DNA - News and Analysis from Seeking Alpha 'DNA' Tag RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/dna PDL BioPharma: High Dividend Biotech Stock http://seekingalpha.com/article/156454-pdl-biopharma-high-dividend-biotech-stock?source=feed 156454 When measured by its dividend, PDL BioPharma, (PDLI), stands out as one of the best stocks to buy in the biotech field. In fact, it's one of only four dividend paying stocks in this sub-sector.

Biotech is a group which isn't normally favored by income investors, due not only to its lack of high dividend stocks, but also due to its lack of many dividend stocks at all, not to mention its members' earnings and price roller coaster rides.

]]> Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:43:56 -0400 Double Dividend Stocks When measured by its dividend, PDL BioPharma, (PDLI), stands out as one of the best stocks to buy in the biotech field. In fact, it's one of only four dividend paying stocks in this sub-sector.

Biotech is a group which isn't normally favored by income investors, due not only to its lack of high dividend stocks, but also due to its lack of many dividend stocks at all, not to mention its members' earnings and price roller coaster rides.


Complete Story »]]> DNA ELN FACT PDLI WYE Double Dividend Stocks Onyx Pharmaceuticals: Good Reasons for Raising Capital, Investors Overly Concerned http://seekingalpha.com/article/155947-onyx-pharmaceuticals-good-reasons-for-raising-capital-investors-overly-concerned?source=feed 155947 Last Wednesday Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) announced that it was going to raise additional financing by selling as much as 4.6 million shares and $230mm in convertible notes. The euphoria from the company’s recent successful Phase 2 breast cancer results were quickly forgotten, as the stock plunged more than 20 percent in two days. Investors were taken aback as why a company with more than $450 million in cash would need an additional $370 million. Visions of a buyout by Bayer AG, its 50/50 Nexavar (approved for kidney and liver cancer) collaborator were replaced with images of a potentially large and dilutive acquisition. It didn’t matter that earnings were much better than expected, especially since previous investor criticism has focused on the company not dropping enough sales down to the bottom line.

Instead of condemning Onyx about how nothing good can possibly happen from having more cash one should think about the future challenges Onyx may face. In fact, it could be argued that managing the success of Nexavar could be Onyx’s largest quandary. Understandably, investors want to ride the growth of Nexavar for as long as they can, but management cannot do that. Biotech and pharmaceutical companies need to think longer term than shareholders, given that the average drug development timeline is 10 years. Such companies also probably prefer steady growth rather than quick short-term upward spurts. If cynical investors took the view of management they might understand why Onyx’s recent capital raise is warranted. Here are a few possible reasons:
Bayer is an Unreliable Partner
]]> Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:05:18 -0400 Raymond Chung Last Wednesday Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) announced that it was going to raise additional financing by selling as much as 4.6 million shares and $230mm in convertible notes. The euphoria from the company’s recent successful Phase 2 breast cancer results were quickly forgotten, as the stock plunged more than 20 percent in two days. Investors were taken aback as why a company with more than $450 million in cash would need an additional $370 million. Visions of a buyout by Bayer AG, its 50/50 Nexavar (approved for kidney and liver cancer) collaborator were replaced with images of a potentially large and dilutive acquisition. It didn’t matter that earnings were much better than expected, especially since previous investor criticism has focused on the company not dropping enough sales down to the bottom line.

Instead of condemning Onyx about how nothing good can possibly happen from having more cash one should think about the future challenges Onyx may face. In fact, it could be argued that managing the success of Nexavar could be Onyx’s largest quandary. Understandably, investors want to ride the growth of Nexavar for as long as they can, but management cannot do that. Biotech and pharmaceutical companies need to think longer term than shareholders, given that the average drug development timeline is 10 years. Such companies also probably prefer steady growth rather than quick short-term upward spurts. If cynical investors took the view of management they might understand why Onyx’s recent capital raise is warranted. Here are a few possible reasons:
Bayer is an Unreliable Partner

Complete Story »]]> DNA GILD ONXX PFE Raymond Chung OSI Pharmaceutical Gets a Boost from Cancer Drug http://seekingalpha.com/article/148462-osi-pharmaceutical-gets-a-boost-from-cancer-drug?source=feed 148462 By Jon "DRJ" Najarian

OSI ChartLung Cancer Drug Advances

OSI Pharmaceutical (OSIP) and Roche subsidiary Genentech (DNA) announced that a pivotal Phase III study of Tarceva met a key secondary endpoint of extending overall survival in patients with advanced lung cancer who received the drug immediately after initial chemotherapy. A statistically significant improvement in overall survival was seen in this final analysis of the total patient population. OSIP and Genentech will present during the 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer to be held July 31 to Aug. 4 in San Francisco. OSIP closed at $28.44 Friday but is trading at $30.75 in the pre-market on our Heat Seeker system.

]]> Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:34:04 -0400 optionMONSTER optionMONSTER submits:

By Jon "DRJ" Najarian

OSI ChartLung Cancer Drug Advances

OSI Pharmaceutical (OSIP) and Roche subsidiary Genentech (DNA) announced that a pivotal Phase III study of Tarceva met a key secondary endpoint of extending overall survival in patients with advanced lung cancer who received the drug immediately after initial chemotherapy. A statistically significant improvement in overall survival was seen in this final analysis of the total patient population. OSIP and Genentech will present during the 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer to be held July 31 to Aug. 4 in San Francisco. OSIP closed at $28.44 Friday but is trading at $30.75 in the pre-market on our Heat Seeker system.


