Frankie62's Comments

Are ETFs Causing an Emerging Markets Bubble?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:23:32 -0500

I'm concerned about all the ETFs - there are so many and no one double checking their actual holdings. Seeking to mimic a group of stocks is not necessarily as easy as it sounds. Playing ETFs seems more like betting rather than investing. Good luck to all you players.

3 Reasons Not to Predict FDA Action: Matrixx, Savient, Dendreon

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:35:37 -0400

In addition DNDN has a similar treatment for breast cancer - Neuvenge which is in trials. The "packet" technology could have other applications as well. Manufacturing facilities are being prepared in NJ and GA as well as the Seattle location. Final BLA to be filed in Q4.

Stock Watch: TTNP, VNDA, DNDN, AGEN, ONTY

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:27:59 -0400

It's hard to imagine FDA refusing to approve Provenge since it met the goals set out by FDA. What a joke it was when the FDA panel voted almost unanimously to approve Provenge, then Dr. Scher etal sabbotaged the approval with their letter writing campaign. The fact that they were biased by their chemo and radiation connections (read $$) was never disclosed. FDA needs major restructuring. Lately they can't seem to approve anything and seem to be going after nit-picking details. Where is Scott Gottlieb when we need him?

Is IBB the Best Biotech ETF?

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:13:10 -0400

I'm surprised to see TEVA in the list of Holdings. Didn't realize they were into biotech, since their specialty is generics. TEVA also doesn't have much increase in earnings, since it is so big. So, is it a core holding, helping to stabilize earnings?

ETFs For Retirement

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:51:35 -0400

Interesting article, but isn't it a little heavy on IShares? Since the IShares portfolio is being sold, can we assume they will have adequate management? What about percentages for each fund - equal? Could have also mentioned how often to check on your retirement portfolio. (Many forgot to do that in the recent fiasco.) Spending less than you earn is always a good idea - especially in retirement. Certificates of Deposite may be better than equities for some - the interest rates will be going up when the expected inflation arrives.

Dendreon Investors Learn a Hard Lesson in Stop-Loss Orders

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:55:34 -0400

That fiasco was possibly criminal - just because you can do something doesn't make it moral. I was one who saw my portfolio significantly impacted by that one minute period. But you left out what happened the next day - DNDN closed at 22.94 a share. We only had to wait. Over and over on the IV message board experienced investors have screamed not to buy DNDN on margin and not to use stop losses. Besides the "phantom" shares problem which causes margin shares to be lent out, a stop loss can cause what happened the day before. Expensive lessons for some DNDN investors.

DNDN's Provenge will change the standard of care for cancer - it is being tested on breast cancer and other tumors as well as for earlier stage prostate cancer. Side effects are very mild, i.e. slight fever, unlike devastating chemotherapy and radiation - and the patient lives longer.

Dendreon 2007 Annual Report and How Provenge Will Propel Company

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:49:59 -0500

sdbanks left out that the primary opponent of Provenge wrote letters urging FDA NOT to approve Provenge for prostate cancer, in spite of the panel vote. There have been lawsuits filed. The same opponent has sources of revenue from the current "accepted" treatment - radiation and chemotherapy (which have devastating side effects), major conflicts of interest. The victims in final stages of PC have been begging for access to Provenge - it not only extends life, but there are virtually no side effects. DNDN's Provenge and Neuvenge are immunotherapies which are customized for each patient, using their individual blood.

Johnson & Johnson Is the Latest FDA Casualty

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:04:54 -0500

I agree with cyclingscholar. Allow the patients to decide, with the advice of their doctors. A new life-extending treatment should be allowed, especially when the FDA committee recognized it is effective and safe. FDA is becoming a cya organization - not just for patient risk, but for "consultant" doctor's risk to their bottom line ($$). Many in the FDA have true conflicts of interest - with ties to pharmaceutical companies payments. How could FDA have refused approval to Provenge, when it clearly was shown to extend life and have virtually no side affects? What terminal cancer patient would not choose a treatment with no side affects which may extend his life a few months, or years? Or would they choose to have devastating chemotherapy and be terribly ill for their remaining days? Let the patients decide for themselves - it's their life or death. Whatever happened to "First do no harm"?

