The bulls are staying
The Russell 2000 small cap index is holding on to its early gains in thin trading as investors look to the three-day weekend. At 2:41 p.m. ET the Russell 2000 had gained 4.20 points, or 0.51%, to 828.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 45.02 points, or 0.33%, to 13,486.15.
Shares of IDM Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: IDMI) are rising on news of positive analyst coverage. Brokerage house Cantor Fitzgerald expects that the stock price of the Irvine, Calif.-based company will quadruple over the next year, according to news reports after the opening bell. The drug bone cancer drug Junovan was rejected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee in May, but analyst Pamela Bassett said she expects it will receive approval in the coming months. On May 9 IDM Pharma said that the FDA will take ODAC’s recommendation into consideration and come back with a final decision in late August 2007. Shares are up $0.54, or 20%, to $3.18.
Cost Plus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPWM), a specialty retailer of casual home living and entertaining products, more than tripled its quarterly loss and projected second quarter earnings that missed expectations. For the second quarter of fiscal 2007, the net loss is forecast in the range of $13 million to $15 million, or $0.59 to $0.69 per share, the same period of 2006, the Oakland, Calif.-based company said after Thursday’s close. Thirteen analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting a net loss of $0.46 per share. Also, the net loss for the first quarter ended May 5 was $12.0 million, or $0.54 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.5 million, or $0.16 per share, for the same period of 2006. That result surpassed Wall Street’s expectations of a net loss of $0.58 per share. Shares are sagging, down $0.13, or 1%, to $9.39.
Shares of Bethesda, Md.-based Chindex International, Inc. (Nasdaq: CHDX) are gaining after news the provider of healthcare services and medical products to the Chinese market has signed a deal to manage a healthcare center in China. The Wuxi United Family International Healthcare Center will be managed under a new model that allows Chindex to accelerate the expansion of its brand to more Chinese cities, the company said after Thursday’s close. The stock has climbed $0.97, or 5%, to $20.20.
In economic news, the price of oil has added about one dollar and is trading above $65 a barrel following renewed tension in Iran and Nigeria.
Unions are striking for a second day in Nigeria, the world’s eighth largest exporter, while on Thursday Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again dismissed calls to halt the country’s nuclear program.