Complete Story »]]> DNA OSIP RINO optionMONSTER Alyeska Favors Energy Producers http://seekingalpha.com/article/147595-alyeska-favors-energy-producers?source=feed 147595 This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

Next up is Alyeska Investment Group ran by Anand Parekh. This is the first time we're tracking Alyeska in our portfolio series due to the fact that it's a newer fund on the scene. Before starting Alyeska, Anand Parekh was Citadel's head of equities, and was essentially who we were tracking at Citadel when we would examine the fund's equity holdings.

]]> Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:03:49 -0400 Market Folly Market Folly submits:

This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

Next up is Alyeska Investment Group ran by Anand Parekh. This is the first time we're tracking Alyeska in our portfolio series due to the fact that it's a newer fund on the scene. Before starting Alyeska, Anand Parekh was Citadel's head of equities, and was essentially who we were tracking at Citadel when we would examine the fund's equity holdings.


Complete Story »]]> DNA ETR HON MER MET PSD RBC ROH WB Market Folly Comparing Medicine’s Cost and Effectiveness http://seekingalpha.com/article/146468-comparing-medicines-cost-and-effectiveness?source=feed 146468

Two important reports Wednesday offer early hints of the potential impact of a $1.1 billion federal program to compare the medical benefit and the cost-effectiveness of surgeries, medicines and medical devices. The reports — by the Institute of Medicine and the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research – suggest priorities for spending $700 million of the research funds set aside under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The reports don’t name particular products or companies, but many of the suggested projects would scrutinize expensive products and services sold by identifiable companies, to wit: biologics for treating auto-immune such diseases as arthritis, now sold by the likes of Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY); home health programs to prevent falls by older adults, now promoted by the likes of Amedisys (AMED); heart arrhythmia treatments marketed by Medtronic (MDT) and St. Jude Medical (STJ); tests for drug-resitant staph germs, as sold by Cepheid (CPHD); prostate cancer treatment with the Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) robot; drug treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as sold by Shire (SHPGY).

]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:37:49 -0400 Eric Savitz Eric Savitz (Barron's) submits:

Two important reports Wednesday offer early hints of the potential impact of a $1.1 billion federal program to compare the medical benefit and the cost-effectiveness of surgeries, medicines and medical devices. The reports — by the Institute of Medicine and the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research – suggest priorities for spending $700 million of the research funds set aside under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The reports don’t name particular products or companies, but many of the suggested projects would scrutinize expensive products and services sold by identifiable companies, to wit: biologics for treating auto-immune such diseases as arthritis, now sold by the likes of Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY); home health programs to prevent falls by older adults, now promoted by the likes of Amedisys (AMED); heart arrhythmia treatments marketed by Medtronic (MDT) and St. Jude Medical (STJ); tests for drug-resitant staph germs, as sold by Cepheid (CPHD); prostate cancer treatment with the Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) robot; drug treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as sold by Shire (SHPGY).


Complete Story »]]> ABT AMED BMY BSX CPHD CVD DNA ISRG JNJ MDT SHPGY STJ VAR Eric Savitz Hedge Fund Moore Stakes Out Energy Bets http://seekingalpha.com/article/146318-hedge-fund-moore-stakes-out-energy-bets?source=feed 146318 This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

This week is 'global macro week' here at Market Folly and we'll be covering some of the equity positions of the major global macro strategy hedge funds. We want to start off this week with a slight disclaimer. Since global macro funds trade all different types of asset classes, they're not an ideal bunch to track or to clone a portfolio from. However, they are some of the smartest minds out there in terms of secular themes, trading, and market timing. As such, we monitor their movements in equities to get a sense as to what sectors they like, when they're moving out of long equity positions, and to see if we can see any secular themes they might be playing. So, this week is not so much about tracking as much as it is about taking a step back and observing the 'bigger picture.'

]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:20:01 -0400 Market Folly Market Folly submits:

This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

This week is 'global macro week' here at Market Folly and we'll be covering some of the equity positions of the major global macro strategy hedge funds. We want to start off this week with a slight disclaimer. Since global macro funds trade all different types of asset classes, they're not an ideal bunch to track or to clone a portfolio from. However, they are some of the smartest minds out there in terms of secular themes, trading, and market timing. As such, we monitor their movements in equities to get a sense as to what sectors they like, when they're moving out of long equity positions, and to see if we can see any secular themes they might be playing. So, this week is not so much about tracking as much as it is about taking a step back and observing the 'bigger picture.'


Complete Story »]]> ACE AMR ATVI BMY CAL CAT CHL CMI CMS CTXS DAL DNA EMC EMR ERTS FCX FSLR FWLT HD HES HPQ JOYG LEN LO LOW MET MO MON MU MXGL NTAP NU OI OXY PBRA PBW PG PHO PM POT RIG RVBD SGP SHAW SNP STT SWK TOL UTX WHR WMT WYE X XHB XLE XOM Market Folly Eminence Making a Lab Services Bet? http://seekingalpha.com/article/145529-eminence-making-a-lab-services-bet?source=feed 145529 This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

Next up, we have Eminence Capital. Eminence is a New York hedge fund ran by Ricky Sandler. As of this last quarter's filing, Eminence held $4 billion in long U.S. equity exposure. Sandler attended the University of Wisconsin and holds a CFA designation. Prior to Eminence, Sandler started his career as a research analyst for Mark Asset Management and then went on to start Fusion Partners at the age of 25 with Wayne Cooperman. As their investment styles started to differ, Sandler went on to start Eminence.

