Company Hosts Cell Therapy Summit to Discuss Best Practices for Bringing Therapeutics to Market

Acquisition enhances company’s strategic offerings in high growth PCR market

Citigroup (NYSE: C) upped its earnings estimates for 2009-2011 on insurance giant MetLife (NYSE: MET) while reiterating a "buy" rating on the shares with a $42 price target.

Calling current valuation "attractive" and noting the current price is a good entry point, Citigroup boosted its 2009 earnings estimate for MetLife to $2.85 a share from $2.75. The 2010 estimate was hiked to $4.10 from $4 and the 2011 was nudged higher to $4.70 a share from $4.60.

Citi noted MetLife has $10 billion in excess liquidity and that managment is attempting to rein in costs. Still, 2009 earnings will be down nearly 53% from 2007 levels and that decline is far greater than what is expected from most of MetLife's key rivals.

The research note said MetLife should focus more on profit growth than gaining market share, but also said that MetLife's investment portfolio appears strong and that it passed the Treasury Department's stress test with the lowest level of projected losses of any institution examined.

Bottom line: Citi says MetLife possesses the strongest long-term growth potential of any U.S. life insurer.

There have been exciting new offerings in the international space of late, allowing US investors access to foreign equities other than those available as US ADRs.   We discussed a Brazilian small cap ETF last summer [Jun 2, 2009: Market Vectors Brazil Small Cap (BRF) - a New ETF for Exposure to Brazil, an Indian small cap product is on its way [Van Eck Global to Introduce Indian Small Cap Offering], and a Chinese small cap ETF, Claymore AlphaShares Small CAP (HAO) has been one of the better ETF performers in 2009.  We've had a limit order sitting out in this latter product for months, which I've recently canceled as I've "missed the train".

Even for someone who follows the markets daily there is an avalanche of ETF products out there, much of it "me too".  Hence if an ETF does not catch attention quickly it generally languishes in purgatory.  But Claymore has a new product out that fills a nice niche in between its small cap offering, and the very large cap type of ETFs, most notably the very popular iShares Xinhua China 25 (FXI) - a product we've owned on an off the past few years.  This is what I term a mega cap type of fund; it owns the largest of the large names in China - many of which are available in the US as ADRs.  While China is an exception (to a degree) you generally will find more growth in mid or small cap names (but higher volatility) so I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the 2 Claymore products.  The small cap ETF is obvious in where it is placed in the food chain - but with the new all cap ETF you can get exposure from large companies, to medium, to small and this might turn out to be a very popular ETF over time for that reason.

First, let's review Claymore AlphaShares China Small Cap ETF (HAO) as its been around for a good while.  It's fund page can be found here.

The ETF has decent volume - trading about 300,000 shares a day, with an expense ratio of 0.70%.  The ETF has attracted about $250M in assets, and the year to date performance as of 10/31, was 76.1%.

Next we have the new Claymore AlphaShares China All Cap ETF (YAO) which launched in the past few weeks. 

The Claymore/AlphaShares China All-Cap ETF (the "Fund"), NYSE Arca:YAO, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund’s fees and expenses, of an equity index called the AlphaShares China All-Cap Index (the “China Index” or the “Index”).

The ETF actually had an amazing 1.3 million shares of volume the first day out - but has since fallen off.  It has not yet been around a month so we can't tell yet if momentum will continue; but it also has the same expense ratio as its smaller brother. It has already attracted $72M in assets in under a month, so it seems to be quite popular.

Now let's compare the ETFs, in terms of size of companies owned, number of companies owned, along with sector exposure

	HAO	YAO
# of Securities	135	99
Average Mkt Cap	$1.9 B	$18.4 B
Country Weights
China	71.2%	76.0%
Hong Kong	26.5%	23.4%
Top 5 Sectors
Industrials	22.9%	9.5%
IT	18.5%	11.6%
Consumer Disc	15.2%	-
Financials	14.8%	34.9%
Materials	12.4%	-
Energy	-	17.9%
Telecom	-	7.8%
(sector data as of 9/30)

