Small Cap Stock Market Investing Tips

At the conclusion of each week, VFC's Stock House examines some news items, stocks and stories that made headlines during the previous trading week, but may also make headlines or influence trends during the upcoming week as well.

A new quarter kicks off with a bang this week as new jobs and manufacturing data are slated for release while the US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will issue new comments relating to the economy on Monday. It's also expected that Spain will officially request a bailout this week and the first of three US Presidential debates will take place on Wednesday, positioning the coming week as one that could be filled with high trading volume, excitement and volatility. Trading patterns have remained relatively sideways over the past couple of weeks as the markets remain the range of their multi-year highs and any earnings or economic surprises could, in theory, spark a further move higher while any worse-than-expected numbers would likely provide the downward pressure that many media outlets were predicting would materialize over the past few weeks...

It's been a sideways trading week for the markets thus far, although the modest dip by the DOW on Wednesday could be an indication that many are consolidating positions in anticipation of a possible broad market downturn. Some stocks have taken a harder hit than others so far this week and here's just a few of them to keep an eye on as the dips experienced by these companies may be more the result of trading patterns and only be temporary...

Amarin Corporation (AMRN):  Amarin shares dropped at the week's open on Monday and have continued with their downward trend ever since, closing Wednesday at just under the twelve dollar mark.  Shares were flying earlier this summer, however, just before the company's flagship product, Vascepa, received an FDA approval for the treatment of very high triglycerides.  Concerns over whether or not the FDA will eventually grant a new chemical entity (NCE) status to Vascepa has weighed heavily on the share price, especially after the second delay was announced earlier this month.  Although Amarin is building a solid foundation of patents to protect its technology, NCE status would provide more rock-solid protection for the period covered by NCE and this fact is being played up heavily by numerous investors and financial media outlets.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) is another of quite a few developmental companies in the healthcare sector that has experienced a boost in both volume and price since the summer months and could be worth keeping an eye on as an advancing pipeline and a novel technology moves into the latter stages of Phase II development. Inovio has pushed forward - through the development of its SynCon vaccine design process - a full pipeline of synthetic vaccines that are designed to universally treat multiple and emerging strains of a virus - instead of just focusing on treating a single strain, as is the standard of today's vaccine development. In addition to developing this technology to treat just various virus strains, however, Inovio has also applied the SynCon technology to treating multiple cancers, too...

Already a hot stock to watch based on an early-September move higher, AEterna Zentaris (AEZS) shares really caught fire late last week after Roth Capital Partners initiated coverage on the company with a rating of 'Buy' and a price target of $1.75, which values AEZS shares at more than double that of last Friday's close and more than triple the share price of just a few weeks ago.  As previously discussed, AEZS took a dive earlier this year after the high-profile failure of AEterna's Perifsone - then partnered with Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) - in a Phase III trials testing its effectiveness in fighting metastatic colorectal cancer made headlines... 

Earlier this summer Cytosorbents Corp (CTSO) announced the official launch of CytoSorb in Europe. 

CytoSorb had been approved last year in Europe for the treatment of conditions where high cytokines are present and the company has been taking a methodical and patient approach towards full commercialization in order to keep expenditures under control.  In conjunction with the launch, CytoSorb also appointed Dr. Christian Steiner, MD, to its European sales subsidiary as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Managing Director of CytoSorbents Europe GmbH.  The official launch was an highly-anticipated event by investors who believe that CytoSorb could become the new standard of care for severe sepsis and other indications of high ctyokines once momentum into the intensive care market builds...

At the conclusion of each week, VFC's Stock House examines some news items, stocks and stories that made headlines during the previous trading week, but may also make headlines or influence trends during the upcoming week as well.

Although last week was one of sideways trading as the markets held their multi-year highs, this week and beyond could give investors some short term cause for concern. The the third quarter earnings season is predicted to be soft and there are no real economic motivators expected to catalyst markets any higher than their current levels. Stimulus talk and promises from the Fed in the US and from the European Central Bank across the pond fuelled much of the recent market run, but while stimulus is nice, the facts are that investors may key more on the sluggish economies as many believe - including this guy - that there is more potential for market downside than up.

Regardless, there's always going to be plenty of hot stocks and stories to watch. Here's just a few of them...

Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (ADMD) has - through key partnerships, expanding distribution channels and the acquisition of a license to a novel cancer-fighting technology - well positioned itself to become a growth player in the field of nuclear medicine, specifically in the field of the production and distribution of medical isotopes.  Medical isotopes are used in molecular imaging, therapy, and nuclear medicine to diagnose, manage and treat diseases and are deemed a hot item whenever discussed because of the geopolitical implications of non-nuclear nations attempt to enrich uranium for - ahem - solely medical purposes...

Shares of Titan Pharmaceuticals (TTNP) have traded in a relative range between sixty five and eighty cents since mid-April of this year, but a nice bump in volume over the past four trading sessions has once again helped the stock bash through the dollar barrier. Investors who had been counting on the company landing a partner for Probuphine - a subcutaneous treatment for opioid addiction that utilizes Titan's proprietary ProNeura drug delivery system - were time and again disappointed by no news, leading to the share price slip to the sixties earlier this year...

