Insiders' Blog

Shares of Hemispherx BioPharma (AMEX: HEB) appear to be breaking out technically during today's holiday-shortened trading session. The stock is now up more than 23%, most recently trading at $1.48.

Over the last month or so, the highly-momentous Hemispherx shares began moving lower, eventually testing the $1 level for the first time since the stock's sharp rally (almost 1000%) in May and early June amid swine flu concerns. As recently as November 13, the stock pushed under $1, to $0.97, but the price quickly bounced and momentum now seems to be moving back to the upside.

The move higher began earlier this week when the stock effectively held over the $1 psychological barrier on Tuesday and then broke over $1.10 on Wednesday.

Despite trading floors that are unusually spacious today, given the holiday session, shares of Hemispherx are seeing strong volume: already trading nearly 7 million times, which compares to the stock's average daily volume of about 2.5 million shares.

"The Call of Duty®" franchise has surpassed $3 billion in worldwide retail sales according to internal estimates from the publisher of the games, Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI).

Since the original release of the first Call of Duty game, the franchise has sold 55 million units worldwide, with the latest title, “Modern Warfare 2,” generating the biggest first week take in entertainment history. “Modern Warfare 2” made $550 million worldwide in the first five days after its release.

"Call of Duty has become one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc. "If you consider the number of hours our audiences are engaged in playing Call of Duty games, it is likely to be one of the most viewed of all entertainment experiences in modern history."

Games in the series have all had a mature level of violence and gore, set in wartime conflicts. The latest installment takes place in the middle of a fictional Russian terrorist group plot to invade the United States that picks up five years after the last game concluded.

"Modern Warfare 2" is the headliner of a group of highly-anticipated follow-up titles that are being counted on to carry the gaming industry through a holiday season that is forecasted to be weak.

Activision shares are slightly down at $11.53 in early market trading.

Stocks of the three largest casino operators are getting beaten down this morning as investors are speculating about their exposure to Dubai. MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) shares have fallen more than 8% to around $10.08, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) shares are down 5.4% to $15.60 and shares of Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) are down nearly 4% to $62.90.

While each casino has different levels of risk related to the Dubai market, traders may be selling the stocks this morning as they are concerned that Dubai World officials could dump stocks in an effort to free up cash and in turn work on paying off the now-troubling debt. Further, as Dubai is the UAE city with the most gambling facilities, investors may be using casino stocks as an ancillary way to play the Dubai debt worries.

Here are some ETFs seeing action on Dubai's debt woes and the related fallout:

Emerging Markets (Down):

• iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM)
  
• Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF (NYSE: VWO)
  
• Direxion Daily Emrg Mkts Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: EDC)
  
• Direxion Daily Emrg Mkts Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: EDZ)
  
• UltraShort MSCI Emerging Mkts ProShares (NYSE: EEV)
  
• SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa (NYSE: GAF)

• PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP)
  
• PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish (NYSE: UDN)

• SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)
  
• Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX)

• United States Oil Fund LP (NYSE: USO)
  
• Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLE)
  
• Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH)

• Materials Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLB)
  
• iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV)
  
• SPDR S&P Metals & Mining (NYSE: XME)
  
• iShares Dow Jones US Basic Materials (NYSE: IYM)
  
• UltraShort Basic Materials ProShares (NYSE: SMN)
  
• Market Vectors Steel ETF (NYSE: SLX)

  
  

Shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) are expected to open below the $200 level this morning, last trading at $198.51. Apple stock is down nearly 3% from Wednesday's closing price of $204.19. Unrelated to the stock's price action today, Apple is set to delve into the South Korean smartphone market.

Traders are responding to a broad sell-off in equities ahead of today's holiday-shortened trading session. Debt struggles in Dubai are shaking investors today, putting pressure on stocks around the world. On Wednesday, the Dubai government said it would restructure its corporate flagship, Dubai World, and asked creditors to accept delayed payments.

About two hours before the opening bell, the Dow Jones is indicated about 220 points lower, which would put it near 10,223, while the S&P 500 is indicated about 30 points lower.

Apple shares have more than doubled this year, rising from under $86 to as high as $208.71 on Monday of last week.