We can see the All Cap offering owns companies on average 10x as large as the small cap offering; no surprise there.  This is still far smaller than the average size in the iShare Xinhau China 25 ETF referenced above.  Since most of China's largest companies are financial or energy based, this has also skewed YAO to a 1/3rd allocation into that 1 sector, with nearly another 1/5th into the energy sector.  We can see this in YAO's top holdings

1. Bank of China
2. China Life Insurance (LFC)
3. CNOOC (CEO)
4. Industrial Bank
5. China Construction Bank
6. PetroChina (PTR)
7. China Mobile (CHL)

Most of these (non bank) names are very familiar mega cap names for any investor who has traded Chinese shares in the US.  However these 7 make up "only" 35% of the All Cap ETF and then as you move down the list you start seeing more of a mix of names, both in size and industry. Hence the difference between this and FXI which is simply a collection of 25 names with the same girth as the 7 above.

Turning back to the Small Cap ETF, the top holdings are very different:

1. Citic Pacific
2. Netease.com (NTES)
3. Dongfeng Motor
4. Ctrip.com (CTRP)
5. Yanzhou Coal Mining (YZC)

These first five only make up 14% of the HAO ETF, so this is much more broadly diversified in both industry but also concentration of holdings.  I am familiar with a good portion of the names in this index - at least those listed in the US... certainly many names that are not available in the US also fill the roster.

So much like the Brazilian or coming Indian small cap ETFs we'd expect more volatility the smaller you go, but more of a real exposure to the domestic economy - especially the consumer.  Whereas the larger the ETF skews, the more exposure to multinational type of companies you would have.

No positions

Last year Father Jose Gabriel Funes, a Jesuit priest and the chief papal astronomer, noted that the search for aliens did not contradict a belief in God. With that, the floodgates appeared to have opened at the Vatican. Over the last five days, the Vatican invited 30 of the world's...

The ETF Professor thinks the SPDR KBW Insurance (NYSE: KIE) could be a good play for investors with a longer-term time horizon. The Professor thinks dividend increases among some of KIE's top holdings could be a positive catalyst for the ETF going forward.

Recent dividend hikes from Travelers (NYSE: TRV) and Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU) are good signs to be sure and Aflac (NYSE: AFL) has raised its dividend every year for more than 25 years in a row, so the Professor won't rule out Aflac joining the party soon.

KIE has tracked the broader market closely, gaining 10% over the past three months and that's the same performance as the S&P 500.

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

• Actel Corp (ACTL)
• American Apparel Inc (APP)
• American Superconductor Corp (AMSC)
• Amerco Inc (UHAL)
• Atlantic Tele-Network Inc (ATNI)
• AudioCodes Ltd (AUDC)
• Audiovox Corp (VOXX)
• Bway Holding Co (BWY)
• Cavco Industries Inc (CVCO)
• Cognex Corp (CGNX)
• Conexant Systems Inc (CNXT)
• Conmed Corp (CNMD)
• Connecticut Water Service Inc (CTWS)
• Corinthian Colleges Inc (COCO)
• Euronet Worldwide Inc (EEFT)
• Franklin Resources Inc (BEN)
• Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd (GILT)
• Herbalife Ltd (HLF)
• Huaneng Power International Inc (HNP)
• Integrated Device Technology Inc (IDTI)
• Inter Parfums Inc (IPAR)
• Invacare Corp (IVC)
• La-Z-Boy Inc (LZB)
• Life Technologies Corp (LIFE)
• LJ International Inc (JADE)
• Nalco Holding Co (NLC)
• National Australia Bank Ltd (NABZY)
• Opnet Technologies Inc (OPNT)
• Perrigo Co (PRGO)
• Phillips-Van Heusen Corp (PVH)
• Quantum Corp (QTM)
• Rocky Brands Inc (RCKY)
• Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group Inc (RODM)
• Scientific Learning Corp (SCIL)
• Solarfun Power Holdings Co Ltd (SOLF)
• Stanley Inc (SXE)
• Systemax Inc (SYX)
• Telecom Italia SpA (TI)
• Tuesday Morning Corp (TUES)
• Tween Brands Inc (TWB)
• Virage Logic Corp (VIRL)
• Vonage Holdings Corp (VG)
• Wright Express Corp (WXS)
• Xyratex Ltd (XRTX)

View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List

 

