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By now most every investor has heard the name, Seattle Genetics (SGEN) a once small, still developmental biotechnology company with a well recognized oncology drug in Adcetris. Many analysts that cover the stock including the well-respected bio-blogger PropThink are concerned these investors are over-valuing the company in light of flat revenue projections for all of 2013.Apologists, including Prohost Biotech, usually refer to the generous partnership agreements and evolving pipeline of wholly owned compounds to deflect criticism away. That strategy is becoming increasingly more difficult to justify in light of a $4.42bn market-cap that is 21.5x projected 2013 revenues. The question then becomes, are shareholders so in love with Seattle Genetics that they are blind to its bloated figure or are they privy to something the rest of us simply can't comprehend?To answer this question effectively we would need to find out what's driving the bulls by

Gold and silver have been taking a pretty good beating of late. In fact, over the last 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months IAU/GLD is down 8%, 11%, and 14% respectively, while over the same time horizons SLV is down 15%, 23% and 25% respectively.In the midst of this ongoing collapse in the precious metals market, there is a lot of contradictory analysis between precious metals bulls and bears taking place. Nonetheless, despite the debates there is a fair amount of common ground between the bulls and bears. In this article we will consider three of the most salient points of the discussion. Finally, we will conclude by looking at a related investment idea regarding the leverage ETF, Proshares Ultrashort Silver (ZSL): Paper v Physical While the demand for "paper" precious metals is very weak, the demand for physical precious metals is at record levels. In the

It is a very exciting time for the Medical Marijuana industry. On May 20th, the California Senate and the Illinois Senate approved bills with regard to the medicinal use of these drugs. The California bill, Senate Bill 439 would shield pot shops following state guidelines, from prosecution for Marijuana possession or sale. This bill would make clear that marijuana business entities may pay employees and provide benefits as long as they comply with guidelines, the Attorney General wrote in 2008. The Illinois bill, calls for a four year trial program naming 42 specific qualifying medical conditions for use of this class of drugs. There would apparently be 60 dispensaries around the state, with 22 licensed growers.As more and more states continue to legalize the medical and recreational use of Marijuana, a flurry of companies have announced their entry into this market and they have been the

Tesla Motors, Inc (TSLA) has recently come into the spotlight due to an extraordinary stock price move following the release of its financial results for Q1, 2013. This was because Q1, 2013 was the first quarter in its history that Tesla made a profit. It also sold more than 4,750 Model S cars outpacing other luxury brands. (click to enlarge)(Chart from BigCharts.com) The company that Elon Musk co-founded has every reason to be celebrating these results since they are one step closer to Mr. Musk's vision. Affordable mass market electric cars that surpass in quality their conventional competitors. According to reviews from auto magazines & sites like Car & Driver Tesla's Model S isn't just the new electric car on the block, it is a top-notch product that heartily beats its traditional gasoline & diesel competitors both in driving experience and functionality. Due to its

Bandages, tape, lithium ion batteries, chemicals, paint. You name it, and 3M Company (MMM) probably makes it. The diversified technology company was founded way back in 1902, and has been expanding its product line ever since. Inge G. Thulin is currently at the helm, looking to build the business as successfully as his predecessor, George Buckley.The massive company most recently reported annual revenues of about $30 billion. This number has been climbing steadily for the past 10 years, as shown by the chart below.MMM Revenue Annual data by YChartsAlong with the massive revenues, 3M has been increasing its income and cash flows. Net cash from operating activities (according to the 10-Q filing for the quarter that ended on March 31) rose from $828 million in 2012 to $994 million this year. The profit margin is at 14.80%, return on assets is at 12.29%, and return

Investors, or more accurately, speculators who have followed the MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) saga over the past several years know full well that the end game is rapidly approaching. Wall Street research coverage has increased of late, trading volume is surging, and the stock has more than doubled in price over the past three months. The pivotal phase 3 clinical trials - Affinity 1 and Affinity 2 - that the developmental stage biotechnology company is conducting of AFREEZA is about to conclude and the recent broad-based enthusiasm clearly reflects the growing collective confidence that the inhaled insulin product could be a "major weapon" in the battle against the global diabetes pandemic, as has been suggested by the company's founder, largest stockholder, and chief executive Alfred Mann. It also may be instructive to note that during a conference call with the investment community on May 9th, Mr. Mann stated