]]> Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:00:50 -0400 Market Folly Market Folly submits:

This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

Next up, we have Eminence Capital. Eminence is a New York hedge fund ran by Ricky Sandler. As of this last quarter's filing, Eminence held $4 billion in long U.S. equity exposure. Sandler attended the University of Wisconsin and holds a CFA designation. Prior to Eminence, Sandler started his career as a research analyst for Mark Asset Management and then went on to start Fusion Partners at the age of 25 with Wayne Cooperman. As their investment styles started to differ, Sandler went on to start Eminence.


Complete Story »]]> A AAPL ABT AMAT BBBY CSCO CTSH DGX DNA FISV GET GOOG IGT LH LMT LOW MSFT NKE ORCL QCOM ROST SAI SPY TMO TV V WMT ZBRA Market Folly Life Science Looks to Big Pharma for Funding as Caution Still Reigns http://seekingalpha.com/article/143121-life-science-looks-to-big-pharma-for-funding-as-caution-still-reigns?source=feed 143121 By MARIE DAGHLIAN

Last week's flurry of public-share offerings must have been a blip on the radar screen, as most life sciences companies look to private investors for much needed cash. And while the number of PIPEs and venture-capital financings continues at a fairly good clip, the data reveal that individual deals are smaller and smaller. Partnering with pharma, another important avenue to sustainability, has been improving and can be quite lucrative, but deals remain few. Pharma companies are taking on less risk through smaller upfront fees and more option agreements.
Privately held San Mateo, California-based Bayhill Therapeutics gave up the idea of going public. Instead, it opted to leverage its pipeline through an exclusive worldwide collaboration with Genentech (DNA) (now a division of pharma giant Roche (RHHBY.PK)) to develop and potential commercialize Bayhill's BHT-3021. The compound is a DNA-based antigen specific immunotherapy currently in a phase I/II clinical trial in patients with type 1 diabetes.
Bayhill will get an upfront payment of $25 million in cash and equity from Genentech, with additional development, regulatory and sales milestone payments that could exceed $325 million. Bayhill will also get royalties on any sales of an approved therapy. Bayhill remains responsible for completing the on-going phase I/II trial, and Genentech will be responsible for all future research, development, manufacturing and commercialization efforts. Genentech will reimburse Bayhill the remaining costs of the phase I/II trial and will fund all future expenses. Bayhill retains rights to opt in on future development as well as an option to co-promote in North America.
Interim results for BHT-3021, a plasmid encoding proinsulin, were presented at the recent American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans and showed that the drug is safe and well-tolerated. Bayhill develops novel and targeted treatment candidates for autoimmune diseases that are designed to restore patient’s immunological “tolerance” to self antigens to a normal state by selectively eliminating specific, harmful immune responses while leaving the rest of the immune system intact.
Vancouver, Canada-based Xenon entered into a strategic alliance with Merck (MRK) to discover and develop novel small molecule candidates for cardiovascular disease. From the start, privately held Xenon has followed a strategy of select partnering of parts of its pipeline in order to continue ownership and development of other programs. In collaboration with Merck, Xenon will perform validation studies using its clinical genetics platform, as well as drug discovery and select preclinical development of small molecule compounds for those targets selected by a joint steering committee.
Under the terms of the agreement, Merck has the option to exclusively license targets and compounds from Xenon for development and commercialization. In return, Xenon receives research funding and is eligible for option exercise fees, research, development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $94.5 million for the first target and up to $89.5 million for each subsequent target selected for drug discovery. Xenon will also receive royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaboration and retains the right to develop and commercialize certain compounds for which Merck does not exercise its option.
Pharmaceutical companies have been active investors of late through their corporate venture funds. Aileron Therapeutics closed a $40-million Series D financing. Investors included several venture arms of big pharma: SR One, the independent corporate venture fund of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Novartis (NVS) Venture Fund, Lilly Ventures (LLY), and Roche Venture Fund. New investor Excel Medical Fund and founding investor Apple Tree Partners also participated. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company is developing a novel class of therapeutics called Stapled Peptides as a technology platform for historically undruggable targets. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance Aileron’s lead Stapled Peptide program toward clinical trials in 2010 and to further advance the Stapled Peptide platform and programs in oncology, immune/inflammation, metabolic disease, and infectious disease. Stapled Peptides are synthetically locked, or “stapled”, into an alpha-helical shape to create drug compounds that are uniquely effective for targets that are “undruggable” with currently available drug approaches. In previous financings, Aileron has raised $20 million in funding.
Alios BioPharma, based in South San Francisco, California, also relied on pharma money, closing its $32-million Series A preferred stock financing with $8 million from new investor SR One, the corporate venture fund of GlaxoSmithKline. The first closing was completed in December 2008, led by Novo A/S and Novartis Venture Fund with participation from the Roche Venture Fund. Alios is developing small molecule and protein therapeutics to treat viral diseases by activating pathways in the innate immune system.
Seattle, Washington-based NanoString Technologies closed a $30-million Series C equity financing to accelerate commercialization of its leading expression profiling nCounter Analysis System in the research tools and diagnostics arenas. The round was led by Clarus Ventures, and was joined by existing investors OVP Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
In Minneapolis, medical device company Inspire Medical Systems completed a Series B financing of $17 million, which was led by Synergy Life Science Partners and included participation from existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, US Venture Partners, Medtronic (MDT), and Dr. Glen D. Nelson through GDN Holdings. Earlier in 2009, Inspire announced the first human implant of its Inspire II system designed to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Since this announcement, Inspire continued to implant patients into parallel clinical trials being conducted in the United States and in Europe with several implants in each location to date. The Series B financing is over two phases with the primary purpose to fund the on-going clinical activity.
While the tide toward economic recovery is slowly turning positive and consumer confidence is rising, many investors remain skittish, worrying that weakening demand for government debt may force Washington to raise interest rates to attract buyers, but at the same time slow the economic recovery. Caution still reigns. Raising capital in the public market continues to remain difficult especially for companies without any revenue generating products. Geneara called it quits after 22 years of failing to bring a product into the market.