"ACTL" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"APP" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"AMSC" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"UHAL" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"ATNI" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"AUDC" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"VOXX" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"BWY" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"CVCO" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"CGNX" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"CNXT" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"CNMD" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"CTWS" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

• 3M Co (MMM)
• AMCOL International Corp (ACO)
• Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM)
• Arena Resources Inc (ARD)
• Bell Microproducts Inc (BELM)
• Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc (BIO)
• BNP Paribas (BNPQY)
• Boston Beer Co Inc (SAM)
• Conmed Corp (CNMD)
• Crosstex Energy Inc (XTXI)
• Deutsche Bank AG (DB)
• Dover Corp (DOV)
• Dow Chemical Co (DOW)
• Eaton Corp (ETN)
• FBL Financial Group Inc (FFG)
• Fuel Systems Solutions Inc (FSYS)
• Genoptix Inc (GXDX)
• Information Services Group Inc (III)
• International Bancshares Corp (IBOC)
• Jo-Ann Stores Inc (JAS)
• Kohl's Corp (KSS)
• Life Technologies Corp (LIFE)
• Masco Corp (MAS)
• MDU Resources Group Inc (MDU)
• Nordstrom Inc (JWN)
• Parker Hannifin Corp (PH)
• Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc (RSTI)
• Ross Stores Inc (ROST)
• Royal Gold Inc (RGLD)
• Santarus Inc (SNTS)
• Sealed Air Corp (SEE)
• Solutia Inc (SOA)
• Starbucks Corp (SBUX)
• Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC)
• Waddell & Reed Financial Inc (WDR)

View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List
"MMM" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"ACO" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"ADM" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"ARD" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"BELM" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"BIO" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"BNPQY" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"SAM" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"CNMD" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"XTXI" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"DB" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"DOV" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"DOW" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"ETN" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"FFG" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Biotech investors interested in seeing more details about these companies and a full list of their related stories can do so by typing the stock ticker symbol into the Stock Quotes box on the right side of the page.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) announced it is scheduled to present at the Oppenheimer 20th Annual Healthcare Conference being held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, New York.

 

PolyMedix, Inc. (OTC:PYMX), an emerging biotechnology company developing new therapeutic drug products to treat infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, has completed a second successful clinical study of its anticoagulant reversing agent, PMX-60056.

 

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., (NASDAQ:LGND) and Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MBRX) announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Ligand will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Metabasis.

 

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) will announce its financial results for the 2009 third quarter on Thursday, October 29, 2009, after the closing of the equity market.

 

Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:LIFE) announced results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2009.

 

BioSphere Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:BSMD) – the leader in the use of bioengineered microspheres to treat uterine fibroids, hypervascularized tumors and vascular malformations by a minimally invasive, image-guided medical procedure called embolotherapy –announced the submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application for a clinical trial for the use of BioSphere’s QuadraSphere® Microsphere product (QuadraSphere) to deliver the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin for the treatment of primary liver cancer.

 

International Stem Cell Corporation (OTC:ISCO) and Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York (RMA of New York) have show immature, unfertilized human eggs can be used to create “parthenotes” from which human parthenogenetic stem cell lines may be derived.

 

Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS), a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, announced the Company will be presenting at the Oppenheimer 20th Annual Healthcare Conference at 3:55 p.m. EST on November 3, 2009, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

 

Helicos BioSciences Corporation (NASDAQ:HLCS) announced its operational, technical and scientific highlights for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

 

PolyMedix, Inc. (OTC:PYMX), an emerging biotechnology company developing new therapeutic drug products to treat infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, has completed a second successful clinical study of its anticoagulant reversing agent, PMX-60056.

 

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. (OTC: IMUC), a biotechnology company which is focused on the development of novel immune-based cancer therapies, announced additional data from its Phase I clinical trial evaluating ICT-107, the Company’s dendritic-cell based cancer vaccine product candidate for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

 

Columbia Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBRX) announced Robert S. Mills, president and chief executive officer of Columbia Laboratories, Inc. will present at the upcoming Oppenheimer 20th Annual Healthcare Conference.

 

Alkermes, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS) announced the initiation of a phase 1 clinical study of ALKS 37, an orally active, peripherally-restricted opioid antagonist with potential to block the opioid agonist effects on gastrointestinal motility, commonly referred to as opioid-induced constipation (OIC).