Johnson & Johnson Is the Latest FDA Casualty

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:52:51 -0500

You may be right, cyclingscholor. FDA seems to have a cya attitude - not just for risk but also for the "consultant" doctors' piece of their pie. Many of them truly have conflicts of interest. Why would they approve a new drug or new treatment (see Provenge) which has virtually no side affects and extends life - their pharmaceutical company "consultant" ties might be negatively affected. But what patient in their right mind would choose miserable chemotherapy treatments if another less devastating immunotherapy is more effective. Let the patients decide, with their doctor's advice. And for goodness sake, separate the evaluation of headache treatments from the cancer and other life-saving treatments.

Frankie
On Nov 27 10:25 AM cyclingscholar wrote:

> How about an announcement like this:
>
> The FDA is fundamentally a flawed organization, attempting to balance
> risk and reward for drugs when this is best left to doctors, patients,
> and their families.
>
> Thus, from this point on FDA is to strictly an advisory agency. If
> they feel a drug is dangerous or ineffective, the sum total of their
> power shall be to issue the following proclamation:
>
> "WE BEAN COUNTERS AND STATISTICIANS AT FDA HAVE TESTED THIS DRUG
> AND FOUND IT INEFFECTIVE AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS. USE IT AT YOUR
> OWN RISK, AFTER CONSULTATION WITH YOUR MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL."

>
> cyclingscholar

Moral Hazard: A Danger to Our Financial System

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:01:44 -0400

Very well done indeed. Unfortunately many believe morality is relative - your evil is not my evil. As was said in "Wall Street", "Greed is good". Sadly the average American and his IRA / 401K is paying dearly for that greed.

Are Dendreon's "Naked Shorts" Running For Cover?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:21:23 -0400

Well, finally the powers that be have decided naked shorting is a problem needing addressing. One of the most interesting "new" requirements is that the "borrowed" shares must actually be delivered by the end of the 3rd day - hmmm isn't that what the requirements were originally? Apparently the rules have not been enforced?! DUH! Too bad it took a financial market crash to remove the scales from their eyes.

As a DNDN stockholder I am definitely interested in this development, but I'm even more concerned with what this week has done to my overall retirement portfolio, even though I am not invested in the financial markets.

General Electric Presents a Dividend Opportunity

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:34:47 -0400

I am in the GE DRIP through a previous employer which was sold by GE when it didn't live up to GE expectations. This is one thing which GE does particularly well - divesting divisions which don't perform well enough. I have recently bought more GE because the dividend rate is higher than any CD you can buy, and there is expectation of increase in share price - since the price is now so low. With so much of its earnings coming from outside the US, the value of the US$ also helps. And I trust GE Capital (Financial) is much better at risk management than most US banks.

Some Consequences if Oil Prices Stay High

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:34:18 -0400

Sad Oil Git - Re Nuclear Waste - Do you realize there are often volcanos in that ring of fire around the techtonic plate edges? And mountain building goes on around techtonic plates - it could end up on top of or inside a mountain - what a great waterfall that would be. And do you really want to gamble that the waste will have made it down to the magma before a volcano erupts? Now that could be an interesting volcanic eruption if it included nuclear waste. That volcanic ash cloud could circle the globe in a short time. And those old familiar claims that we can bury the waste deep enough not to reappear in the ground water - I don't want to drink any of the "spring water" from that area - do you?

