Ceres Sprouts Off Patent Awarded For Soybean Seed Enhancement

Joel Elconin is the co-host of Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep, a daily trading idea radio show.

Ceres Inc CERE shares are trading higher by $1.46 at $3.14 in Wednesday's session. The catalyst for the doubling of the agricultural biotechnology company is U.S. patent awarded for a genetic sequence derived from soybean, covering uses of the gene in areas such as research, product development and plant transformation.

The low-priced volatile issue spiked to the $4 level for the fifth time since March 4, but has not been able to sustain that level for more than one session. That is the case in Wednesday's session as Ceres spike from its low for the day ($1.77) to $4 on the heels of the announcement before retreating to its current level.

It should be noted that other spikes in the issue took place on average volume.

However, the current rally is taking place on much higher than average volume, as 12.3M shares have changed hands compared with its 20-day average of 1M shares with two hours remaining in the session.