 

POZEN Inc. (NASDAQ: POZN) announced the results of a Phase I study that showed a novel, investigational combination of enteric-coated aspirin (EC-ASA) an immediate-release omeprazole known as PA65020, is associated with a significantly decreased risk of GI mucosal damage compared to analgesic doses (650 mg twice daily) of over-the-counter enteric-coated aspirin (EC-ASA) in healthy adults treated for one month.

 

NeoPharm, Inc. (OTC:NEOL) announced it has submitted a Phase II protocol o the FDA for the study of liposome entrapped docetaxel (LE-DT), novel, proprietary liposomal delivery system of docetaxel, the active ingredient of Taxotere®, for locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.

 

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSIP) announced OSI Management will present at the Oppenheimer Healthcare Conference in New York, NY on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 3:20pm (Eastern Time) and will provide an overview on the Company’s product portfolio and business developments.

 

Manhattan Scientifics (OTCBB: MHTX) and Senior Scientific, LLC announced they have begun cooperative work to commercialize Senior Scientific’s nano medicine cancer detection technology.

 

Inhibitex, Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX) announced it would host a conference call on Friday, November 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. EDT to review the Company’s financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009 and provide an update on recent corporate developments.

 

A study published this month in the journal Tissue Antigens reports that researchers at Roche Molecular Systems (OTC:RHHBY) in Pleasanton, CA have used high-throughput sequencing technology from 454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company, to carry out high-resolution human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotyping in research samples.

 

Revolutions Medical Corporation (OTCBB:RMCP), producers of the RevVac safety syringe, RevColor, RevDisplay and Rev3D MRI Technology, announced CEO Ron Wheet has been featured in the popular AllPennyStocks.com Spotlight series, produced by TheNewsWire.ca.

 

Rockwell Medical (NASDAQ:RMTI), a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company offering innovative products and services targeting end-stage renal disease (ESRD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and iron deficiency anemia, announced today that it has unveiled a new corporate identity consisting of a new logo, Company name and website.

 

Unilife Medical Solutions (OTC:UNIFF) announced it has commenced the filing of international trademarks for Unifill™, which will become the market brand for its portfolio of ready-to-fill safety syringes.

 

Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:OREX) announced results from new intent to treat (ITT) analyses from the COR-I and COR-II Phase 3 trial of Contrave® (naltrexone SR/bupropion SR), the first of two late stage Orexigen candidates for the treatment of obesity.

 

Cytori Therapeutics, Inc., (NASDAQ:CYTX) will present and provide a webcast of its corporate presentation at the 2009 BIOCOM Investor Conference at 1:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 27, 2009.

 

King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:KG) announced it has licensed from Merck Santé S.A.S., an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, the exclusive rights to market and sell CYANOKIT® 5 g (hydroxocobalamin for injection) ANTIDOTE in the U.S. CYANOKIT® is indicated for the treatment of known or suspected cyanide poisoning, typically caused by smoke inhalation from fires.

 

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) reported revenues for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009 were $27.1 billion compared to $26.6 billion a year ago.

 

Please note a change to the Merge Healthcare Inc., (NASDAQ:MRGE) third quarter 2009 earnings call. The call, which was previously scheduled for 4:15 PM EDT on Thursday, October 29, 2009, will now be held at 9:00 AM EDT.

 

PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq:PPDI) reported its financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009.

 

Total Nutraceutical Solutions, Inc. (OTC:TNUS), announced the company has formulated and will launch a unique natural whole food mushroom-based Vitamin D supplement.

 

Osteologix, Inc. (OTC:OLGX) announced Philip J. Young, President and CEO of Osteologix, will present a corporate overview and update at the 8th Annual Bio Investor Forum being held this week at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California.

 

3SBio Inc. (Nasdaq:SSRX), a leading China-based biotechnology company focused on researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing biopharmaceutical products, announced it will release financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009 after the US market closes on Thursday, November 12, 2009.

 

 

TomoTherapy Inc., (NASDAQ:TOMO) announced four recipients of grants from the first round of its 2009-2010 TomoTherapy® Clinical Investigation Partnership Program.

