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     As they have developed skepticism about tomorrow, speculators who happen to appreciate excellent news announced by firms, buy the performing stocks before the beginning of the day and sell them before 4 o’clock after cashing some profits. The supervening skepticism that stocks will reach their fair values is causing a paralysis in stock movements. The cycle of mistrust might owe its existence to the raging war between those who believe that time has come for the stock market to ride the bull based on traditional technicalities, and the strong body of investors who figured out that riding the bear is more profitable. Those investors base their negative strategy on the fact that fear is easy to spread and easier to feel and to act upon. Everybody heard the statement about the cowardly capital. The gutless investments is currently being subjected to a media that has become specialized in propagating pessimism, which seems to find more eyes and ears to read and listen, i.e., more customers. Also, it is no secret that destruction is much, much easier than construction. That’s why negative investors outnumber, by far, positive investors.

     Nevertheless, we still believe that logic will finally find its way into investors’ minds. It will surely help them revisit with history and, among other minutiae, they will find some details that reveal that nothing but facts has passed the test of time.

    According to experts in market technicalities, the Bull will keep trying to replace its rival and, the chance is that it will succeed.

Consequenceas and Today's Moves

   The grim market mood killed biotech stocks on small setbacks and resisted rewarding them on good news. We have seen it clearly yesterday when Xoma’s (XOMA) announced an agreement with Shering Plough to develop antibody therapeutics for its targets, with Genentech (DNA), following the resumption of clinical trials on Avastin in combination treatments and many other examples of good news that is totally and completely overlooked. INFLUENZAFirms that develop avian flu treatments already lead today’s biotech stock upward movement. As a matter of fact, stocks of Biocryst (BCRX), Novavax (NVAX),  Avi (AVII) and Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM) were up in after-hours trading. The reason is the a World Health Organization report of a possible human-to-human bird flu infection, following an Indonesian government statement confirming an additional case of avian flu  - added to other past confirmed cases where six people died. Contact between family members is considered as a possibility of contamination. MedImmune (MEDI) has also moved up, but not as sharply as the others, despite the fact that this firm is, indeed, a leader in flu vaccine.  

      Peregrine announced that its lead anti-viral compound bavituximab (formerly Tarvacin) completely inhibited replication of a laboratory strain of the H5N1 virus, commonly known as avian flu, in fertilized chicken eggs, an in vivo model for influenza anti- viral activity. These preliminary findings will be reported today at the 106th general meeting of The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) in Orlando, Florida.  

READ MORE: Peregrine Pharmaceuticals' Bavituximab Shows Potential Activity Against Avian Flu in Initial Testing

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