Thursday, May 1, 2008

FDA reports "unknown fibers" at Merck vaccine plant

Federal inspectors documented unwanted "fibers" on the stoppers of vaccine vials at Merck & Co. Inc.'s vast vaccine plant in Montgomery County.

They also found instances of contaminated children's vaccines and complaints that were not always investigated at the West Point plant.

Inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration spent 30 days at the plant between November and January and cited 49 areas of concern, including a failure to follow good manufacturing practices.

The findings are detailed in an unpublished 21-page FDA report obtained by The Inquirer under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Independent experts who reviewed the report say it documents serious concerns in one of the country's premier vaccine plants. They suggested the problems could be a symptom of Merck's cost cutting in the face of rapid growth of its vaccine business.


The report cites cases where bulk lots of PEDVAX and ProQuad were contaminated. Unwanted "fibers" were found on the vial stoppers of MMR, the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, among others. They were caused by "lesser quality" supplies from a vendor, the FDA report said.

The report noted defective vials had to be rejected twice to be discarded, and that one internal quality investigation went on for more than a year.

Several experts said no single finding was horrendous but that the overall pattern was troubling. "It's the sum of many small things that puts the whole operation in question," said consultant Wheelwright.



-could these "unknown fibers" be morgellons disease i have spoke about frequently on my blog?

http://st0ckman.blogspot.com/search?q=morgellons


Read full article here:
FDA report shows problems at Merck vaccine plant | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/24/2008

PreMarket - Trader Talk with Bob Pisani - CNBC.com

The first of May is a day when a lot of people (including traders) are off all over the world (It's also the title of a very fine Bee Gees song, c. 1969).

Futures dropped a bit as jobless claims were a bit stronger than expected; nonfarm payroll report is tomorrow.

Elsewhere:

1) Exxon

Exxon Mobil Corp
XOM

93.07 UNCH 0%
NYSE




[XOM 93.07 --- UNCH (0%) ] came in light on top and bottom line. Production decreased 5.6 percent from a year ago, even taking out the Venezuela expropriation it was down 3 percent.

The problem is downstream--refining. Exxon does not own all the oil it refines; they have to buy it on the open market like everyone else. And the dramatic increase in oil (up about 50 percent since just October) has made it nearly impossible to raise gasoline prices sufficiently; ergo, margins are squeezed. Down 3 percent.

2) How much can you lose? The builders and the airlines are neck and neck to see who can log the biggest losses. Builder Centex

Centex Corp
CTX

20.02 -0.80 -3.84%
NYSE




[CTX 20.02 -0.80 (-3.84%) ] reported a LOSS of $7.34 from continuing operations (loss of $2.43 was expected). What happened? Charges are killing these guys: $362 million of impairment charges, and a $395 million loss related to a large land sale. Orders down 15 percent.

By the way, the House Financial Services Committee is expected to vote on the $300 b housing aid package today.

3) What happened to Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands Corp
LVS

76.22 UNCH 0%
NYSE




[LVS 76.22 --- UNCH (0%) ] ? Their earnings were well below expectations. They blamed the shortfall on "an intensely competitive operating environment in Macao as well as a weaker economic environment here in the United States." You're not kidding: first quarter casino revenues at the Sands Macao dropped 23.6 percent. Wow. Down 9 percent.


Exxon's Problem And Builders' Losses...Keep Building - Trader Talk with Bob Pisani - CNBC.com

SmallCap 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:

Volcom, Inc. (Nasdaq:VLCM), up 17% after the clothing retailer reported unexpectedly strong first-quarter results after Wednesday’s close that beat the consensus on Wall Street and raised its full year guidance.
O2Micro International Ltd. (Nasdaq:OIIM), up 13% after the supplier of power management and security components posted first-quarter earnings after Wednesday’s close that beat the Street by 200%.
Converted Organics Inc. (Nasdaq:COIN) up 10%.

Biggest percentage losers:

PharmaNet Development Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDGI), down 30% after reporting ghastly first-quarter results and lowering its full year guidance. The firm swung to a net loss, while Wall Street was expecting a net profit of $0.30 per share.
Shutterfly, Inc. (Nasdaq:SFLY), down 18%, after lowering second-quarter and full year guidance.
ICT Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:ICTG), down 16%, after reporting a first-quarter net loss this morning that was a penny wider than analysts forecasted. The firm also issued second-quarter earnings guidance and full year guidance below the consensus on Wall Street.


Thursday’s pre-market gainers and losers - SmallCapInvestor.com

Pre Market Trading Indications

Gapping up in reaction to strong earnings/guidance: IMB + 28.0% (provides Q1 update), SVLF + 26.4%, VLCM + 17.1%, TTEK + 13.6%, CLRT + 11.4%, AMKR + 10.3%, PSYS + 10.2%, SEPR + 10.0%, GTI + 9.4%, RNOW + 7.1%, LKQX + 6.8%, AXTI + 6.5%, SYMC + 5.7%, HLF + 5.4%, ITRI + 4.4%, OI + 4.3%, NEWP + 4.3%, TRN + 3.9%, GNK + 3.5%, OIIM + 3.3% (also upgraded to Maket Perform at Piper and upgraded to Buy at Roth Capital), BGFV + 3.2%, BANR + 1.7%...

