Tuesday’s close that was above analysts’ expectations.

• eFuture Information Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: EFUT), up 3% after reporting that it has teamed up with Chinese company Beijing bFuture Information Technology Co. to launch a website that will connect retailers to their suppliers and enable them to more efficiently share information and manage work processes.

Biggest percentage losers:

• BioScrip (Nasdaq:BIOS), down 8%.

• China Direct, Inc. (Nasdaq:CDS), down 7.5%, despite reporting this morning that it has initiated a 51% stake in Baotou Xinjin Magnesium Co., Ltd. located in Inner Mongolia.

• Anaren, Inc. (Nasdaq:ANEN), down 7%, after reporting third-quarter earnings after Tuesday’s close that fell short of the consensus on Wall Street due to a unrecognized tax benefit. Excluding such, earnings would have beat the Street.

http://www.smallcapinvestor.com/articles/04302008-wednesdays_premarket_gainers_and_losers

NYSE Arca Morning Update

Stocks trading on NYSE Arca at a price more than 15% away from the previous trade day's consolidated close price. (As of 08:30:00 ET)

Stock	Tuesday's Close	Current Price	Pct Chng	Current NYSE Arca Vol
SVVS	$18.68	$14.21	( 24%)	35,781
STAR	$14.00	$16.46	18%	8,300
BWLD	$25.89	$29.90	15%	17,950
DSCO	$2.43	$2.80	15%	5,100

10 Most Active stocks on NYSE Arca as of 08:30:00 ET

Based on Dollar Volume:

Based on Share Volume:

Stock	Dollar Volume
SPY	$305,776,173
FSLR	$99,579,820
QQQQ	$35,231,601
C	$22,957,662
SAP	$16,984,573
PG	$14,861,586
GLD	$12,942,998
IWM	$12,322,975
V	$6,087,971
AAPL	$5,665,108

Stock	Share Volume
SPY	2,199,194
C	901,404
QQQQ	740,968
FSLR	358,865
SAP	345,165
ALU	318,943
DHT	276,900
PG	218,235
IWM	171,572
GLD	151,026

http://www.tradearca.com/data/volume/daily_update.asp

Pre Market Trading Indications

Gapping up in reaction to strong earnings/guidance: STAR +18.0%, ALGN +16.3% (also announces $50 mln stock repurchase program), BWLD +15.5% (also upgraded to Buy at Keybanc and upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen), HS +12.0%, LAD +10.8%, TRLG +10.3%, PLT +10.0%, DBTK +9.0%, SIMO +7.9%, PNRA +7.4%, UNTD +7.1% (also announces plans to acquire FTD), CTV +6.9%, TRW +6.4%, AUDC +6.2%, GM +5.9%, EQ +5.9%, DWA +4.9%, CMI +4.9%, PG +4.4%, MOH +4.0%, FLEX +3.8%, BMRN +3.6%, ARRS +3.4%, MPWR +3.1%, NETL +2.9%, CYBS +2.9%, TWX +2.3%, AMMD +1.0%... M&A news: FTD +6.7% (To be acquired by UNTD for $15.80 a share)...

Other news: CRDC +11.1% (reports "positive" top-line results and submits 510(k) for PAS-Port), MC +4.5% (still checking), ABK +3.4% (still checking), TEVA +2.2% (global in-market sales of Copaxone in Q108 grew by 35% as compared to Q107), PH +1.3% (Cramer makes positive comments on MadMoney), CAG +1.0% (Cramer makes positive comments on MadMoney)...

Analyst upgrades: KNOT +4.2% (upgraded to Outperform at Oppenheimer), RKT +2.5% (added to Focus List at JPMorgan), SLW +1.9% (upgraded to Sector Perform at CIBC), JRCC +1.3% (upgraded to Buy at UBS).

Pre Market Trading Gaps

Gapping up:

STAR +17.6%, ALGN +13.1%, HS +12.0%, BWLD +11.5%, TRLG +10.3%, PLT +10.0%, SIMO +9.2%, DBTK +9.0%, PNRA +7.4%, AUDC +6.2%, GM +5.9%, DWA +4.9%, ABK +4.8%, FLEX +3.8%, BMRN +3.6%, MPWR +3.1%, NETL +2.9%, CYBS +2.9%, ARRS +2.7%, CRDC +2.1%, PH +1.3%, CAG +1.0%...

Gapping down:

VVS -16.1%, FORM -15.5%, HTCH -11.0%, VPRT -10.9%, ROCM -10.0%, USU -9.6%, ALU -8.1%, ARAY -7.9%, JLL -6.8%, GRMN -6.3%, SAP -6.3%, FEIC -6.3%, CRAY -5.7%, FSLR -4.4%, ESRX -3.5%, XPRT -3.3%, STI -2.9%, C -2.8%, OSG -2.7%.