]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:23:42 -0400 The Burrill Report The Burrill Report submits:

By MARIE DAGHLIAN

Last week's flurry of public-share offerings must have been a blip on the radar screen, as most life sciences companies look to private investors for much needed cash. And while the number of PIPEs and venture-capital financings continues at a fairly good clip, the data reveal that individual deals are smaller and smaller. Partnering with pharma, another important avenue to sustainability, has been improving and can be quite lucrative, but deals remain few. Pharma companies are taking on less risk through smaller upfront fees and more option agreements.
Privately held San Mateo, California-based Bayhill Therapeutics gave up the idea of going public. Instead, it opted to leverage its pipeline through an exclusive worldwide collaboration with Genentech (DNA) (now a division of pharma giant Roche (RHHBY.PK)) to develop and potential commercialize Bayhill's BHT-3021. The compound is a DNA-based antigen specific immunotherapy currently in a phase I/II clinical trial in patients with type 1 diabetes.
Bayhill will get an upfront payment of $25 million in cash and equity from Genentech, with additional development, regulatory and sales milestone payments that could exceed $325 million. Bayhill will also get royalties on any sales of an approved therapy. Bayhill remains responsible for completing the on-going phase I/II trial, and Genentech will be responsible for all future research, development, manufacturing and commercialization efforts. Genentech will reimburse Bayhill the remaining costs of the phase I/II trial and will fund all future expenses. Bayhill retains rights to opt in on future development as well as an option to co-promote in North America.
Interim results for BHT-3021, a plasmid encoding proinsulin, were presented at the recent American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans and showed that the drug is safe and well-tolerated. Bayhill develops novel and targeted treatment candidates for autoimmune diseases that are designed to restore patient’s immunological “tolerance” to self antigens to a normal state by selectively eliminating specific, harmful immune responses while leaving the rest of the immune system intact.
Vancouver, Canada-based Xenon entered into a strategic alliance with Merck (MRK) to discover and develop novel small molecule candidates for cardiovascular disease. From the start, privately held Xenon has followed a strategy of select partnering of parts of its pipeline in order to continue ownership and development of other programs. In collaboration with Merck, Xenon will perform validation studies using its clinical genetics platform, as well as drug discovery and select preclinical development of small molecule compounds for those targets selected by a joint steering committee.
Under the terms of the agreement, Merck has the option to exclusively license targets and compounds from Xenon for development and commercialization. In return, Xenon receives research funding and is eligible for option exercise fees, research, development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $94.5 million for the first target and up to $89.5 million for each subsequent target selected for drug discovery. Xenon will also receive royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaboration and retains the right to develop and commercialize certain compounds for which Merck does not exercise its option.
Pharmaceutical companies have been active investors of late through their corporate venture funds. Aileron Therapeutics closed a $40-million Series D financing. Investors included several venture arms of big pharma: SR One, the independent corporate venture fund of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Novartis (NVS) Venture Fund, Lilly Ventures (LLY), and Roche Venture Fund. New investor Excel Medical Fund and founding investor Apple Tree Partners also participated. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company is developing a novel class of therapeutics called Stapled Peptides as a technology platform for historically undruggable targets. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance Aileron’s lead Stapled Peptide program toward clinical trials in 2010 and to further advance the Stapled Peptide platform and programs in oncology, immune/inflammation, metabolic disease, and infectious disease. Stapled Peptides are synthetically locked, or “stapled”, into an alpha-helical shape to create drug compounds that are uniquely effective for targets that are “undruggable” with currently available drug approaches. In previous financings, Aileron has raised $20 million in funding.
Alios BioPharma, based in South San Francisco, California, also relied on pharma money, closing its $32-million Series A preferred stock financing with $8 million from new investor SR One, the corporate venture fund of GlaxoSmithKline. The first closing was completed in December 2008, led by Novo A/S and Novartis Venture Fund with participation from the Roche Venture Fund. Alios is developing small molecule and protein therapeutics to treat viral diseases by activating pathways in the innate immune system.
Seattle, Washington-based NanoString Technologies closed a $30-million Series C equity financing to accelerate commercialization of its leading expression profiling nCounter Analysis System in the research tools and diagnostics arenas. The round was led by Clarus Ventures, and was joined by existing investors OVP Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
In Minneapolis, medical device company Inspire Medical Systems completed a Series B financing of $17 million, which was led by Synergy Life Science Partners and included participation from existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, US Venture Partners, Medtronic (MDT), and Dr. Glen D. Nelson through GDN Holdings. Earlier in 2009, Inspire announced the first human implant of its Inspire II system designed to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Since this announcement, Inspire continued to implant patients into parallel clinical trials being conducted in the United States and in Europe with several implants in each location to date. The Series B financing is over two phases with the primary purpose to fund the on-going clinical activity.
While the tide toward economic recovery is slowly turning positive and consumer confidence is rising, many investors remain skittish, worrying that weakening demand for government debt may force Washington to raise interest rates to attract buyers, but at the same time slow the economic recovery. Caution still reigns. Raising capital in the public market continues to remain difficult especially for companies without any revenue generating products. Geneara called it quits after 22 years of failing to bring a product into the market.



