Scimitar Equity Blog

The 6 W’s: Who, what, where, when, why and what of it…

US stock-index futures slipped, Wednesday, 8/24/11 yet, stocks brushed aside opening Wednesday losses to climb then spun lower after a bigger-than-expected hike in durable-goods orders bolstered thinking the economy might NOT headed for another recession. The Dow rose 79.24 points to 11,256.00. The S&P’s 500 Index gained 10.04 points to 1,172.39. The NASDAQ climbed 18.19 points to 2,464.25.  EU stock markets were edging higher. The Stoxx index rose 0.1% to 226.86 in midday trading. Asian indexes closed lower, including a 1.1% drop forJapan’s Nikkei after Moody’s downgradedJapan to AA3 from AA2, citing the country’s large budget deficit and burgeoning debt

As stock futures flirted with gains, sentiment was bolstered by better-than-expected demand for durable goods.  US orders for durable goods rose 4% in July as demand for autos and commercial aircraft surged. Orders for June were also revised up to show a 1.3% drop instead of a 1.9% decline. Economists had expected orders to rise by 2.5%. Yet orders for core capital goods, which omit the volatile defense and transportation sectors, fell by 1.5%. Core capital orders give a better read on trends in the private sector. In addition, shipments of core capital equipment goods, which the government uses to help calculate gross domestic product, edged up 0.2% in July. Orders for transportation equipment jumped 14.5%, while orders for motor vehicles and parts increased 11.5%. Orders for most other goods fell.

Mid-day the NASDAQ is DOWN -4.41 (-o.18%) to 2,445.93. The Dow is UP +45.72 (+0.41%) to 11,222.48.  The DOW is still under 12,000 but back above 11,000.

Mid-Day Movers … Fibrocell (FCSC.OB) and Osiris (OSIR) 

 What’s new in the regenerative medicine/stem cell market …

 Laura K Campbell, VP, Athersys (ATHX) BUYS 10,000 ON 8/23/11 @$1.94

NeoStem (AMEX: NBS) appoints Grant Thornton LLP as New Independent Registered Public Accounting firm replacing Deloitte & Touché LLP.

 Tommy Thompson, Cytori’s Director bought 3,050 shares

David Rickey, Cytori Director brought 148 additional shares on 8/22 (10,000) on 8/12

BioTime’s (AMEX: BTX) OncoCyte expands programs with $10M Equity Financing: Expanding Cancer Programs.  BTX has received a new round of equity financing to fund expansion of its development of novel proprietary diagnostics and therapeutics for cancer in humans. The financing included $4M in cash ($3M from an outside investor and $1M from BioTime) combined with $6M of BioTime common shares. The bottom line, utilizing its proprietary algorithms, OncoCyte has currently discovered and filed patent applications on over 100 novel cancer-associated genes. OncoCyte expects to use its new financing in part to expand its current patent portfolio of nine patent filings on these new genes and to advance the development and commercialization of resulting novel diagnostic and therapeutic products. In addition to its diagnostic product line, OncoCyte is developing cellular therapeutics for cancer therapy that will take advantage of the unique biology of vascular endothelial precursor cells.

Neurons from skin cells could aid Parkinson’s research: UK scientists reported in the journal Nature Communications that they were able to turn skin cells derived from a patient with Parkinson’s disease into nerve cells. The breakthrough could enable scientists to study mechanisms behind neural death and test possible drug candidates for the condition.

 NIH awards California university $1M to treat Alzheimer’s disease: Researchers at theUniversity ofCalifornia,San Diego, secured $1M from the NIH to expedite development of targeted therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. The 5 year project, led by neuroscientist Steven Wagner, focuses on gamma-secretase modulators, a drug class that reduces only those protein fragments believed to play a critical role in the brain cell death and dementia that occurs in Alzheimer’s disease.

StemBioSys, South Texas Technology Management ink licensing deal: signed a licensing deal with STTM, a regional technology transfer office. StemBioSys is marketing a system designed to increase the number of stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood.

Pluristem Drug Wins Orphan Status from FDA: PSTI now has Orphan Drug Designation for Allogenic ex vivo expanded placental adherent stromal cells treating Burgers disease. Burgers disease, also known as thromboangiitis obliterans, is characterized by painful inflammation of blood vessels in hands and feet; condition mostly affects men ages 20 to 40 who smoke heavily or chew tobacco