We had a blast out in Vegas. It was pretty wild and crazy, but it makes me wonder just how much crazier things get when Vegas is actually doing well. In any case, we stayed out there a day longer than usual, so at least we got in some relaxing on our final day there.

We met up with two different groups of friends that were out there the same weekend by coincidence -- we only found out about them in the couple weeks leading up it. Friday night was fun, as we went out drinking and dancing at the side bar of the Wasted Space nightclub. There were lots of wild people ready to party dressed scantily and slut-worthily just as you would expect from Vegas.

The next night a high school friend of mine, JC, I all found ourselves at a super low-limit poker table at the Mandalay Bay. It's a lot of fun when you play well below your usual limits. I got to splash around a lot while doing my pre-party drinking. Basically, I get to enjoy myself rather than be forced to play seriously.

Finally for Halloween night, we started off at a bar at the MGM and eventually made our way over to Studio 54 once it got less crazy. Apparently, one of the "Girls Next Door" stars (Holly Madison) was the host for the night, and when she left things got less hectic. It was a good thing to wait, since I don't think I was really up for fighting crowds to enjoy the night.

Both JC and I dressed up as vampires, and surprisingly, it was not as popular a costume as we were initially fearing. The costumes worked well, and I had my fair share of randoms that wanted me to bite them, etc. But, those stories will have to stay in Vegas... it's the rule after all.

On Sunday night, JC and I went to watch the Cirque du Soleil show, Zumanity. I had seen Mystere and O before, and I would say that Zumanity would rank third of the three. But, it was still highly entertaining -- definitely not something you should go see if you're conservative and opposed to adult conversations and themes. While many of the acts were impressive, I was not as big a fan of the music as I have been of the other shows.

Later on, we ate at an overpriced Japanese restaurant at Planet Hollywood called Koi. The quality was perfectly fine. I felt the salmon was par at best, but most everything else I had was decent quality, but not worth the prices they were charging. After our meal though, as we were about to take off, a nearby table blurted out that they saw a rat. Turns out that JC also spotted it. We did not try to get any refund or anything... seems like poor form when we were very much done with our meal. Still pretty gross though. In short, I wouldn't recommend Koi to anyone.

Since I'm too lazy to put up pictures of the food at Koi, I'll share a picture I took of some non-alcoholic Berry Fizz drink that JC at some cafe in one of the hotels.



Then, on Monday we went over to the downtown area and grabbed a lot of souvenir chips for JC's collection. Also, we did some gambling, but overall it was a more relaxing day of recovery. I also have a silly story about getting tricked to tell.

So, we are walking out of the El Cortez and we walk towards the intersection, and we decide to turn around since there were no more hotels in the direction that we were walking. A cop then tells us to halt and tells us that we had been tagged for jaywalking by a police car. We are in disbelief, because we hadn't even set foot on the street let alone jaywalked. The officer then talks on his radio saying that he has secured the suspects, and as we verbalized (loudly) our incredulity, he started laughing and said, "I got you guys." He sure did.

The End.

The Dave Ramsey Show is about real life and how it revolves around money. Dave Ramsey teaches you to manage and budget your money, get out of debt, build wealth, and live in financial peace. Managing your money properly will reduce stress, improve your marriage, and provide security for you and your family. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500

The Dave Ramsey Show is about real life and how it revolves around money. Dave Ramsey teaches you to manage and budget your money, get out of debt, build wealth, and live in financial peace. Managing your money properly will reduce stress, improve your marriage, and provide security for you and your family. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500

The Dave Ramsey Show is about real life and how it revolves around money. Dave Ramsey teaches you to manage and budget your money, get out of debt, build wealth, and live in financial peace. Managing your money properly will reduce stress, improve your marriage, and provide security for you and your family. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500

The Dave Ramsey Show is about real life and how it revolves around money. Dave Ramsey teaches you to manage and budget your money, get out of debt, build wealth, and live in financial peace. Managing your money properly will reduce stress, improve your marriage, and provide security for you and your family. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500

The Dave Ramsey Show is about real life and how it revolves around money. Dave Ramsey teaches you to manage and budget your money, get out of debt, build wealth, and live in financial peace. Managing your money properly will reduce stress, improve your marriage, and provide security for you and your family. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500