Nov

27

Xenomics might be worth it in a long run..

Filed Under Biotechnology & Drugs | Leave a Comment 

Xenomics, Inc. (Symbol: XNOM) is the developer of next-generation molecular diagnostics products that address important health problems around the world. They are focusing on the development of DNA-based tests using Transrenal DNA or Tr-DNA.

Tr-DNAs are fragments of DNA derived from dying cells inside the body compartment. The intact DNA is fragmented in these dying cells, and then appears in the bloodstream. These fragments have been shown to cross the kidney barrier and can be detected in urine. Xenomics’ technology uses safe and simple urine collection to be applied to a broad range of testing, such as tumor detection, tissue transplants, infectious disease, even bio-terrorism.

Even though their stock performance in the past 3 months (see above) does not really look enticing, judging from the technology that they are currently developing - this stock can potentially be a good long-term investment. Let me give you a little bit of summary of their technology:

A particularly important feature of Tr-DNA diagnostic technology is that it is a true platform technology. This means that a single laboratory testing procedure designed to detect specific DNA biomarkers can be used to detect many forms of infectious diseases, cancer, transplanted cells and organs, or even prenatal detection of genetic markers of a fetus.

Tr-DNA tests are based upon a simple proprietary method of DNA isolation, followed by detection of DNA fragments bearing specific genetic markers. The detection methods and techniques are already well known and proven in molecular diagnostics laboratories where they are used to detect DNA in blood and a wide variety of specimens. Now these techniques are readily applied to the detection of Tr-DNA markers isolated from urine specimens. Thus, Tr-DNA technology may be applied to detecting and monitoring an extremely broad spectrum of medical conditions.

Additional advantages include:

  • The kidney acts as a filter and presents purified Tr-DNA in the urine and, therefore, simplifies the sample preparation and DNA isolation steps currently required in the laboratory by other testing methods.
  • The collection procedure is non-invasive and, therefore:
  • Does not require the involvement of trained medical staff, and
  • Easily supports repeated tests when conditions require and results in no discomfort for the patient.
  • The Xenomics technology utilizes existing analytical equipment readily available in diagnostic laboratories through the world. Any new capital spending would be limited.
  • Tr-DNA is stable at room temperature for extended periods. DNA in blood and many other traditional samples are not.
  • Test processing can often be easily automated.
  • Although many clinical Tr-DNA tests are performed using only a few drops of urine, it is readily possible to isolate these markers from larger volumes and thus increase the sensitivity of the test. This cannot be done easily using blood or tissue specimens.
  • In many instances, blood or sputum for detection of infectious diseases cannot be easily obtained from many patients such as small children or the elderly. Urine specimens are not often a problem.
  • Blood and other bodily fluids are highly infectious by nature, urine is not.

So…What do you think?

Source: xenomics.com

Quote of the Day:
Money may be the husk of many things but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintance, but not friends; servants, but not loyalty; days of joy, but not peace or happiness. - Henrik Ibsen

Oct

28

Why We Love Wild Penny Stocks

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By Tim Hanson (TMF Mmbop) and Brian Richards (TMF Brich)

Penny stocks have huge potential — that’s their blessing and their curse.

The potential rewards are enormous. Just take a look at what happened at Prana Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PRAN) over the summer — the stock more than doubled after some positive clinical data concerning the company’s PBT2 compound.

That $2 double looks like an easy gain, considering that White Mountains Insurance (NYSE: WTM) would have to add another $536 in value to double its share price, and Markel (NYSE: MKL) would need to throw another $394 on the fire to eke out another double.

Everybody loves pennies
It’s the potential of quick gains in stocks like Prana that keeps investors coming back. We typed “penny stocks” into Google and the search engine spit out “about 2,080,000″ hits. We did the same for more time-tested terms such as “blue-chip stocks” and “dividend-paying stocks” and got just 386,000 and 193,000 hits, respectively.

Sure, we expected a discrepancy, but the size of the gap was startling. It became even more interesting when we broke those hits down with Google Trends. According to Trends, penny stocks are particularly alluring to investors in Orlando, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Tampa, and Calgary — the locales where the term is most often searched.

Las Vegas, for one, makes a bit of sense. Those folks are gamblers.

Florida, though? Well, we hope the folks Googling “penny stocks” down there aren’t retirees.

