Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers 3/10: TCM, NFS, IOM Higher; KERX, TMA, CRAI, ABK, COIN Lower

March 10, 2008 1:18 PM EDT

StreetInsider.com Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers:

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX) 86.9% LOWER; announced top-line results from its SUN-MICRO Phase 3 clinical trial of Sulonex for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. The Company announced that this Phase 3 clinical trial failed to meet the primary objective of the study, which was to increase the proportion of patients that achieve therapeutic success at 6 months as compared to placebo over background therapy of maximal doses of ACE-inhibitors or ARBs.

Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE: TMA) 44.7% LOWER; shares of Thornburg have moved to a new 52-week low of $0.99 today. At the end of July, Thornburg stock was trading at about $27. Today's large decline is due to a Jefferies & Co downgrade to Underperform and liquidity issues that are becoming even more prevalent in the U.S. markets.

CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAI) 39.7% LOWER; expects to report first-quarter net income in the range of $3.0 million to $3.2 million, or $0.26 to $0.28 per diluted share, versus the consensus of $0.58. Also, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded CRA from Buy to Hold this morning.

Tongjitang Chinese Medicines Company (NYSE: TCM) 33.5% HIGHER; received a letter dated proposing to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of the Company in a scheme of arrangement transaction under Cayman Islands law that would result in the Company becoming a privately-held company. The proposal is from Mr. Xiaochun Wang, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of the Company, and Mr. Yongcun Chen, a director of the Company. Mr. Wang and Mr. Chen propose to pay US$2.55 in cash for each outstanding share of the Company (or US$10.20 per ADS).

Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: NFS) 25.7% HIGHER; received a proposal from Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Nationwide Corporation, to acquire by merger all of the outstanding publicly held Class A shares of common stock of NFS for $47.20 per share in cash.

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Ambac Financial (NYSE: ABK) 22.7% LOWER; financials are taking a beating on Wall Street today, lead by liquidity issue rumors at Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC). The Company's Director and former CEO, Ace Greenberg told CNBC that these rumors leading to a market sell-off are "ridiculous".

Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM) 18.8% HIGHER; announced the receipt of an unsolicited non-binding indication of interest from EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), in which EMC indicated that it is prepared to offer to acquire the outstanding common stock of Iomega for $3.25 per share, assuming a total of approximately 54.8 million outstanding shares.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPPI) 18% HIGHER; announced of Friday they received marketing approval from the FDA for Levoleucovorin for Injection. It is indicated after high-dose methotrexate therapy in patients with osteosarcoma, and to diminish the toxicity and counteract the effects of impaired methotrexate elimination or inadvertent overdose of folic acid antagonists.

Alesco Financial (NYSE: AFN) 17.2% HIGHER; today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per common share, payable on April 10, 2008 to shareholders on March 20. The dividend represents a reduction in the Company's dividend by $0.05 from $0.30 per quarter per common share. Investors may have been previously speculating that Alesco could cut its entire dividend payment, so today's declaration, even though it was at a lower rate, was a positive for the stock.

Converted Organics (Nasdaq: COIN) 15.7% LOWER; is sinking today despite no recent news, but is likely selling-off with broader ag sector. Shares of Monsanto (NYSE: MON) are down 3.5% to $102.69 and shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) are down 5.5% to $98.29.

PNM Resources (NYSE: PNM) 10% HIGHER; after dropping from nearly $12 at Thursday's open, shares of PNM closed last week's trading session at about $9.30. Today's movement despite no news, could indicate a technical correction as the stock declined more than 20% just 2 days.

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• Stifel Nicolaus
• Bear Stearns
• Jefferies & Co

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