Stocks continue to be lower right before midday due to a weaker than expected retail sales report. Investors also remain uneasy about the debt crisis in Europe. Retail sales rose 0.4% in January, lower than the 0.7% economists were predicting. In Europe, Moody’s cut the ratings of Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta. The U.K., France and Austria were put on credit watch negative.
Right now the major indices are down slightly with the Dow down 22 points, the Nasdaq is down 11 points and the S&P 500 is down 4 points.
Fonar Corporation (NASDAQ:FONR) is up 27.84% today at $2.48. FONR has traded 3.1 million shares so far today, way above its daily average of 40 thousand shares so far today. FOR shares are rallying today after reporting fiscal second quarter results. Fonar saw a 33% increase in net income to $1.8 million. Total revenue increased 16% to $9.3 million. The company has a market cap of 14.57 million.
Syntroleum Corporation (NASDAQ:SYNM) is up 22.73% today at $1.35. SYNM has traded 4.6 million shares so far today, 10 times the stock’s daily average. Dynamic Fuels, which Syntroleum owns 50% of, signed an agreement to supply renewable diesel to Norfolk Southern Corporation. The company has a market cap of 129.29 million.
LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) is up 18.83% today at $14.96. LPSN has traded 1.5 million shares so far today, 7 times its average volume. LPSN shares are rallying after reporting fourth quarter results. Results were all in line with estimates. The company has a market cap of 798.28 million.
MedAssets, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDAS) is up 14.77% today at $13.52. MDAS is up on heavy volume with 2.8 million shares traded already today. The stock typically trades 535 thousand shares a day on average. MDAS shares gaped at open and quickly ran to $14.14 before coming back down to around $13.50. The company has a market cap of 789.49 million.
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSS) is up 8.79% today at $1.88. SNSS has traded 505 thousand shares today, up from its average of 134 thousand shares. Sunesis announced this morning notice of allowance for U.S. patent application covering vosaroxin compositions. The company has a market cap of 91.09 million.
Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:EGLE) is up 9.86% today at $2.0325. EGLE has traded 1.8 million shares so far today, more than double its daily average volume. EGLE shares are up about $0.60 over the past week. The company has a market cap of 128.45 million.
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