This stock is set to take off! Or not.
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the term “penny stock” generally refers to low-priced (below $5), speculative securities of very small companies. To quote the SEC: “Investors in penny stocks should be prepared for the possibility that they may lose their whole investment.” (It’s worth noting that the emphasis in that last sentence is in the original.)

Pay attention to the SEC’s entire definition, not just the stock price. Going solely on price would wrongly categorize billion-dollar companies such as Sycamore Networks (Nasdaq: SCMR), Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE: CDE), and Solectron (NYSE: SLR) as penny stocks.

Regardless, the SEC is spot-on when it says that true penny stocks are among the surest ways to lose money in the stock market.

Well, then, why do we “love” penny stocks?
We love penny stocks because they’re fascinating. The world of pennies is inhabited by hardworking average Joes hoping to strike it rich, pumpers and dumpers, hypesters and scammers. In pennies, the logic and reason that applies in the rest of daily life is replaced by zeal and prayer.

However, we don’t love them enough to actually buy them. Yes, they have big potential. But their daily gyrations are unpredictable — the stock price movements have next to nothing to do with the underlying company the stock represents. In fact, trading in pennies is highly illiquid, and prices are often manipulated by forces not at all related to the business.

The dangers of incredible promises
If you’re buying stocks without paying attention to the business you’re buying, then you might as well be buying a lottery ticket. Or (to use another analogy) you might as well buy up every baseball card of a benchwarmer on the Akron Aeros AA baseball team, and hope that he someday rises up, fulfills his potential, and becomes an all-star for the big-league Cleveland Indians.

There’s a better way
Before you start saying the rest of the stock market is boring — with big stocks such as IBM having a “big day” when they move up 1% or so — let us introduce you to some underfollowed small caps. They’re nothing like penny stocks, yet they still offer some of the best returns on the market. Unlike penny stocks, promising small caps:

  • file reliable financial statements
  • are transparent
  • have conference calls individual investors can listen to
  • don’t simply hype their stock in press releases

That’s a starting point. There are more — and more important — criteria to help you find great small-cap companies. Our team at Motley Fool Hidden Gems, for instance, looks for a balance sheet with lots of cash and no debt, and a tenured CEO (or CEO/founder, if possible) who holds a substantial ownership stake in the business. In other words, we’re looking for big returns with good, old-fashioned, bottom-up analysis.

You can view the more than 50 small caps our team has already found with a free 30-day trial. There’s no obligation to subscribe, and we particularly recommend it for the penny stock-o-philes reading in Alberta and Florida. You know who you are.

Source: fool.com

Quote of the Day:
Good bankers, like good tea, can only be appreciated when they are in hot water. - Jaffar Hussein, Governor, Malaysian Central Bank

Oct

28

Penny stocks are cheap for a reason

Filed Under Other | Leave a Comment 

Nancy Woods, Financial Post Published: Saturday, October 28, 2006

Dear Nancy Woods:

My close friend told me about a penny resource stock that he made a lot of money on. He wants me to invest in it, too. He says he thinks it could still double in value. What should I do?

Penny Shy

Dear P.S.:

Your friend could very well have made a lot of money on his stock and wants you to benefit. However, past experience has taught me that people will often tell you about their winners, not their losers. Rarely is someone eager to tell you how much money they lost while speculating on junior resource stocks. It would mean they made a mistake.

My words of caution are to remember you would be buying after the stock has made a significant move and you can never be sure of the future upside. Consider buying an amount that you can afford to lose so it won’t be disastrous if the price goes down. If your friend is right and the stock price does double, you will be happy you bought and made some money, even if it is not enough for you to retire on. These types of stocks are very speculative and not for everyone. Manage your expectations and you won’t be disappointed.

Dear Nancy Woods:

There has been lots of press about income trusts and the possibility of change in how these investments are taxed. I own a number of these. How could I be affected?

Trusting Investor

Dear T.I.:

The recent announcement by BCE that it will convert itself into an income trust has raised the awareness of the loss of tax revenue to the federal government. You can be sure the government is watching this closely and that this deal raises the probability of a change. The opinion of RBC’s Portfolio Advisory Desk is in the past, these tax rumblings hardly affected REITs and oil and gas trusts. You should review your income trusts and do a careful analysis with your advisor to fully understand the underlying businesses of these trusts. Pay extra attention to business trusts that may be more susceptible to changes — if there are any taxation changes.

