At The Motley Fool, we poke plenty of fun at Wall Street
analysts and their endless cycle of upgrades, downgrades, and
"initiating coverage at neutral." So you might think we'd be
the last people to give virtual ink to such "news." And we
would be -- if that were all we were doing.
But in "This Just In," we don't simply tell you what the
analysts said. We'll also show you whether they know what
they're talking about. To help, we've enlisted
Motley Fool CAPS, our tool for rating stocks and analysts
alike. With CAPS, we track the long-term performance of Wall
Street's best and brightest -- and its worst and sorriest,
too.
And speaking of the worst ...
Geron (Nasdaq: GERN) investors have
endured-slash-enjoyed a wild ride this year. Their stock
exploded with January's news that the FDA had cleared the
company's
GRNOPC1"hESC-based therapeutic candidate" for use in a
human clinical trial to treat patients with acute spinal cord
injuries. Fast forward a few months, however, and the stock
imploded on August's news that
the selfsame FDAwas suspending clinical trials of the
treatment. And now they can thank Wall Street banker
Merriman Curhan Fordfor their latest upward swing.
Merriman thinks Geron could as much as double off today's
price, primarily in response to successful data on GRN163L, a
treatment that targets cancer agent telomerase "through
direct inhibition and through an immunotherapy (vaccine)
approach." Reports Merriman, GRN163L is currently undergoing
"multiple clinical trials and represents a promising new
cancer therapeutic." Oh, and incidental to GRN163L, Merriman
notes that: "Geron also is poised to be a key leader in the
embryonic stem cell arena." Put these two facts in a
centrifuge and set it on high -- the result that spins out is
a "buy," says Merriman.
Is this spinner a winner?
I'm not so sure. Investing in profitless biotechs like
Geron is always a hi-stakes endeavour, and one practically
guaranteed to fill a portfolio with as many big losers and
big winners -- as Merriman's record shows:
Stock
Merriman Says
CAPS Says
Merriman's Picks Beating
(Lagging) S&P by
Pharmasset
Outperform
**
54 points
Abraxis BioScience
Outperform
***
32 points
American Oriental Bioengineering
(NYSE: AOB)
Outperform
***** Continued... |