#$icpt

[jamielissettehammerstone]

It was a day to forget on Wall Street...

...as major averages posted their biggest one day declines in over a month, with all 10 S&P sectors to the downside. Volatility increased today, with the VIX Index rising over 10% to 14.11 level (off 2015 lows yesterday). Dow Industrials down 357 points at session low.

HammerstoneReport Closing ReCap- 4/17/15

[najarianbros]

What We’re Trading

BIIB - Way early this am, Biogen Idec released positive results in study of patients with Alzheimer's disease for a phase 1 trial. Shares surge nearly 10% to $76 on the OptionsHouse extended hours platform!! ICPT - Intercept trading up 8.5% in the pre as our Meg Tirrel said on Fast 5 last night, they had positive results in analysis of FLINT trial of NASH patients. CMCM - Cheetah Mobile beat EPS forecasts by 6 cents on stronger revenues, shares pushing 5% gain into the open. CTRP - Missed EPS forecasts but raised guidance so significantly that shares jump 20% in the pre. DRI - Parent company of Olive Garden beat EPS forecasts by 15 cents on inline revenues, but raised guidance is what's driving shares to a 5% gain in the pre. ICPT - Intercept trading up 8.5% in the pre as our Meg Tirrel said on Fast 5 last night, they had positive results in analysis of FLINT trial of NASH patients. MFRM - Mattress Firm beat EPS forecasts on stronger revenues & raised guidance, shares up 5% here.

[adamfeuerstein]

Therefore, the reversal of steatohepatitis with no evidence of progression to advanced fibrosis (stage 3 or 4), may be an acceptable surrogate endpoint suitable both for phase 2b and 3 trials that enroll patients with NASH and evidence of early fibrosis."

 Challenges and opportunities in drug and biomarker development for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: Findings and recommendations from an American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) - Food and Drug Administration (FDA) joint workshop

Intercept Pharmaceuticals is up 10% Monday because FDA appears copacetic with the company's proposal to use a surrogate efficacy endpoint in the planned pivotal phase III study of its NASH drug OCA.

Baird analyst Brian Skorney comments:

We think this reflects a very favorable assertion from an article co-authored by an FDA clinical reviewer. We believe the FLINT study demonstrated that OCA can effectively hit this endpoint in a large Phase 3 study...

We think we could see Intercept's announcement of a Phase 3 program in the near future and believe an FDA sign-off to move forward with a study that could support accelerated approval based on biopsy will be a major derisking event for the stock here.

Good news for Intercept, but Skorney also notes concerns about the potential for a heart safety risk tied to OCA remains. 

[najarianbros]

What We're Trading

CMRX - Chimerix up another 5% today on the potential of its Ebola treatment.

ICPT - FBR is out with a note today saying that data not being presented at an upcoming meeting of American Academy for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Annual Meeting is a BIG negative, shares down 6% on the TradeMONSTER extended hours platform.

AGN - Allergan reacting with a nearly 2% rally on news Pershing Square and VRX plan to increase their offer for the botox maker by $15/share. MON - Monsanto reports bigger than expected loss despite strong revenue. The lowered guidance isn't a huge surprise, thus shares slightly higher rather than slammed in the pre. RPM - RPM Int'l missed EPS estimates by nearly 10% this am, shares down 1.5% here. SYMC - Symantec is reportedly considerng a split of security & storage units, shares up nearly 5% in the pre.

[blainerollins]

Roses in the Market

Germany Amazon Intercept Pharma InterMune Biotech ETF Canadian Solar FleetCor 

[blainerollins]

Roses in the Market...

Intercept Pharma High Yield Bonds Miners Berkshire Hathaway