The major stock averages are down nearly 1% today ahead of Bernanke’s speech at Jackson Hole. News out of Europe also has investors on edge with Spain delaying a decision on whether they will seek a bailout or not. Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, said there was 50% chance of the eurozone breaking up. Eurozone leaders will be meeting later next month to discuss the economic crisis that has plagued the region for so long.
The Dow is currently down nearly 100 points this morning, the Nasdaq is down 27 points and the S&P 500 is down 10 points.
Hot Stocks
Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings SA (NYSE:FSR) is up 21.67% today at $8.59. FSR has traded 4.7 million shares this morning, a significant increase over its daily volume of 209 thousand shares. FSR shares are rallying today after Validus said it would buy the company for $600 million. The company has a market cap of 600.07 million.
Pandora Media, Inc. (NYSE:P) is up 19.30% today at $12.02. P has traded 25.6 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 2.9 million shares. Shares of Pandora are up today after it said it expects to break even or earn a $0.01 per share for the third quarter. The company has a market cap of 2.01 billion.
StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ:STEM) is up 17.45% today at $1.8910. STEM has traded 2.6 million shares so far today, a million shares more than its daily average. StemCells announced today it will release interim data on spinal cord injury trial at the 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Spinal Cord Society. The company has a market cap of 56.87 million.
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT) is up 14.47% today at $87.90. BPT has traded 1.4 million shares so far today, about 10 times its normal volume. BPT shares are heading higher today after the stock fell about $30 a share over the previous three days. The company has a market cap of 1.89 billion.
Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) is up 13.57% today at $14.32. SRPT has traded 3.3 million shares so far today, well above its daily average 969 thousand shares. SRPT shares are up today after its muscle drug shows positive signs. The company has a market cap of 325.02 million.
Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) is up 9.96% today at $2.65. GERN has traded 2.3 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 849 thousand shares. GERN shares are up today after Stifel Nicolaus initiated a buy rating on the stock. The company has a market cap of 349.15 million.
About Martin Stephenson