As a caveat, please only consider this as a starting point in your investment research as these are only the opinions of this blogger. If looking for other recent stocks with sizable insider buying, look at these articles linked here and here:Hecla Mining (HL) is a worldwide precious metals miner based in Idaho. The company has been in existence since 1891 and has now grown to a sizeable company with an over $300 million trailing twelve months revenue stream and market capitalization near $1 billion. The stock has not performed well in the past year though, now sitting just above its $2.95 52-week high. Nevertheless, President and CEO Phillips Baker sees the stock moving higher. On May 14th, Mr. Baker acquired a sizeable 150,000 shares equating to over $475,000 worth of stock. Operationally the company has performed well though missing consensus estimates in three of the

I have been bearish on most large listed American utilities like American Electric Power (AEP), Southern Company (SO), Atlantic Power (AT), Duke Energy (DUK) etc. There is frothiness in most utility stocks (XLU) as there are very few fixed income alternatives, which give decent dividend yield in the current low interest rate environment. This has led to an overvaluation in the utility sector. In a zero interest rate environment, everyone is chasing "safe" yields. This has led to overvaluation of many of the consumer goods stocks, as they are perceived to be solid, safe, high dividend yielding investments. The world is changing at a rapid pace leading to destruction of entire industries which were considered safe. The improvement in communications and rise of social networking has led to carnage in traditional print media stocks. Utilities are considered a very safe investment, as they provide energy in a monopoly like fashion

Exxon Mobil (XOM) is the biggest heavyweight in the world's Oil & Gas sector, and the second oil and gas stock that I have been researching.In my previous recommendation to buy Chevron (CVX), I pointed out that oil and gas stocks are very reasonably priced today, unlike many other stock sectors, predominantly the defensive stocks.Therefore, let's continue to explore whether Exxon Mobil currently offers as good a long-term buying opportunity as Chevron. Interesting tidbits from Exxon Mobil's history Exxon Mobil is a direct descendant of the famous Standard Oil Company of John D. Rockefeller. It is the largest publicly traded company in the entire world by market cap. It is competing for this crown position with Apple (AAPL), and the race is so close that the pole position changes virtually every day with just a 1% change in the stock price of the contestants. Google (GOOG) is

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) will report earnings after markets close on Wednesday, May 22nd. Hewlett-Packard Company provides imaging and printing systems, computing systems, and information technology services for business and home. The Company’s products include laser and inkjet printers, scanners, copiers and faxes, personal computers, workstations, storage solutions, and other computing and printing systems. Hewlett-Packard sells its products worldwide. Here is your Cheat Sheet to Hewlett-packard Earnings: Earnings Expectations: Analysts expect earnings of $0.81 per share on revenues of $28.15 billion. Analyst Trends: Analysts have a neutral outlook for the company’s next-quarter performance. Over the past three months, the average estimate for next quarter’s earnings is a profit of $0.84 and has not changed. For the current year, the average estimate is a profit of $3.49, which is better than the estimate ninety days ago. Earnings Trends: Here’s how Hewlett-packard has been performing on an annual basis: Fiscal Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Revenue ($) in millions 118,360 114,550 126,030 127,240 120,360 Diluted EPS ($) 3.25 3.14 3.69 3.32 -6.41 Next, our CHEAT SHEET investing framework asks us to drill down to the recent quarterly data: Quarter Jan. 31, 2012 Apr. 30, 2012 Jul. 31, 2012 Oct. 31, 2012 Jan. 31, 2013 Revenue ($) in millions 30,040 30,690 29,670 29,960 28,360 Diluted EPS ($) 0.73 0.80 -4.49 -3.488 0.63 Past Performance: Hewlett-packard has beat analyst estimates 4 times in the past four quarters. Shareholders could expect a boost if the company beats estimates. “E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter” is a core component of our successful CHEAT SHEET investing framework. Don’t waste another minute – click here to discover our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now! (Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Email any earnings discrepancies to earnings [at] wallstcheatsheet.com) Read the original article from Wall St. Cheat Sheet