REVIEW IN ONCOLOGY

During the week of July 12, 2009 (from July 12, 2009 to July 18, 2009) significant news items pertaining to the oncology sector were reported including:

1. Oncolytics Biotech (ONCY, Market Outperform) presented data demonstrating the synergy of reovirus in combination with temozolomide and radiation for the treatment of glioma xenografts at the 28th American Society for Virology Annual Meeting and separately published research on the synergy of reovirus and chemotherapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC);

2. Genta (GETA.OB, Market Perform) reported publication of a paper that independently confirms the link of a key biomarker, a tumor-derived enzyme known as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), to overall survival in patients with advanced melanoma;

Location: Loews Miami Beach, Miami, FL

J.P. Morgan cordially invites you to attend the Global High Yield and Leveraged Finance Conference on February 2 - 4, 2009 at the Loews Miami Beach in Miami, FL.

Big questions will forever hang over the spectacular demise of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The collapse of America's fourth-largest investment bank easily ranks as the single largest bankruptcy in history and one filled with staggering superlatives. Assets at the time of filing on Sept. 15 were $639 billion. Liabilities were $613 billion, or nearly 20 times the previous bankruptcy record set by WorldCom Inc. Lehman owed $150 billion in bond debt alone, more than the entire Russian debt default a decade earlier. Credit default swaps underlying Lehman's debt reached up to $400 billion.

Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. will hosts a conference call discussing it's investor presentation regarding the proposed combination with Cowen Group, Inc. The call is hosted by Michael Lacovara and David Horin, Rodman’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.

to Discuss the Proposed Combination with Cowen Group, Inc. Today at 10:00 AM Eastern

Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RODM - News) (“Rodman”), today announced that it has released an investor presentation regarding its proposed combination with Cowen Group, Inc. The presentation is available through the investor relations page of Rodman’s website (www.rodm.com) and includes additional details of the proposed combination. The presentation, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under Rule 425 of the Securities Act of 1933, is also available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

By Felix Salmon, portfolio.com

Should Lehman Have Been Rescued?

I have to get on plane to Chicago, so don't expect much more here any time soon. In the meantime, here's an IM I just had with John Carney of Clusterstock about whether Treasury was right to let Lehman fail.

I thought it was the right decision at the time, but with hindsight I think it was clearly a mistake. Even Hank Paulson seems to think that it would have been a good idea to rescue Lehman, if only he'd been capable of doing so. But Carney still thinks that letting Lehman fail was the right thing to do.

By Gill Eapen, decisionoptions.blogspot.com

Predictions with power and magic
The number of experts who are able to predict the stock market’s every move has been puzzling. I have been watching the business news TV with great interest in a desperate attempt to learn how the experts are able to predict market moves. There appears to be some common themes in these predictions. For example consider the following predictions:

By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff

The roiling economy might leave few immediate scars on the larger homeland security market, but experts say the situation could have serious consequences for the small and midsized businesses that drive much of the innovation in the field. Homeland security firms developing new technology and other innovations do not rely on credit, so the recent freeze of business loans is not the problem, according to Scott L. Greiper, managing director at the investment firm Legend Merchant Group. Rather, the issue is that the investment capital those companies rely on is also disappearing. “It’s the most difficult financing environment I’ve ever seen,” said Greiper, who heads The Convergent Security Group, a division of LMG that provides financial and strategic assistance to homeland security-related business. “These companies in large part don’t have the stable revenue bases to drive cash from revenue into research and development.”

Government-Guaranteed Energy Profits

I've been saying this day would come.

I called for it back in February. Again in March. Once more in July. And twice again this month.

Late yesterday, it finally happened.

After eight failed attempts so far this year, members of the Senate extended renewable energy tax credits for the wind and solar industries.

FINANCIAL DISASTER!
We were warned a year ago, but did not listen . . .

The Comptroller General of the United States proclaims that our current standard of living is unsustainable unless drastic action is taken. He warns that funding shortfalls for the Medicare program is five times worse than Social Security, and it will take $8 TRILLION to pay for what is promised today to beneficiaries, of which we have ZERO!

