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Strategies & Market Trends : Tech Stock Options -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: donald sew who wrote (35832)	3/3/1998 8:58:00 AM
From: j g cordes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58727

Morning Don, as always your morning update is appreciated. To other options players, I've been looking at some bio-techs, coincidently along the lines of Murphy's following post. Options plays are plenty in this realm, check out open interest in some of these mentioned. "Monday March 2, 6:32 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release Big Biotech Breakout Brewing In '98? Market Guru Michael Murphy Gives Outlook at San Diego Investors Forum March 14 SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--March 2, 1998--After six years on the sidelines of a raging bull market, are biotech stocks poised for a big breakout in 1998? The answer is most likely yes, says technology/biotech guru, Michael Murphy, Editor of the California Technology Stock Letter www.ctsl.com and President of the Murphy New World Biotechnology Fund. Industry dynamics, Murphy says, are conducive for biotech stocks to advance. Murphy will discuss his outlook for biotech companies, stocks and the industry as the keynote speaker at the Second Informed Investors San Diego Biotechnology Forum Saturday morning, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m., March 14 at the Mission Valley Radisson in San Diego. Murphy will also host a book signing after the Forum for his recently-released ''Every Investor's Guide To High Tech Stocks and Mutual Funds.'' Cost to attend the event, which includes a continental breakfast, is $15 prepaid and $20 at the door. For investors unable to attend, audio tapes of the entire Forum are available for $25 or $18 for any individual company's presentation. To register or obtain additional information, call 800/992-4683. Also, check out www.informedinvestors.com for more information about Informed Investors and news of other Forums scheduled throughout the country. Joining Murphy at the Forum are top executives at up to eight biopharma companies. Companies already scheduled to appear are Vical (NASDAQ:VICL - news), Cypros Pharmaceutical (AMEX:CYP - news), Genta Corp. (NASDAQ:GNTA - news) and Trega Biosciences (NASDAQ:TRGA - news). Other companies presenting will be announced shortly. The companies will give analyst-style presentations followed by a Q & A session. ''Several developments give me reason to believe this is the year biotechs may finally break out,'' Murphy said in an interview. ''The number of biotech drug approvals has been doubling each year -- 6 in 1995, 13 in 1996 and 25 in 1997 and we expect it to double to about 50 new drugs to receive approval this year. Also, the new modernization approval process adopted by the FDA makes it easier for drugs to get approved. It can cut two years off the cycle of development to delivery. ''Over the last several years, there has been a lot of progress in the laboratories, good clinical trials and more and more drugs in final trials and in the FDA's approval process,'' Murphy said. ''Lots of this work is going to start paying off in higher stock prices.'' Murphy recommends investors weigh the stage of development for a biotech company in projecting potential stock appreciation. Murphy says that earlier-stage companies with potential products early into the multi-year cycle from science to the market shelf generally have lower potential stocks gains than later-stage biotechs with products in late trials, with approvals in hand or in the final review process. ''When these later-stage companies have FDA approvals or are close to it and already have big drug company partners, it's more likely the drugs will be rolled out,'' Murphy said. ''When a company transitions from being a biotech company to a drug company, the potential for new institutional investors is so great a stock can make a major move. Our studies indicate it's not uncommon for a company like that to go up 10 times. With companies that have promising science but are early into trials, the appreciation potential is more like 3 times.'' If several companies get approvals and Wall Street gets excited, the whole biotech sector will benefit, Murphy predicted. ''That could happen this year. It takes a lead company and then a following. Biotechs remain the most uncovered of companies. There are only three mutual funds devoted to biotech -- ours and one each at Fidelity and Franklin.'' Companies that are due results from the FDA in the next several weeks, according to Murphy, include Chiron (NASDAQ:CHIR - news), Cor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORR - news) and Cephalon (NASDAQ:CEPH - news). Companies that have major drug company deals in the works include Insite Vision (NASDAQ:INSV - news) and Vical. Companies that are in the process of filing for new approvals in 1998 include Ligand (NASDAQ:LGND - news), Scios (NASDAQ:SCIO - news) and Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIP - news). On Sunday March 15, the day following the San Diego Forum, Informed Investors is hosting its Fourth Bay Area Biotech Forum in Emeryville. The keynote speaker is David Crossen, Managing Director and Senior Health Care Analyst at NationsBanc Montgomery Securities. His talk is entitled ''Are Biotechs A Good Buy In 1998?'' Joining Crossen at the Forum are top executives at five biopharma companies -- Geron Corp. (NASDAQ:GERN - news), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - news), Xoma Corp. (NASDAQ:XOMA - news), Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN - news) and Shaman Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SHMN - news). Since 1993, Sacramento-based Informed Investors has been linking investors with management of public companies. Informed Investors represents individual investors who collectively hold an estimated $1.5 billion in investable assets. Contact: Informed Investors Inc. Bob Taylor/Steve Chanecka/Tim Quast, 916/448-8222 or 800/992-4683 More Quotes and News: Cephalon Inc (Nasdaq:CEPH - news) Chiron Corp (Nasdaq:CHIR - news) Cor Therapeutics Inc (Nasdaq:CORR - news) Cypros Pharmaceutical Corp (AMEX:CYP - news) Genta Inc (Nasdaq:GNTA - news) Geron Corp (Nasdaq:GERN - news) Gilead Sciences Inc (Nasdaq:GILD - news) Insite Vision Inc (Nasdaq:INSV - news) ISIS Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:ISIP - news) Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:LGND - news) Myriad Genetics Inc (Nasdaq:MYGN - news) Scios Inc (Nasdaq:SCIO - news) Shaman Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:SHMN - news) Trega Biosciences Inc (Nasdaq:TRGA - news) Vical Inc (Nasdaq:VICL - news) Xoma Corp (Nasdaq:XOMA - news) Jim