Complete Story »]]> DNA MRK The Burrill Report Galleon Bets Heavily on the S&P 500 http://seekingalpha.com/article/142106-galleon-bets-heavily-on-the-s-p-500?source=feed 142106 This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

Next up on our series is Galleon Group. Galleon was founded by Raj Rajaratnam in 1997 and currently manages in excess of $7 billion. Raj previously worked for Needham & Company and when he left was responsible for a compounded rate of return of 37% over 4 years while overseeing $250 million. Raj received both a Bsc in Engineering and an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania. Galleon Group's Buccaneer fund was up 13.39% as of late February 2009. Additionally, its Diversified fund was up 9.87% through the same time period, as noted in our January & February hedge fund performances (March '09 numbers here). We'll be posting up more recent metrics here soon.

]]> Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:05:29 -0400 Market Folly Market Folly submits:

This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

Next up on our series is Galleon Group. Galleon was founded by Raj Rajaratnam in 1997 and currently manages in excess of $7 billion. Raj previously worked for Needham & Company and when he left was responsible for a compounded rate of return of 37% over 4 years while overseeing $250 million. Raj received both a Bsc in Engineering and an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania. Galleon Group's Buccaneer fund was up 13.39% as of late February 2009. Additionally, its Diversified fund was up 9.87% through the same time period, as noted in our January & February hedge fund performances (March '09 numbers here). We'll be posting up more recent metrics here soon.


Complete Story »]]> AMAG AMAT AMD AMX APH APOL ATML BAC BBT BIDU BRCM CERN CIT CL CPWR DELL DNA FCN FSLR GE GLD GLW GS HBC HON HPQ INTC IWM JAVA K LCC LLTC LLY MAT MCHP MOT MSFT MYL NAV NOK NOVL NRG NTAP NTES NVDA NVLS OSIP PBR PCLN PG PNC RTH SAP SBAC SBUX SGP SMH SOHU SPY SRS STRA SYMC T TXN VMW VRGY WAG WDC WMT WYE XOM YHOO Market Folly Genentech's 'Good' Subsidy Hardly Helps Economic Development http://seekingalpha.com/article/140525-genentech-s-good-subsidy-hardly-helps-economic-development?source=feed 140525

Oregon Business Magazine quoted me in its article about two subsidies, one that clearly failed and one that, they say, worked. If you think these things ever work, here are the facts cited in the article regarding the "good" subsidy. Genentech (DNA) received over $32 million of incentives, in exchange for which they agreed to hire 300 workers by 2015. A great bioscience coup? Hardly. The facility will receive large barrels of pills and the workers will divide them into small bottle of pills, then prepare the small bottles for shipment. High tech? Cutting edge biochemistry? Hardly. This is slightly better than minimum wage work. And we paid over $100,000 for each job "created."

I expounded on this topic at some length many years ago in a Cascade Policy Institute Report, "The Unseen Costs of Ribbon Cutting."

]]> Sun, 31 May 2009 10:03:53 -0400 Dr. Dr. Bill Conerly

Oregon Business Magazine quoted me in its article about two subsidies, one that clearly failed and one that, they say, worked. If you think these things ever work, here are the facts cited in the article regarding the "good" subsidy. Genentech (DNA) received over $32 million of incentives, in exchange for which they agreed to hire 300 workers by 2015. A great bioscience coup? Hardly. The facility will receive large barrels of pills and the workers will divide them into small bottle of pills, then prepare the small bottles for shipment. High tech? Cutting edge biochemistry? Hardly. This is slightly better than minimum wage work. And we paid over $100,000 for each job "created."

I expounded on this topic at some length many years ago in a Cascade Policy Institute Report, "The Unseen Costs of Ribbon Cutting."


Complete Story »]]> DNA Dr. Dr. Bill Conerly Blue Ridge Capital: One Hedge Fund That's Done With Gold http://seekingalpha.com/article/139971-blue-ridge-capital-one-hedge-fund-that-s-done-with-gold?source=feed 139971 This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

Next up, we have John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital. Now, Griffin is similar to Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global and Stephen Mandel at Lone Pine Capital in that they are all 'Tiger Cubs' (pupils of Julian Robertson during their time at Tiger Management). Griffin though, is more well-known because he was Julian Robertson's right hand man. So needless to say, he knows his stuff.