This unrealistic "promise" is fiscally irresponsible and is mortgaging the futures of our children and grandchildren.

Watch as the federal government's dirty little secret is revealed!

The Dow's taken a 2% hit in the past five days. Now what?

By now you know that only two of the five major Wall Street investment banks are still in existence.

Bear Stearns made its exit a few months back. And this week we saw 94-year old Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) got swallowed up by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) while Lehman's (NYSE: LEH) financial state was so repulsive even the U.S. government wasn't willing to help them out.

By Nick Hodge

Going over the numbers from the last few days, it's easy to become a bit manic. Even the best solar stocks have taken about a 10% hit over the last four trading days.

Official Site: Click Here

A Solar Industry Snapshot

By Nick Hodge

Solar stocks are completely undervalued. And big money stands to be made. The following is a current profile of the industry, along with what to expect going forward.

The Solar Industry

Let's start with the basics.

Global Life Sciences Conference

Grand Hyatt New York
Park Avenue at Grand Central
New York City

We are pleased to announce the Global Life Sciences Conference scheduled on Monday, September 22 through Thursday, September 25, 2008.

Official Site: Click here

The Third Annual Best of Americas Conference
Thursday, 11 September 2008

Abbott (NYSE: ABT)
will present at the UBS "Best of Americas" Investment Conference on Friday,
Sept. 12, 2008, in London. John B. Thomas, vice president, Investor
Relations, will make a formal presentation on the company at 2 a.m. Central
time (8 a.m. London time).

A live audio webcast of the presentation will be accessible through

A Snapshot of the Global Wind Industry

I've discussed wind energy in these pages many times before, but the conversation seems to have always turned to a discussion of wind turbine stocks.

Today, I want to take a step back, look at the industry as a whole, and focus more broadly on wind energy companies.

The Wind Energy Industry

First, let's get a quick rundown of the growth of the domestic and international wind markets out of the way.

By: Chris O'Brien, mercurynews.com news service

MANY BLAME SARBANES-OXLEY ACT, BUT THEY'RE WRONG
Sarbanes-Oxley turned 6 on July 30 and I didn't get invited to a single Silicon Valley party.

There are a few possible reasons: Either I'm a total loser and nobody loves me (possible); my Evite account is screwed up (less likely); or because the corporate reform measure remains widely vilified throughout Silicon Valley.

"There's really nothing illegal about it" is a phrase often heard in descriptions of the practice of shorting, or short-selling, which are essentially bets that a stock price will decline. But after some market watchers accused short-sellers of unfairly depressing the stock prices of several key financial institutions, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed new rules. Wharton finance professors Marshall Blume and Franklin Allen suggest the impact will be minimal.
IDEA will ensure that both the SEC and the investors who rely upon the financial reporting the agency demands are ready for the new world of financial disclosure that will soon arrive when financial information is presented in interactive data format. The SEC has formally proposed requiring U.S. companies to provide financial information using interactive data beginning as early as next year, and separately has proposed requiring mutual funds to submit their public filings using interactive data.

How to Never Pay a Water Bill Again

The other day I was chatting with my father about the current happenings in my hometown of Elkton, Maryland.

And, as with other similar conversations I've had with him, I couldn't help but notice the parallels between what's going on in Podunk and how I see the broader markets playing out.

Essentially, what I heard from my dad—and later validated with my own research—is a confirmation of the things I've been saying about the water industry for over a year now.

Here's an excerpt from a water investments report I wrote back in June of 2007:

To date, water and sewer bills, taxes, and private business foot the cost for most of the funds needed to build, operate, and maintain water and wastewater systems.

But those sources alone are not meeting the total current amount needed, let alone the increase that will be needed in coming years.

To meet future funding requirements, private firms in the industry will have to play a key role. The pressure of a competitive market, coupled with the introduction of new technology, will help ease the pain of an emerging funding gap.