Author Archives: Scalper1
Supreme Court To Hear Samsung Appeal After Nixing Apple Case
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Apple’s appeal of a case that branded the company anticompetitive. On Monday, the nation’s highest court delivered more bad news to Apple ( AAPL ) by agreeing to hear an appeal by rival Samsung that could end up reducing the damages that it was ordered to pay Apple in a patent infringement case. The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will review a lower court decision from last year that affirmed a jury’s damage award in a case that found that Samsung copied Apple’s patented iPhone designs. Samsung has been ordered to pay Apple $930 million in damages in the case. Part of the damage award is set to be reconsidered by a lower court this spring. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Samsung’s arguments that the court improperly awarded $399 million — all of Samsung’s profit on phones found to infringe Apple’s designs — in damages to Apple. The Supreme Court is slated hear oral arguments in the case during its next term, which begins in October. In December, Samsung agreed to pay Apple $548 million, though it reserved the right to seek reimbursement if it had success at the high court. On March 7 , the Supreme Court refused to hear Apple’s appeal in a case that found the company orchestrated an illegal e-book price-fixing scheme. Apple was ordered to pay $450 million to e-book purchasers after it was found liable in the civil antitrust case, which was brought by the Justice Department.
Gilead Leads Biotech Rebound: Why You Should Not Get Sucked In
Biotech stocks of virtually all stripes and colors moved higher Monday, rising 2% as a group amid quiet market action. But was it a moment for the CAN SLIM-driven investor to make a move into the beaten-up group? A study of the chart action among the top names in terms of fundamentals, trading liquidity and market cap produces a quick answer: not yet. It’s easy to get drawn into the hype of a day’s worth of action, especially when it’s an industry group that was once head of the class. Yet Monday’s move is just one step among 10,000 needed to get this sector back into authentic leadership shape. This is a huge group, by the way, at 414 names. Only 19 stocks, less than 5% of the total group, hold a market cap of $1 billion or more. In the 21st century, you generally need to be at least $3 billion in market value (share price times total shares outstanding) to be even considered for small-cap status. Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) currently stands tallest with a $127 billion market cap. The stock bolted nearly 3% in dull trade. On the plus side, the maker of top-notch HIV and hepatitis treatments reclaimed its 50-day moving average. On the minus side, Gilead is still miles below its falling 200-day moving average, currently near 103.78. When a healthy growth stock is primed for a breakout, it’s already trading above the long-term support line, not below it. Gilead’s RS Rating is a 28 out of a maximum 99. In other words, it’s underperforming nearly three-quarters of the entire stock market in terms of 12-month relative price performance. A savvy IBD investor focuses on those stocks with an RS Rating of 80 or higher. A good breakout tends to occur after a stock has already shown strength in the market. Are there any names within the 19 small- to big-cap group that have such an RS grade? Not at all. Opko Health ( OPK ) has the best at 45, which is still horrid. The stock is in a wrestling match with its 200-day line. Intrexon ( XON ) is second best with a 42 RS. Opko, based in Miami, sells vaccines and a variety of other pharmaceuticals. It does a lot of business in Latin America. In 2015, sales jumped 440% to $492 million. Wall Street sees the company losing 3 cents a share this year. However, it’s expected to earn 23 cents a share in 2017.