]]> Wed, 27 May 2009 17:35:43 -0400 Market Folly Market Folly submits:

This is the 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

Next up, we have John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital. Now, Griffin is similar to Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global and Stephen Mandel at Lone Pine Capital in that they are all 'Tiger Cubs' (pupils of Julian Robertson during their time at Tiger Management). Griffin though, is more well-known because he was Julian Robertson's right hand man. So needless to say, he knows his stuff.


Complete Story »]]> AAPL AEM AMGN AMZN AUY AXP AXS BLK BR BRK.A CCI CMZ CVA DELL DNA EOG EWW EXH GDX GG GGP GLD GOOG HK HOG KBR MA MIL MON MRO MSFT NEM NFLX NG NOV PAC PBR RNR RRC SPY TGT TMO TV V VLO VNO WFMI XTO Market Folly What's John Paulson Buying Now? Hint... Think Gold http://seekingalpha.com/article/138557-what-s-john-paulson-buying-now-hint-think-gold?source=feed 138557
Since today is pretty much 'John Paulson day' here at Market Folly, we thought it was appropriate to begin with this interesting (yet already outdated) graphic of Paulson's overall winnings. Obviously, he's been quite successful.
Click to enlarge:
This post is a part of our 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

The second hedge fund in our series is Paulson & Co. run by John Paulson. His hedge fund has generated massive returns over the past two years, as he bet against financials and all things subprime. One of Paulson's funds was even up 589%. And, in the first part of 2009, Paulson profited by shorting UK banks. Although Paulson is obviously one of the main brains behind the operation, there are many talented individuals at the fund. Unfortunately for Paulson, one of his co-portfolio managers has left to start his own fund, and we'll be keeping an eye on that. At the end of 2008, Paulson's Advantage Plus fund ended the year +37.58%, as detailed in our year end 2008 hedge fund performance post. For more information on how Paulson's funds performed in 2008, be sure to check out its year end letter & report.

Paulson began shorting collateralized debt obligations and buying credit default swaps back in 2005 as John Paulson had conviction in his bet. His Credit Opportunities fund launched in 2006 with $150 million aimed to short subprime mortgage backed securities. This fund enjoyed immediate success, causing Paulson to launch the Credit Opportunities II fund. At the end of 2007, the Opportunities fund was up 590% and his Opportunities II fund was up 353%. Such sterling performance led two of Paulson's hedge funds to be the #1 and #4 funds as ranked in Barron's hedge fund rankings (top 100). Paulson's funds earned this distinction due to their solid 3 year annualized performance metrics. Additionally, Paulson sits at #3 on Alpha's hedge fund rankings list for 2009, which is compiled based on assets under management (aum).
]]> Wed, 20 May 2009 02:30:50 -0400 Market Folly Market Folly submits:

Since today is pretty much 'John Paulson day' here at Market Folly, we thought it was appropriate to begin with this interesting (yet already outdated) graphic of Paulson's overall winnings. Obviously, he's been quite successful.
Click to enlarge:
This post is a part of our 1st Quarter 2009 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings series preface.

The second hedge fund in our series is Paulson & Co. run by John Paulson. His hedge fund has generated massive returns over the past two years, as he bet against financials and all things subprime. One of Paulson's funds was even up 589%. And, in the first part of 2009, Paulson profited by shorting UK banks. Although Paulson is obviously one of the main brains behind the operation, there are many talented individuals at the fund. Unfortunately for Paulson, one of his co-portfolio managers has left to start his own fund, and we'll be keeping an eye on that. At the end of 2008, Paulson's Advantage Plus fund ended the year +37.58%, as detailed in our year end 2008 hedge fund performance post. For more information on how Paulson's funds performed in 2008, be sure to check out its year end letter & report.

Paulson began shorting collateralized debt obligations and buying credit default swaps back in 2005 as John Paulson had conviction in his bet. His Credit Opportunities fund launched in 2006 with $150 million aimed to short subprime mortgage backed securities. This fund enjoyed immediate success, causing Paulson to launch the Credit Opportunities II fund. At the end of 2007, the Opportunities fund was up 590% and his Opportunities II fund was up 353%. Such sterling performance led two of Paulson's hedge funds to be the #1 and #4 funds as ranked in Barron's hedge fund rankings (top 100). Paulson's funds earned this distinction due to their solid 3 year annualized performance metrics. Additionally, Paulson sits at #3 on Alpha's hedge fund rankings list for 2009, which is compiled based on assets under management (aum).

Complete Story »]]> AU BCE BSX COF DNA EQ GDX GFI GLD JPM KGC MER MIR NCC NRG NTRS PBCT PCZ PM PNC ROH SFI SGP SKF STJ TEVA TRXAQ.PK TWX UST WB WFC WYE Market Folly Swine Flu: Trade Smartly, Beware the Hype http://seekingalpha.com/article/134126-swine-flu-trade-smartly-beware-the-hype?source=feed 134126 I wanted to discuss this whole swine flu hype that’s been blown out of proportion to illustrate how the media creates illusions from what would seem to be valid information. This also relates to the investment world because today, virtually everything that hits newswires is spun further by the financial media. This of course is done intentionally.

In the end, most who jump aboard the hype - whether it’s the stem cell hype, the ethanol hype or the swine flu hype – end up losing while the ones who understand what’s going on take your money.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:12:46 -0400 Mike Stathis Mike Stathis submits:

I wanted to discuss this whole swine flu hype that’s been blown out of proportion to illustrate how the media creates illusions from what would seem to be valid information. This also relates to the investment world because today, virtually everything that hits newswires is spun further by the financial media. This of course is done intentionally.