Source: canada.com

Quote of the Day:
There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. - Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart

Oct

22

Resolve Staffing

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Resolve Staffing, Inc. (Symbol: RSFF) provides outsourced human resource services in the United States. The company offers a range of supplemental staffing and outsourced solutions, including solutions for temporary, temporary-to-hire, or direct hire staffing in the medical, trucking, garment, clerical, office administration, customer service, professional, and light industrial categories.

Resolve Staffing also offers various other services, such as screening, recruiting, training, workforce deployment, loss prevention and safety training, pre-employment testing and assessment, background searches, compensation program design, and customized personnel management reports, as well as payroll administration services, and aggregation of statutory and non statutory employee benefits services. In addition, Resolve Staffing offers job profiling, turnover tracking and analysis, drug testing policy administration, affirmative action plans, opinion surveys and follow-up analysis, and exit interviews and follow-up analysis services.

Their revenue has gone up from $1.7 million in 2004 to $31.1 million in 2005. So far in 2006, their combined revenue from Q1 and Q2 is $27.7 million. I would have to say they can double their revenue by the end of this year. Pretty impressive, huh? Even E-Trade analysts have rated this stock as STRONG BUY.

Below is their stock performance in the past 3 months..

Well I have to say, this one is a keeper. Their revenue has been increasing in the past 2 years, and the industry that they are in has also been growing steadily. In addition, they are only traded at $1.9/share - which is a complete bargain! Might want to watch this one pretty close, fellas..I have a good feeling about this puppy.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Quote of the Day:
Nobody talks more of free enterprise and competition and of the best man winning than the man who inherited his father’s store or farm. - C. Wright Mills

Oct

16

Biotech Holdings, Inc. (Symbol: BIOHF)

Filed Under Biotechnology & Drugs | Leave a Comment 

Biotech Holdings Ltd. is an integrated pharmaceutical company based in Vancouver, Canada, engaged in research, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceutical products.

The focus of the Company is the manufacturing and international marketing of SucanonTM, a new drug for the treatment of Type II Diabetes. Also known as Glucanin. The Company’s focus remains the development and distribution of Sucanon, particularly in Mexico and Latin America. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, Biotech Holdings Ltd. began the manufacture of Sucanon.

In December 2004, the Company began shipping its Type II Diabetes drug Sucanon to Mexican retailers. On March 3, 2005, the Company announced that there was an expansion in the number of drugstore chains and other retail outlets carrying Sucanon in Mexico. Biotech Holdings Ltd. owns 75% of Smith Rothe Pharmaceutical Inc. (Smith Rothe). Smith Rothe holds the marketing rights for the Company’s Type II Diabetes drug in countries other than Asian Countries.

Following are a few of their investment highlights:

  • Sucanon is one of only three drugs approved anywhere in the world, belonging to a new category of drugs called “insulin sensitizers”.
  • Sucanon has received regulatory approval in Mexico. Mexico is the eighth largest pharmaceutical market and one of the largest diabetic markets in the world. Complications of diabetes is Mexico’s leading cause of death.
  • Sales of the drug began in Mexico in early 2005. Sucanon is now sold in more than 600 stores nationally in Mexico including outlets of at least six drugstore chains.
  • Sucanon has been approved in Peru and sales are planned to begin later this year. Preliminary distribution agreements for Sucanon have been negotiated in other Latin American countries.
  • Internet sales of Sucanon are also planned.

The current trading price is very low, which is merely $0.05/share. It’s been fluctuating so much starting January 2006 and slowly declining - even though it once went up as high as $0.11/share in August, it quickly dropped again and finally settled at $0.05/share. I personally like the product that they currently develop; however, looking at their stock perfomance in the past 9 months, I have become very hesitant whether I should invest in this stock or not. Hmm..I’ll probably put this one under my stock-watch list and see what is going to happen in the next few months. Yup, we’ll see…….

Source: http://finance.google.com

Quote of the Day:
Each time, it’s a nice little company, nice people, modestly successful. Then you bring in the VC money - it’s like putting jet engines on a VW. They expect that, within a year and a half, they will get back ten times their money. - Dennis Faust

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