Shares of Sunshine Heart (SSH) have been trading with increased volatility over the past couple of weeks as investors reacted to a report of new - and bullish - analyst coverage from Canaccord Genuity.  Canaccord slapped a rating of 'buy' and a price target of eleven dollars on Sunshine shares, citing encouraging results of a North American feasibility trial for the C-Pulse Heart Assist system and a firmed-up financial position as key reasons to retain a positive outlook on the company's future.  C-Pulse is a medical device that has thus far proven to halt - and possibly reverse - the progression of heart failure in patients with Class III and ambulatory Class IV heart failure.  It's also considered less-intrusive than other heart-implantable devices since it is implanted outside of the blood stream and was approved in Europe just months ago...

Synergy Pharmaceuticals (SGYP), with a key trial catalyst pending, remains a hot stock to watch heading into the final quarter of the year. As confirmed last month, Synergy's Phase IIb/III trial testing Plecanatide in the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) has completed enrollment and is on track for a December results release. Investor sentiment regarding this trial is positive, as evidenced by a price run of nearly a dollar since the beginning of August, especially since Ironwood Pharmaceuticals' (IRWD) recently received an FDAapproval for Linzess - a product previously known as Linaclotide which shares origins and a similar mechanism-of-action with Plecanatide...

AEterna Zentaris (AEZS) was cruising along earlier this year with a share price four times the current levels, a pipeline full of potential and results from a Phase III trial testing the company's lead product candidate, Perifisone, in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer soon to be released.  Investor confidence was also building as shares of both AEterna and partner Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) were quickly heading higher leading into the trial catalyst.  All that changed overnight, however, when it was announced that Perifisone failed the Phase III trial.  AEterna shares plunged, as did those of Keryx, and neither company has yet to return to the pre-results highs.  AEterna, actually, remained stagnant over the course of the summer, trading at well below the dollar mark as investors demonstrated a loss of confidence in Perifisone, which was (and still is) being investigated in a Phase III trial for multiple myeloma (MM)...

OncoSec Medical (ONCS) - with a market cap of right around twenty million and a share price of just over twenty cents - is still chugging along as a potentially attractive risk/reward play for investors looking to take a chance on a new method of cancer treatment based on a novel technology. OncoSec, as previously noted, has developed the proprietary OncoSec Medical System (OMS), which uses a process known as electroporation to more accurately and efficiently deliver therapeutic agents directly into cancerous cells without disturbing the surrounding tissue. Such a technology, should it prove successful through development, could help ease the cost burdens associated with cancer treatment today as existing treatments could become more effective and side effects could be minimized...

At the conclusion of each week, VFC's Stock House examines some news items, stocks and stories that made headlines during the previous trading week, but may also make headlines or influence trends during the upcoming week as well.

The markets flew last Thursday afternoon and Friday morning after much-anticipated comments from the US Federal Reserve indicated that stimulus for the ailing economy would continue to be forthcoming until the economy picks up steam on its own.  Investors liked the news and sparked the run that built on momentum created the previous week when the European Central Bank (ECB) issued similar comments of its own...

At the conclusion of each week, VFC's Stock House examines some news items, stocks and stories that made headlines during the previous trading week, but may also make headlines or influence trends during the upcoming week as well.

The economic news wasn't all encouraging last week, not from Europe nor from the United States, but the markets didn't mind so much as stocks jumped on both Thursday and Friday and soared to new four year highs. What the markets liked - and grabbed on to for momentum - was that the European Central Bank (ECB) pledged last week to offer stimulus to the European economy by buying up some debt of the most troubled Eurozone countries. The Euro rebounded on that news and the US markets also jumped as investors became increasingly optimistic that the US economic authorities would follow suite and initiate another round of stimulus bond-buying during a two-day meeting this week...

Shares of Amarin Corporation (AMRN) opened the new trading week with a bang, jumping by over a buck on Tuesday - good for a seven percent gain - before giving back half of those gains on Wednesday as traders likely parlayed the quick spike into some opportune profits.  Amarin has been one of the more-watched stories in the healthcare sector over the summer, especially since the late-July approval of Vascepa for the treatment of very high trigylcerides sent shares into a dramatic tailspin that resulted in a twenty percent drop in price.  Although shares did begin to rebound rather quickly, investors - and potential buyers of the company - were still awaiting the outcome of pending catalysts that could confirm the true overall value of Vascepa over both the short and long terms.  One of those catalysts developed this week and led to Tuesday's share price spike of seven percent...

It all looks to be coming together for Implant Sciences (IMSC).  With probably the most significant key catalyst in the company's history expected to unfold this month - that being the potential TSA approval of the Quantum Sniffer (QS) B220 benchtop explosive trace detection (ETD) device, which has already completed certification readiness testing and moved on into the final phase of the approval process - Implant is also making strides in its global sales division while taking care of some financial house cleaning, as well. 

Both developments bode well for the short and long term future of this company...

At the conclusion of each week, VFC's Stock House examines some news items, stocks and stories that made headlines during the previous trading week, but may also make headlines or influence trends during the upcoming week as well.

The summer play period is over and even though the coming week will be shortened due to the Labor Day holiday, it'll back to work for the masses come Tuesday morning - meaning investors can look for a sharp uptick in overall trading volume during the next four trading days. Generally susceptible to a summer swoon, the markets held relatively strong during the beach season this year and ended last week on high note after US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that additional actions to strengthen the US economy would be undertaken, should it not continue regain continued momentum on its own...