M&A news
: NETM +64.8% (to be acquired by Micro Focus International for $7.20/share)...

Other news
: BHP + 2.7% (still checking), PBR + 2.6% (continued momentum from yesterday's ~5% climb), RTP + 2.5% (still checking), YHOO + 2.0% (MSFT board fails to decide on Yahoo), HSC + 2.0% (Cramer makes positive comments), HNZ + 1.1% (Cramer makes positive comments).

Pre market trading gaps

Gapping up:

NETM +25.5%, SVLF +20.5%, VLCM +17.1%, AMKR +10.3%, PSYS +10.2%, TTEK +9.6%, GTI +9.4%, RNOW +7.1%, ITRI +4.4%, TRN +3.9%, SYMC +3.7%, OIIM +3.3%, NLY +2.9%, BHP +2.7%, RTP +2.5%, YHOO +2.0%, HSC +2.0%, OI +1.7%, HNZ +1.1%...

Gapping down:

GRZ -15.8%, NWK -13.1%, IRBT -10.5%, MCRS -10.2%, JDSU -10.1%, LVS -8.6%, INSP -8.0%, CTX -3.8%, WYNN -3.6%, TTMI -3.5%, OMTR -2.5%, ROG -2.5%, PRU -2.4%, GLD -1.3%.

NYSE Arca Morning Update

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Thursday, May 1, 2008 :


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
Wednesday's Close Current Price Pct Chng Current NYSE Arca Vol
NETM

$4.11

$6.95

69%

22,682

IMB

$3.22

$4.35

35%

13,300

PDGI

$23.90

$15.89

( 33%)

17,060

GRZ

$2.77

$1.98

( 29%)

14,000

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
$138,637,189
XOM
$21,117,476
QQQQ
$17,668,887
GLD
$17,384,435
BP
$14,339,271
IWM
$9,942,972
AAPL
$9,298,181
BHP
$7,246,481
FSLR
$7,055,242
V
$3,123,884
Stock
Share Volume
SPY
998,851
QQQQ
373,178
XOM
231,695
GLD
203,683
BP
196,206
IWM
138,900
BHP
87,725
C
78,295
YHOO
71,657
JDSU
59,340

NYSE Arca Morning Update

Pre-Market Most Active Stocks - NASDAQ Premarket


NASDAQ - Pre-Market Ten Most Advanced

Active Share Volume Declined

Symbol

Company Name

Market
Close
Last Sale (Pre-Market) % Change
(Pre-Market)
Share
Volume

(Pre-Market)

NetManage, Inc.
$4.15 $6.91 66.51% 71,365

Tetra Tech, Inc.
$21.13 $24 13.58% 6,849

O2Micro International Limited
$7.52 $8.50 13.03% 4,395

Sepracor Inc.
$21.55 $23 6.73% 16,600

Immunomedics, Inc.
$2.43 $2.58 6.17% 83,000

Entrust, Inc.
$2.49 $2.62 5.22% 3,600

Symantec Corporation
$17.22 $18.10 5.11% 23,190

Discovery Laboratories, Inc.
$2.87 $2.98 3.83% 89,621

Sciele Pharma, Inc.
$19.27 $20 3.79% 42,700

Iconix Brand Group, Inc.
$15.92 $16.50 3.64% 59,212

As of 5/1/2008 8:30:33 AM

NASDAQ - Pre-Market Ten Most Declined

Active Share Volume Advanced

Symbol

Company Name

Market
Close
Last Sale (Pre-Market) % Change
(Pre-Market)
Share
Volume

(Pre-Market)

PharmaNet Development Group, Inc.
$23.86 $16.40 31.27% 90,975

MICROS Systems, Inc.
$35.65 $31 13.04% 3,095

JDS Uniphase Corporation
$14.31 $12.54 12.37% 162,402

Expedia, Inc.
$25.26 $22.26 11.88% 5,000

First Solar, Inc.
$291.99 $286 2.05% 43,273

Hercules Offshore, Inc.
$26.36 $26 1.37% 3,125

Starbucks Corporation
$16.23 $16.05 1.11% 162,735

Akamai Technologies, Inc.
$35.77 $35.40 1.03% 27,001

Crocs, Inc.
$10.21 $10.14 0.69% 51,000

Hologic, Inc.
$29.19 $29 0.65% 33,500

As of 5/1/2008 8:30:30 AM


Pre-Market Most Active Stocks - NASDAQ Premarket

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