Dendreon: Bear Trap of the Year

Down 45% one day, up 95% the next.

The 45% drop happened in 5 minutes.

Comments

[Jim Ricks:]

What causes this?

Apr 30 09:16 AM

[Crosh:]

With a stock like DNDN, up until now there has been no conclusive proof one way or another as to whether this stock will actually GO anywhere. There were fairly good signs before April 28th, but even experts had to acknowledge at least a little bit of doubt. With stocks such as this, a little manipulation goes a long way. Heavy shorting the day before an important news release could have caused an initial dip in prices, and when so many individuals have "stop losses" set to certain price tags an initial dip can cause an eventual evalanche of split-second sales. Another theory that (I believe) was rejected was that there were "erroneous trades" made that day, but later it was stated that all trades would stand. I just hope nobody reading this was victimized.

Apr 30 10:06 AM

[foofighter:]

It was interesting to see this on the DNDN yahoo message board prior to the dip...

"Expect Massive BEAR RAID this afternoon @ 12 30 pm central last trade 24 suggest you sell short into strength MASSIVE BEAR RAID coming.. TODAY "

And then a little later, this....

"u should be positioning on the short side of DNDN right now at 24 and on any additional strength ahead of conference by 12 30 stock will be in the throes of a MASSIVE BEAR RAID smart $ has a BIG surprise for the eager buyers if you wanted to own DNDN plenty of shares were avail last month for 3 bux NOW u should be piling on the short side I reiterate..
MASSIVE BEAR RAID TODAY 12 30 pm central"

So apparently this type of thing can be predicted if you look for the right signs.

Apr 30 01:32 PM

[gillyak:]

US little guys have no chance

The wild price fluctuation is criminal

Apr 30 01:40 PM

[Crosh:]

Oh, the little guys have a chance, they just have to be smart. For example, having a stop-loss on a stock like DNDN is criminal stupidity. In terms of stock manipulation being criminal, write some politicians, and in the mean time be aware of the possibility of manipulation. Next time be one of the smart investors who rode out the 5 minute price flux and came out the other side even richer.

Apr 30 03:16 PM

[Crosh:]

Honestly? I'm grinning right now. Many of those who bought into this idea of a "bear raid" most likely got utterly squashed by the halt on trading 5 minutes later. They woke up the next morning with a lot of hard covering to do. Maybe I'm just naive :)


On Apr 30 01:32 PM foofighter wrote:

> It was interesting to see this on the DNDN yahoo message board prior
> to the dip...
>
> "Expect Massive BEAR RAID this afternoon @ 12 30 pm central last
> trade 24 suggest you sell short into strength MASSIVE BEAR RAID coming..
> TODAY "
>
> And then a little later, this....
>
> "u should be positioning on the short side of DNDN right now at 24
> and on any additional strength ahead of conference by 12 30 stock
> will be in the throes of a MASSIVE BEAR RAID smart $ has a BIG surprise
> for the eager buyers if you wanted to own DNDN plenty of shares were
> avail last month for 3 bux NOW u should be piling on the short side
> I reiterate..
> MASSIVE BEAR RAID TODAY 12 30 pm central"
>
> So apparently this type of thing can be predicted if you look for
> the right signs.

Apr 30 03:18 PM

[jamack22:]

: Two execs in Dendreon take $1.9M in profits off the table, Barron's reports
Dendreon (DNDN) shares more than led on April 14, and have risen more than 1000% in the last six weeks, after the company said its cancer drug, Provenge, met a late-stage study goal, strongly boosting chances of FDA approval. While investors were busy piling into the shares, two executives took $1.9M in profit off the table. On April 20, Principal Accounting Officer Greg Cox exercised 15,313 shares and ultimately sold the shares for $306,260, or $20 a share, for a profit of $189,998. Cox also sold 2,168 shares for $43,360, or $20 a share. On April 14, director Gerardo Canet exercised 109,171 shares and ultimately sold the shares for $2.3M, or $21.40 a share, for a profit of $1.6M. He continues to own 20,956 shares directly. Neither of the insiders owns more than 1% of Dendreon shares outstanding. The transactions were made through 10b5-1 trading plans. It was Cox's first sale of stock and Canet's second, after a small 2007 sale. Only five insiders have sold since 2000. Lon Juricic, president of StreetInsider.com says that he can't blame the insiders for taking some of their money out of the game at this point. Juricic believes the shares will likely hang around the $20 range until more material news about Provenge's FDA approval emerges

May 01 12:44 PM

[Bob228:]

I'm long in Dendreon, and have increased since it started to float down in price to the low $20s. I don't quite know what to make of the insider sales, however. Generally, the charge to the top executives is to maximize shareholder value. In this company, it seems like the success and control of the cancer therapies is the main driver.

I think with the volatility of the stock and the success of Provenge, the Company should sell itself to take the volatility out of the stock price and stabilize the future of their promising therapies. I can't blame them for cashing out some of their options, but they should consider the position of the long term backers of this still somewhat fragile Company..

May 04 01:40 PM