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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kevin Podsiadlik who wrote (11639)	5/12/2003 10:58:47 AM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 19428

Perhaps AMR goes to 7.5 or even 10. Perhaps it is even expiry-related. Perhaps I underestimate the amount of "other sheeples money" chasing the market. Perhaps I neglected the power of the "reverse gravity". So be it. But AMR ain't no Air Force One.

To: Kevin Podsiadlik who wrote (11639)	5/12/2003 1:21:54 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 19428

Kevin, here is another gift which treated me well in the past, it is Imclone, finally it adopted the right ticker, IMCLE for being in arrears with its filing, so it bears the risk of being delisted, or at least trading under an exception. It faces tax problems (arising from Sam Waksals options exercises) besides that the valuation (of teh common stock) is suspect. Little can be said about it's scientific value... Needless to say that I took the advantage of the friendly winds to lay out new positions. Many say, the bear is dead, we have been through all this etc. But some turds remain floating...

To: Kevin Podsiadlik who wrote (11639)	5/13/2003 10:38:07 AM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19428

ImClone Fights Delisting, Awaits Data Monday May 12, 5:07 pm ET By Toni Clarke NEW YORK (Reuters) - ImClone Systems Inc. is scheduled to meet with Nasdaq Stock Market (News - Websites) officials on Wednesday to fight possible delisting, which would make it harder for investors to trade its shares as they await key data on the latest test of its cancer drug, Erbitux. Nasdaq may delist ImClone because of delays in filing its annual report. The New York biotechnology company said in April it would restate its results going back to 2001 to account for its failure to withhold taxes on stock options exercised by several officers, including two chief executives and a chairman who have resigned. The threatened delisting follows nearly two years of scandal surrounding ImClone that led to the arrest of former chief executive Samuel Waksal for insider trading and fraud. The charges came after U.S. regulators refused to review the drug, citing flaws in the clinical trial. The decision sent the stock plummeting to less than $10 from a high of $75.45. If the company's stock, currently trading at $20.04, was to be delisted this week, it would move to a market such as the Pink Sheets or Nasdaq's Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, which have less stringent listing rules but are less actively traded. "It would make it much more difficult to trade the stock at a time investors would want to trade it," said Jim McCamant, general partner at the American Health Care Fund, which owns ImClone stock. "The chances that they will be delisted this week are very slim. There will be some kind of extension." ImClone's European partner, Merck KGaA will present the results of its own trials of Erbitux on June 1 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. The results are crucial for ImClone, which could use them to resubmit its own application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (News - Websites). ImClone's original trial was designed to show that Erbitux combined with chemotherapy was more effective than chemotherapy alone. It tested Erbitux and standard chemotherapy in patients who had not responded to chemotherapy. The results showed that in 23 percent of patients, tumors shrank by more than 50 percent. However, since the company did not conduct a large enough trial of Erbitux alone, it was unclear to regulators how much of the response was due to Erbitux. Germany's Merck has tested Erbitux in 330 people, some of whom received Erbitux in combination with chemotherapy and some of whom received Erbitux alone. The companies are hoping the data will show a significant improvement in those treated with the combination therapy. If there is no important benefit to those treated with both drugs, there would be little reason for doctors to prescribe Erbitux. Analysts say that if the combination data is not strong, but Erbitux alone shows positive results, the company could complete its own trials of the drug as a monotherapy and submit a marketing application for Erbitux as a stand-alone treatment.

To: Kevin Podsiadlik who wrote (11639)	5/15/2003 3:03:22 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19428

AMR May Still File for Bankruptcy Thursday May 15, 2:41 pm ET CHICAGO (Reuters) - American Airlines said on Thursday it may still have to file for bankruptcy, even after reaching deals with more than 100 suppliers, aircraft lessors and other creditors that will save it more than $175 million a year. The world's largest airline, a unit of AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR - News), narrowly averted bankruptcy three times last month and has been scrambling to restructure its costs out of court. The airline said it expects the latest agreements to generate cumulative savings of more than $1 billion. The deals, which the carrier disclosed in a U.S. regulatory filing, mark the final piece of the company's goal of reducing overall costs by $4 billion a year. American previously had identified about $2 billion in annual cost savings. Last month, its three major unions agreed to concession packages totaling $1.8 billion. "We continue to move through the most challenging period in our history, and our success is still far from assured, but reaching these cost-reduction agreements with our suppliers, lessors, and creditors is another step forward and further strengthens AMR as we seek to put the company on a solid financial footing," the company's new Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said in a statement. AMR shares rose more than 15 cents initially on the news, but retreated 14 cents lower to $6.90 on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites) at mid-afternoon. The company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (News - Websites) also showed that AMR granted 37.9 million stock options to its unions on April 17 at a strike price of $5. With the stock currently trading near $7 a share, that's a gain of about $76 million. The carrier said it will issue up to 3 million shares of common stock to suppliers, lessors, and other creditors in exchange for the new agreements. (Additional reporting by David Bailey and Chris Stetkiewicz)