Owens-Illinois Continues to Grow

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:30:26 -0400

I agree this stock is a sleeper. Since I own it I hope it wakes up. Even though they recently sold their plastics division so they don't need oil for supply stock, I wonder what their source of fuel is - glass melts at a high temperature. Their transportation costs are probably going up and their debt seems a tad high to me. Supposedly 75% of their business comes from overseas. On the whole it sounds like a good investment to me - so why has the price dropped so much? Anyone??

Owens-Illinois Continues to Grow

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:23:26 -0400

I'm wondering how much the cost of power will affect OI - for manufacturing and transportation. What is their source of fuel? They are making all glass containers now so they don't need oil for materials, since they sold their plastic devision. And what about their debt - I would prefer it to be lower. Supposedly about 75% of their customers are overseas. Disclosure - I do own OI.

Lowest P/E Ratios in the Nasdaq 100

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:26:45 -0400

PETM looking good to me. No one ever seems to cut back on their dog's food and toys.

Dendreon's Provenge: Government Agencies Play Hide and Seek With Facts

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:14:54 -0400

Jose, I'm sorry but I agree with the previous writer who replied to you. Pray you don't get prostate cancer. Those men who have been diagnosed know that they have few choices - remove the prostate if they are lucky enough to have caught it early as my husband did, burn it out with xrays either by external means or by the "seed" technique and/or chemo"therapy". All of those choices for "treatment" make the cure as bad as the disease. No man wants that, so many go without treatment and accept impending death. If the Provenge immunological treatment consists of having blood withdrawn, treated, then reinfused 2-3 times, with virtually no side affects, the choice is a no-brainer. It is morally reprehensible to bar those grown men from that choice if there is even a slight chance it could work. Give them the information and let them make the choice. The FDA panel ruled that it was effective and safe. If it is you, your brother, your uncle, your dad, your grandfather or your son, what choice would you make?

General Garbage

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:17:39 -0400

It's silly to compare GM and GE - they are totally different, except that they both have "general" and a major financial division. What about General Dynamics? They have done well in the last few years and they are in a totally different business too, although GM used to build the small military vehicle and GE has been developing a substantial homeland security division. I still believe that GE has possibly the best CEO in his peers. This "market" is directionless so one needs to choose the best companies with the best CEOs and hang in there.

Pharmaceutical Facts Investors Should Know

Thu, 29 May 2008 08:55:11 -0400

Pharma companies claim they must sell new drugs for high prices, even when they are life-saving cancer treatments, to recoup their development costs. My only comment is a reminder that investment counselors usually advise owning some big pharma. They would not be advising that if pharmas were barely making a profit. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Pharmaceutical Facts Investors Should Know

Thu, 29 May 2008 08:50:47 -0400

Big Pharma always says they need to charge high prices on new drugs (including life saving cancer drugs) to recoup their development expenses. My only comment is that, like the oil and gas sector, financial advisers always recommend some pharma stocks. They would not recommend investing in pharma if those companies were barely making a profit.

Biotech Stocks' Various Lupus Therapies: Opportunity or Lost Cause?

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:23:52 -0400

It is so sad that there are so few drugs to treat Lupus, and there is no cure. My daughter-in-law has Lupus and would absolutely love to have a baby, but without treatment her Lupus acts up. She was diagnosed in college when she had a major "flare", and even though she is a healthcare professional, she cannot find an adequate treatment.

Will Wal-Mart's Drug Price Cuts Affect Other Pharmacies?

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:42:56 -0400

On the subject of discounted drugs - I noticed last week that Tom Thumb pharmacies have lowered the price of my beta blocker to $4.

Dendreon: The Provenge Approval Scandal, One Year Later

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:16:24 -0400

This story is still amazing to me. What is the point of having an FDA Panel if FDA is not going to pay any attention to it? The safety and efficacy numbers from the Panel analysis show that they believed Provenge is safe and effective. FDA should have at least approved Provenge conditionally,if not outright. Instead, the panelists in the minority (and in the back pocket of big pharma) wrote scathing letters claiming the Panel was wrong in its analysis. What stupidity.