In the end, most who jump aboard the hype - whether it’s the stem cell hype, the ethanol hype or the swine flu hype – end up losing while the ones who understand what’s going on take your money.


Complete Story »]]> AMGN BCRX CELG CVS DNA GILD GSK NVAX RHHBY.PK WAG Mike Stathis Personalized Medicine: The Next Big Thing http://seekingalpha.com/article/133922-personalized-medicine-the-next-big-thing?source=feed 133922 Andrew Grove once said:

“I’m a great believer in particularly being alert to changes that change something, anything, by an order of magnitude.”

]]> Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:37:11 -0400 Andrew Mickey Andrew Mickey submits:

Andrew Grove once said:

“I’m a great believer in particularly being alert to changes that change something, anything, by an order of magnitude.”


Complete Story »]]> DNA GSK LLY MRK PFE RHHBY.PK SGP Andrew Mickey Galleon's Q408: SPY Pays Off Alongside Reduced Equity Positions http://seekingalpha.com/article/131940-galleon-s-q408-spy-pays-off-alongside-reduced-equity-positions?source=feed 131940 This is the 4th Quarter 2008 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings preface.

Next up is Galleon Group. Galleon was founded by Raj Rajaratnam in 1997 and currently manages in excess of $7 billion. Raj previously worked for Needham & Company, and when he left was responsible for a compounded rate of return of 37% over 4 years while overseeing $250 million. Raj received both a Bsc in Engineering and an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania. And, in 2009 we see that Raj's accomplishments have paid off as he is on Forbes' billionaire list. Galleon Group's Buccaneer fund was up 13.39% as of late February 2009. Additionally, its Diversified fund was up 9.87% through the same time period, as noted in our January & February hedge fund performances (March '09 numbers here).

]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:27:02 -0400 Market Folly Market Folly submits:

This is the 4th Quarter 2008 edition of our ongoing hedge fund portfolio tracking series. Before reading this update, make sure you check out the Hedge Fund 13F filings preface.

Next up is Galleon Group. Galleon was founded by Raj Rajaratnam in 1997 and currently manages in excess of $7 billion. Raj previously worked for Needham & Company, and when he left was responsible for a compounded rate of return of 37% over 4 years while overseeing $250 million. Raj received both a Bsc in Engineering and an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania. And, in 2009 we see that Raj's accomplishments have paid off as he is on Forbes' billionaire list. Galleon Group's Buccaneer fund was up 13.39% as of late February 2009. Additionally, its Diversified fund was up 9.87% through the same time period, as noted in our January & February hedge fund performances (March '09 numbers here).


Complete Story »]]> AAPL ADI AEO AKS AMAG AMAT AMD AMX APH ASCMA ATML BAC BIDU C CI CIT CPWR CSCO DNA ERTS FCN FDX FFIV FSLR FXI GLD GLW HAL HUM INTC K LLTC LLY LRCX MA MRO MRVL MSFT MXIM MYL NOK NRG NTAP OIH PNC QCOM QQQQ RIG SAP SBUX SGP SHAW SHPGY SMH SNDK SPY SRS STLD STX SYNA T USO WDC WMT WYE XLF XLNX YGE YHOO Market Folly Quantitative Price Action Screen: Features to Look For http://seekingalpha.com/article/131109-quantitative-price-action-screen-features-to-look-for?source=feed 131109 There are more than 5,000 individual stocks and funds listed on the combined NYSE and NASDAQ. We put those through a quantitative price performance filter to identify those that may be in a short-term upward or downward movement (as of April 13, 2009).

The universe of US stocks was all those with a 20-day average volume >= 100,000 shares, and a 60-day average price >= $1.

]]> Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:47:51 -0400 Richard Shaw Richard Shaw (QVM Group) submits:

There are more than 5,000 individual stocks and funds listed on the combined NYSE and NASDAQ. We put those through a quantitative price performance filter to identify those that may be in a short-term upward or downward movement (as of April 13, 2009).

The universe of US stocks was all those with a 20-day average volume >= 100,000 shares, and a 60-day average price >= $1.


Complete Story »]]> AAPL APC BIDU CHK CME DNA F MA NTRS SGIC SLB Richard Shaw That Was Not a 2:1 Split in BBH http://seekingalpha.com/article/129557-that-was-not-a-2-1-split-in-bbh?source=feed 129557 Biotech HOLDRs (BBH) closed at $174.97 on March 31, 2009. The shares opened on April 1 at $90.05 down 48%. To some this looked like a 2:1 split. Others thought maybe it was just an April Fool’s hoax. In reality, it is just one of the many quirky features of investing in HOLDRs.

In this particular case, the catalyst was the “spin-out” of Genentech Inc. (DNA) from BBH. And yes, Genetech was a sizeable portion of that ETF.

]]> Sun, 05 Apr 2009 09:54:04 -0400 Ron Rowland Ron Rowland submits:

Biotech HOLDRs (BBH) closed at $174.97 on March 31, 2009. The shares opened on April 1 at $90.05 down 48%. To some this looked like a 2:1 split. Others thought maybe it was just an April Fool’s hoax. In reality, it is just one of the many quirky features of investing in HOLDRs.