To: Kevin Podsiadlik who wrote (11639)	5/16/2003 12:30:12 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 19428

American to Issue Stock to Creditors Thursday May 15, 5:49 pm ET American Airlines Announces It Will Issue Stock to Suppliers, Other Creditors to Save $175M FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- American Airlines said Thursday it would issue stock to suppliers and other creditors in exchange for agreements that will save the company $175 million a year. American, which has teetered on the brink of bankruptcy several times this year, said it would issue up to 3 million shares of common stock -- about 2 percent of its outstanding shares -- to suppliers, lessors and other creditors. The agreements are part of Fort Worth-based American's plan to cut annual costs by $4 billion. Last month, employees agreed to $1.8 billion in annual labor concessions. American said the agreements announced Thursday covered more than 100 creditors. "We are grateful to each supplier, lessor, and creditor who tangibly expressed support for our company by granting these significant concessions," said Gerard Arpey, chief executive of American and its parent, AMR Corp. "We continue to move through the most challenging period in our history, and our success is still far from assured," Arpey said, "but reaching these cost-reduction agreements with our suppliers, lessors, and creditors is another step forward and further strengthens AMR as we seek to put the company on a solid financial footing." The company did not identify the creditors who agreed to cost cuts but indicated more could be in the works. "We continue to be in discussions with this group to get additional cost savings," said spokeswoman Tara Baten. On Wednesday, American notified its unions that it would lay off more than 3,100 flight attendants on July 1. The president of the flight attendants' union called the announcement "another in a long line of very disheartening events of late." The layoffs were larger than American's previous estimate that it would cut the jobs of 2,400 flight attendants, but the company had sent layoff notices to 5,000 attendants late last month. In trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, AMR shares fell 32 cents to $6.72 each.

To: Kevin Podsiadlik who wrote (11639)	5/16/2003 12:31:19 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 19428

AMR Skids on New Cost-Cut Plan AMR (AMR:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis) shares slumped Friday morning amid news that American Airlines will reimburse creditors and suppliers with 3 million shares of common stock, in exchange for concessions that will save the company $175 million annually. "We are grateful to each supplier, lessor and creditor who tangibly expressed support for our company by granting these significant concessions," said Chief Executive Gerard Arpey. While the $175 million in concessions goes a long way to helping the company reach its goal of hacking costs by $4 billion annually, the company reminded investors that there is still much work to be done. "We continue to move through the most challenging period in our history, and our success is still far from assured," said Arpey. "But reaching these cost-reduction agreements with our suppliers, lessors and creditors is another step forward and further strengthens AMR as we seek to put the company on a solid financial footing." The comments put cold water on a rally in AMR stock. After jumping more than 60% since unions agreed to cost cuts that helped the company avert bankruptcy on April 25, shares were down 4.8% at $6.40 on Friday, following Thursday's drop of 4.5%.

To: Kevin Podsiadlik who wrote (11639)	5/20/2003 8:47:26 AM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19428

IMCLONED-> S&P Equity Analyst Downgrades Opinion on Imclone Systems From 'Hold' to 'Sell' Monday May 19, 5:42 pm ET NEW YORK, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's has downgraded its equity STARS ranking on Imclone Systems (Nasdaq: IMCLE - News) from a three-STARS "Hold" to a one-STARS "Sell" at $20.31 per share. A leading provider of independent research, indices and ratings, Standard & Poor's made this announcement through Standard & Poor's MarketScope, its real-time market intelligence service. "Standard & Poor's feels that the potential approval of Erbitux is already reflected in the price of Imclone's shares," notes Standard & Poor's Healthcare Equity Analyst, Frank DiLorenzo. "However, Erbitux approval is far from a foregone conclusion." "In addition, with Genentech's Avastin providing clear survival benefit in colorectal cancer, we believe that Erbitux could be the odd man out and feel that the FDA hurdle may have gotten much higher," continues DiLorenzo. "Considering the risks in these shares, the company's checkered past, and the potential emergence of Avastin as a major, targeted anti-cancer therapy with significant results, we see no reason to speculate on Imclone." Standard & Poor's Stock Appreciation Ranking System (STARS), which was first introduced on December 31, 1986, reflects the opinions of Standard & Poor's equity analysts on the price appreciation potential of 1,200 U.S. stocks for the next 6-12 month period. Rankings range from five-STARS (strong buy) to one-STARS (sell). Standard & Poor's analytic services are performed as entirely separate activities in order to preserve the independence of each analytic process. In this regard, STARS, which are published by Standard & Poor's Equity Research Department, operates independently from, and has no access to information obtained by Standard & Poor's Credit Market Services, which may in the course of its operations obtain access to confidential information. Standard & Poor's has the largest U.S. equity coverage count among equity research firms that are not affiliated with a Wall Street investment bank, analyzing 1,200 U.S. stocks. Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP - News), is a leader in providing widely recognized financial data, analytical research and investment and credit opinions to the global capital markets. With 5,000 employees located in 19 countries, Standard & Poor's is an integral part of the world's financial architecture. Additional information is available at www.standardandpoors.com.