Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Optimer Falls as Halozyme Rockets Upwards

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow was down 0.10 percent to 15,259.91, while the NASDAQ rose 0.13 percent to 3,476.15. The S&P traded down, falling 0.23 percent to 1,654.47. Top Headline
US stocks saw some volatility on Thursday, fluctuating between gains and losses, following the disappointing economic data released this morning. While housing starts witnessed a decline, initial jobless claims were up and manufacturing in the Philadelphia region slumped. While Walmart's WMT shares plummeted 2.2 percent, Cisco CSCO helped to lift the NASDAQ, after the latter company reported its fiscal third quarter earnings above the analyst expectations. Cisco's CEO, John Chambers, said that the company was witnessing positive signs in the US and other parts of the world. Equities Trading UP
Cisco Systems, Inc CSCO shot up 13.13 percent to $23.99, breaking through the ceiling that has capped the stock for over two years. Analysts believe that the tech giant is in for a long-term rally, fuelled by the better than expected fiscal Q3 results and upbeat outlook. Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc AEGR got a boost, shooting up 34.71 percent to $63.32. Aegerion Pharmaceuticals' five year expected PEG ratio is 0.29. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc HALO was also up, gaining 16.17 percent to $7.84. Halozyme is scheduled to report clinical data from Phase 1b trial of PEGPH20 (PEGylated Recombinant Human Hyaluronidase), an investigational new biologic, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Equities Trading DOWN
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc AMD was down, falling 13.42 percent to $3.79, after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on Advanced Micro Devices from “neutral” to “sell,” despites raising its estimates for the company. Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc INFI was down 20.58 percent to $24.97. Infinity Pharmaceuticals is scheduled to announce Phase 1 clinical data for IPI-145 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and at the 12th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML). Optimer Pharmaceuticals OPTR was down as well, falling 6.12 percent to $15.19 after the company has seen bids from Cubist before the company's sale process had formally began, making waves in the regulatory channels. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.90 percent to $95.15, while gold declined 0.68 percent to $1386.50. Silver also fell, rising 0.83 percent Thursday to $22.79, while copper was up 0.96 percent to $3.29. Euro zone
European shares were also mixed overnight on economic data. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.15 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index rose 0.39 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.31 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.06 percent. Economics
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was flat this week, after seeing the best month in over five years. The figures implied a reversal in consumer confidence, while analysts had expected a rise. The Philadelphia Fed Survey shows a significant contraction in Thursday's manufacturing report for the Mid-Atlantic region. On the other hand, the EIA Natural Gas Report shows an increase in storage to 99 billion cubic for the week ended June 13