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Yesterday I told you I was starting to see bullish signs. Stocks have been holding steady through earnings season. And that suggests that the stimulus bill and the bad debt bank/nationalization plan have the potential to be positive catalysts for earnings expectations (and hence stock prices).
I went on to say that my best guess as to timing was sometime next week, as earnings season starts to slow down.
Of course, the stock market seems to delight in its ironic sense of humor sometimes. The Dow Industrials rallied 140+ points yesterday afternoon. And it’s tacking on some more today.
And that’s fine. I’m going to stand by my expectation of a rally next week. I still think investors are going to be hesitant to make any conclusions about earnings until we’re closer to the end of earnings season.
*****So Tom Daschle pulled his name out of the hat for the Department of Health job. Thanks goodness. While I can give Geithner the benefit of the doubt with his tax problem, Daschle’s tax issues sound completely different. It sounds to me like he was caught in the act of trying to hide $80,000 in income.
And that is every bit as shocking as some of Wall Street’s shenanigans. For a US congressman to not be fully reporting income is the absolute height of hypocrisy. And you can bet if I were in Obama’s shoes, I wouldn’t be offering up any bland mea culpa. I’d go after Daschle.
$80,000 in unreported income isn’t a typo, and it’s not an oversight. It’s outright cheating. And from a congressman, no less. Outrageous.
*****I want to call your attention to a biotech stock called OIS Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:OSIP). Monday evening, the company announced that it was cutting short a joint study with Genentech.
The two companies were testing the efficacy of using their lung cancer drugs in concert. The study was cut short because the results were overwhelmingly positive. The combination of the two companies’ drugs showed a significant increase in halting the growth of cancer cells.
The two companies are expected to focus on getting FDA approval for the combination.
Of course, OSI stock was up huge yesterday, 16% or so. But the stock is still 20% below it 52-week highs at $53.71. OSI does $365 million a year in sales and has a market cap of $2.4 billion. It also has $486 million in cash. The forward P/E is 15.
OSI is slightly today, but it appears there could be nice upside for the stock. Just thought you’d like to know.
*****The Trademaster Investor Forum: Steady Profits in a Range Bound Market airs on Monday, February 9 at 6 pm. If you haven’t registered for this free video event, you can do so HERE.
The TradeMaster strategists will be discussing how to trade for profits in the current market. Plus, they’ll be answering your questions. It should be a very informative event. So if you’ve got 30 minutes to spare Monday evening, tune in to the Trademaster Investor Forum: Steady Profits in a Range Bound Market.