Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers 1/23: CCRT, GGC, ABK Higher; HGSI, FCFS, MTG, MOT Lower

January 23, 2008 2:06 PM EST

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) 45% LOWER; shares of Human Genome are under heavy pressure this morning after the company said it will modify the dosing in one arm of each of its ACHIEVE clinical trials of Albuferon for chronic hepatitis C.

First Cash Financial (Nasdaq: FCFS) 34.3% LOWER; downgraded at Jefferies & Co. and JMP Securities to Hold and Market Perform, respectively.

CompuCredit Corp. (Nasdaq: CCRT) 32.6% HIGHER; is surging today despite no recent news. Situations like this sometimes signal a short squeeze. At the end of December, CompuCredit had about 75% of its float shorted, so this assumption could certainly prove true.

CNH Global NV (NYSE: CNH) 27.7% LOWER; reported disappointing Q4 earnings: EPS came in at $0.50, versus the Street consensus of $0.60.

MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) 26.4% LOWER; announced it may take a $2 billion charge during 2008 as a result of claims on unpaid loans.

Georgia Gulf Corp. (NYSE: GGC) 22.2% HIGHER; could also be feeling a squeeze today as Georgia Gulf is a relatively small chemical company and had over 42% of its float shorted at the end of December. StreetInsider note: percent shorted can sometimes be skewed as a result of investors hedging on their convertible stock positions.

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Ambac Financial (NYSE: ABK) 18.9% HIGHER; according to reports from Bloomberg, analysts at UniCredit SpA believes the largest bond insurers, MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) and Ambac, are likely to be bailed out by the government.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) 18.9% LOWER; reports Q4 EPS of $0.14, ex-items, versus the consensus of $0.13. Revenues came in at $9.65 billion, versus the consensus of $9.6 billion. Sees Q1 loss from cont ops of $0.05-$0.07, versus the consensus of a $0.10 profit.

Post Properties, Inc. (NYSE: PPS) 16.9% HIGHER; said its Board of Directors has authorized management to initiate a formal process to pursue a possible business combination and to seek proposals from potentially interested parties.

MoneyGram (NYSE: MGI) 14.9% HIGHER; in an amended 13D after the close Friday on MoneyGram, Blum Capital disclosed a 12.9% stake (10,673,000 shares). This is up from the 9.9% stake (8,170,000) shares the firm disclosed in a December filing. The firm disclosed a 7.8% stake (6,429,400 shares) in its original 13D filing in November.

Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) 14.9% HIGHER; may be feeling upside pressure in anticipation of the Company presenting at JPMorgan's Global High Yield and Leveraged Finance Conference on today at 3:45 p.m. ET.

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• JPMorgan
• Jefferies & Co
• Blum Capital Partners

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