In this particular case, the catalyst was the “spin-out” of Genentech Inc. (DNA) from BBH. And yes, Genetech was a sizeable portion of that ETF.


Complete Story »]]> AMGN BBH DNA Ron Rowland Q1 2009 Biotech Roundup: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly http://seekingalpha.com/article/129093-q1-2009-biotech-roundup-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly?source=feed 129093 Now that the first quarter of 2009 has ended, I took a look back at some of the news that moved the stocks in the sector, and as usual with the biotech sector, there definitely wasn't a lack of newsflow. I decided to breakdown the newsflow into three categories, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Oh and full disclosure, I'm a big fan of the Clint Eastwood movie with the same title.

The good: January 6, Indevus (IDEV) up 70 percent on news of a buyout by Endo, January 7, La Jolla (LJPC) up 80 percent on news of a partnership with Biomarin, January 13, Targanta (TARG) up 80 percent on news of a buyout by The Medicines and Zymogenetics (ZGEN) up 27 percent on the news of a partnership with Bristol Myers, February 3, Intermune (ITMN) up 37 percent on positive phase 3 data for Pirfenidone in IPF and OSI pharmaceuticals (OSIP) up 16 percent on positive Tarceva data, February 24, Acorda (ACOR) up 20 percent on buyout rumors, March 6, Genentech (DNA) up 11 percent on Roche raising their bid for the company and on March 12, CV Therapeutics (CVTX) up 31 percent on news of a buyout by Gilead Sciences (GILD).

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:46:34 -0400 Mark Cifra Mark Cifra submits:

Now that the first quarter of 2009 has ended, I took a look back at some of the news that moved the stocks in the sector, and as usual with the biotech sector, there definitely wasn't a lack of newsflow. I decided to breakdown the newsflow into three categories, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Oh and full disclosure, I'm a big fan of the Clint Eastwood movie with the same title.

The good: January 6, Indevus (IDEV) up 70 percent on news of a buyout by Endo, January 7, La Jolla (LJPC) up 80 percent on news of a partnership with Biomarin, January 13, Targanta (TARG) up 80 percent on news of a buyout by The Medicines and Zymogenetics (ZGEN) up 27 percent on the news of a partnership with Bristol Myers, February 3, Intermune (ITMN) up 37 percent on positive phase 3 data for Pirfenidone in IPF and OSI pharmaceuticals (OSIP) up 16 percent on positive Tarceva data, February 24, Acorda (ACOR) up 20 percent on buyout rumors, March 6, Genentech (DNA) up 11 percent on Roche raising their bid for the company and on March 12, CV Therapeutics (CVTX) up 31 percent on news of a buyout by Gilead Sciences (GILD).


Complete Story »]]> ACOR ARNA CVTX DNA GILD HGSI IDEV ITMN LJPC MAPP OREX OSIP OSIR SNTA TARG VPHM ZGEN Mark Cifra FDA and Clinical Trial Updates: Weight Loss, Diabetes and More http://seekingalpha.com/article/129083-fda-and-clinical-trial-updates-weight-loss-diabetes-and-more?source=feed 129083 Below is a summary of updates to the BioMedReports.com database of 246 entries included in the FDA and Clinical Trial Calendars..

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:13:19 -0400 Mike Havrilla Mike Havrilla submits:

Below is a summary of updates to the BioMedReports.com database of 246 entries included in the FDA and Clinical Trial Calendars..


Complete Story »]]> ACOR ARNA AZN BMY DNA GSK PFE RHHBY.PK SEPR VITA WCRX WYE Mike Havrilla Genentech Seals Roche's Dominance of Oncology Market http://seekingalpha.com/article/128914-genentech-seals-roche-s-dominance-of-oncology-market?source=feed 128914 If there was such a thing as a global anti-trust commission they might have something to say about Roche’s (RHHBY.PK) acquisition of Genentech (DNA) with respect to the Swiss pharma giant’s projected domination of the oncology market; the pharmaceutical industry’s fastest growing and, in three years, biggest therapeutic area.

Given the existing relationship and geographical split of revenues between Roche and Genentech, anti-trust concerns are not expected to have any tangible impact on the $46.8bn deal going ahead. However, a review of market share data from EvaluatePharma illustrates the oncology powerhouse that Roche will become: sales of its oncology products are forecast to reach $28.3bn by 2014, grabbing a massive 38% of the overall $75bn cancer market (see tables below). This majority share of a key market in the hands of one company is significantly ahead of the biggest market shares seen in any other therapy area.

]]> Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:39:16 -0400 EP Vantage EP Vantage submits:

If there was such a thing as a global anti-trust commission they might have something to say about Roche’s (RHHBY.PK) acquisition of Genentech (DNA) with respect to the Swiss pharma giant’s projected domination of the oncology market; the pharmaceutical industry’s fastest growing and, in three years, biggest therapeutic area.

Given the existing relationship and geographical split of revenues between Roche and Genentech, anti-trust concerns are not expected to have any tangible impact on the $46.8bn deal going ahead. However, a review of market share data from EvaluatePharma illustrates the oncology powerhouse that Roche will become: sales of its oncology products are forecast to reach $28.3bn by 2014, grabbing a massive 38% of the overall $75bn cancer market (see tables below). This majority share of a key market in the hands of one company is significantly ahead of the biggest market shares seen in any other therapy area.


Complete Story »]]> DNA RHHBY.PK EP Vantage