hisham ayoub

Dendreon: Media Spotlight Generates Hype and Hysteria

The success of an article, to your complete and utter surprise, is not only measured by the number of replies on SeekingAlpha. The article is first posted on BioHealth Investor, where the number of hits is what matters.

Second, I never suggested that no one made money on Dendreon. In fact, I said that it will probably go up as the final study results pour in. If you read the article closely it mentions the other stocks as alternatives to Dendreon based on the relative lack of volatility.

Also, if you check out the charts for OPK, LIFC, and HSKA and compare them to that of DNDN, you would notice a huge difference in the trend; a consistent up trend NOT a single volatile spike.

Im glad you made money trading DNDN, and I believe there could still be more to be made, but DNDN is not for me, I like stocks to rise big, but slower.

Florida: The Next Biotech Hot Spot?

Well,

The hurricane argument is really a non-argument. Otherwise, you would have to argue that California has too many earthquakes, or the NorthEast gets too cold or bogged down by snow during the winter. Florida in the winter months can be a great place to work, and in the summer, well, the last one saw no hurricanes make its way across the penninsula.

Relocation? This is the wired age, where business sees no boundaries. You don't think scientists already relocate from city to city, and I am no just talking nationally, many scientists do stints internationally all the time. Travel is a part of the industry now.

You florida comments are understandable. I myself hail from Toronto and had the same opinion, but after moving down here and been living here for almost 5 years now, it really is a nice place to live.

H&Q Life Science: Hold On, Its Time Is Coming

If the market does tank then no sector is immune.

So I do not know where to begin criticizing your comment that if the market tanks, biotechs will tank, and thus, should not invest in them. Going by your comment then, we should not invest in any stocks.

But if you are picking on biotechs, then what makes you think biotechs will especially lead the way down?

2007 does look promising for biotechs, and medical tech stocks in general. and here is why I think so:

- biotech have not performed very well for most of 2006.
- just recently, over the last couple of months, little biotechs are being acquired by larger biotechs and pharmas like crazy. What does that tell you? If biotechs were expected to lose out in 2007 then wouldn't the buyers wait for a better deal?
- changing political landscape looks bad for large pharmas, but little biotechs will be the beneficiaries of lower constraints, ie. stem cell research, genetic engineering... That is why large pharmas are buying biotechs with pipelines now.


"A lot of smar guys find the stock market exceptionally vulnerable"

yeah, they always do, and half of the time they are correct, the other half...

you get the point.

H&Q Life Science: Hold On, Its Time Is Coming

Well, I appreciate your criticism, even though your tone has room for improvement.

I agree, the return-of-capital HQL pays should have been mentioned when speaking of the divident. That is one point I failed to mention. I also failed to mention the fees. Again, I agree with you.

However, the bottom line is very simple, HQL outperformed both the BBH and IBB by a wide margin as Mr.Fink mentioned on Motley Fool. That is it. That is what counts. It did not beat them by a small margin so as to not make a difference after tax deductions. It beat them by a wide margin.

Second, BBH and IBB do not accurately represent the biotech industry in my opinion. I am not saying HQL carries more stocks, but its diversification into the many sub-industry groups, and the fact it holds private companies gives small investors a vehicle that normally is not available.

Cadus: On Its Way Down to Penny Stock Land?

Thanks Mr. Shanske for your comments. My point is a stock like Cadus is a cash holding company that has two choices, either use the cash to enter into new ventures or liquidate. At current prices investors can attain a decent 20% profit if the company decides to liquidate, but at what risk? You don't believe there exists a downside risk even though the stock price has been declining with no news?

What is stopping the stock price from dropping from its current level at $1.50 to $1.00? or to $0.75? That would eliminate that nice 20% profit. I am not saying the stock will drop, it has no reason to. But that is the point, it has been dropping already for no reason!