Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers 12/29: SPIR, CZZ, PAL, SPF Higher; FEED, COMV, EPIX, DOW Lower

December 29, 2008 12:17 PM EST

Spire Corp. (Nasdaq: SPIR) 35.9% HIGHER; shares of this solar stock are surging today despite no company specific news and no new developments in the broader solar sector.

AgFeed Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: FEED) 31.1% LOWER; today announced that it will raise gross proceeds of $8.75 million through the sale to institutional investors of 5 million newly issued common stock units at $1.75 per unit. Also announced that it will suspend its previously announced share buyback program.

Comverge (Nasdaq: COMV) 25.5% LOWER; this play on smart grid technology is sinking on no news despite more than double average daily volume today. Traders may be attacking the stock today as small-cap stocks are moving substantially lower today as global slowdown concerns continue. The Russel 2000, an index with only small-cap stocks, is down about 2.5% today, which compares to a 1% decline in the Dow, 1.75% drop in the Nasdaq and 1.1% decline in the S&P 500.

Cosan (NYSE: CZZ) 23% HIGHER; this Brazilian producer of sugar-based ethanol is surging today as crude oil is up more than 2%. Although the stock is not necessarily a thinly-traded security, it is seeing heavier-than-normal volume today.

EPIX Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: EPIX) 21.9% LOWER; shares are continuing extremely volatile trading this week following news last Monday that it has received FDA approval to market Vasovist. The stock surged nearly 500% on the news, but has given up a good amount of gains since that initial huge surge.

Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) 20.5% LOWER; Multi-billion joint venture deal in Kuwait was terminated.

North American Pallidium (AMEX: PAL) 18.9% HIGHER; precious metals are seeing upside today as the flight to safety trade continues given the recent concerns surrounding the dollar. According to data from the WSJ, palladium prices are up $9 or about 4% today. Also, gold is up about 9 points today. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD), a popular gold ETF, is up about 1% today.

Valence Technology (Nasdaq: VLNC) 18.9% LOWER; an old "favorite" over at Citron Research, shares of Valence are tanking today on unusually high volume and no news. The stock may also be seeing downside given the decline in the broader small-cap market.

Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF) 17.9% HIGHER; UBS upgrades from Neutral to Buy.

Linn Energy (Nasdaq: LINE) 17.3% HIGHER; Barron's highlighted Linn Energy this weekend, noting the recent collapse in the stock despite its huge dividend payout. Barron's called the dividend "safe". Click here for the full report.

Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) 8.6% HIGHER; see North American Palladium.

To get this report daily visit http://www.streetinsider.com/entities/Unusual+11+Mid-Day+Movers.

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