HORNBECK OFFSHORE SERVICES INC [HOS] was crushed, sinking 22% with volume close to 20 times normal, to close at $26.14. This followed the company lowering earnings guidance for the fourth quarter from a range of $0.72 to $0.77 per share to a range of $0.61 to $0.63 per share. Contributing to the decline was a downgrade by Goldman Sachs from “Neutral” to “Sell.” In addition to the lowered guidance and the downgrade, there was the continued drop in oil prices, and, given the dependency of the company on transporting offshore oil in the Gulf, there was apparently a perfect storm effect, generating some panic in the market.

With a rather attractive P/E ratio of 9.7 and given plans to increase the capacity of the fleet by 30%, this appears to be an great buying opportunity at this price.

Overall, it was a good day in the markets, with the average member of the SigmaInverse Universe gaining 0.95% and a very healthy 72.6% of the members posting positive returns for the day. Strong sector moves were seen for Airlines (up 2.2% - thanks to lower oil prices), Automobiles (up 2.3%), Entertainment (up 2.7%) and Oil & Gas Production (down 0.5%).

After about a month of dramatic slippage during December, it appears Biotech may be recovering, although the gains of the past few weeks have certainly been modest.

SEATTLE GENETICS INC [SGEN] soared up 24% closing at $6.56 following the announcement of an exclusive worldwide license agreement with GENENTECH [DNA] for the development and commercialization of SGN-40, a monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The agreement calls for an upfront payment of $60 million and potential milestone payments exceeding $800 million. Royalty payments were described as “escalating double-digit royalties.”

IMMUNOMEDICS INC [IMMU] was up 16.9% closing at $4.23. This company is another biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases. It appears that Monday’s move can be attributed to a combination of buyout rumors and the speculation regarding licensing deals similar to the one involving SEATTLE GENETICS.

AFFYMETRIX INC [AFFX] jumped 13.6% closing at $24.68 following the announcement that it was projecting fourth quarter revenue of about $100 million. Given the extremely high P/E ratio (196 on trailing 12 months earnings) and the fact that the projected fourth quarter revenues are below those of the same period last year makes us somewhat less than enthusiastic. However, the microarray area in general is hot and the company is expanding its production facilities in Sacramento so eventually there might be an opportunity here.

RADIOSHACK CORP [RSH] jumped 11.6% closing at $18.76, following its press release indicating that it expected fourth quarter net income to increase. However, the reaction here is rather odd, given there is no estimate of the profitability being given. The projection that comparable same store sales will decrease by approximately 7.8% implies stronger margins, but probably meager revenue growth. Given the high P/E ratio (63.6 on trailing 12 months earnings), we would be very cautious here.

DYNAVAX TECHNOLOGIES CORP [DVAX] dropped 30% closing at $5.96. Analysis of interim one-year data from its two-year ragweed allergy trial of its TOLAMBA™ treatment indicates no meaningful ragweed-specific disease was present in the study population! So of course there was no response relative to the placebo. A 30% drop in this case is rather absurd if in fact there the population did not support a measurable disease condition during the ragweed season. There is obviously the question as to what was behind the absence of the disease state in the test population – perhaps there is a new preventative treatment that will be discovered, but we would expect a follow-up study in a population actually suffering from a ragweed allergies.

The average gain in the SigmaInverse Universe on Monday was 0.1% with 50.1% of the members posting gains for the day and 46.7% posting a loss for the day. Significant sector moves for the day were Alternative Energy (up 1.2%), Automobiles (down 0.9%) and Construction (down 1.0%).

HAYES LEMMERZ INTERNATIONAL INC [HAYZ] jumped 40.6% to close at $3.50 following the release of financials for the fiscal third quarter ended October 31^st. The company reported sales of $589.5 million for the quarter, a decline of 2.4% from the same period last year, and a net loss from operations of $27.6 million, compared with earnings from operations of $16.8 million for the third quarter last year. However, the loss includes a one-time $39 million non-cash impairment charge. Excluding the impairment charge, the company’s earnings from operations would have been $11.4 million. The company attributes the decline in sales to a shift away from dependency on the North American automotive clients, which have seen declines of 15% in production volumes over the same period. The company also reported a reduction in overall debt by approximately $24 million in the third quarter, although long-term debt remains uncomfortably high at $667 million. (There was a reduction of $10.5 million in long-term debt during the third quarter.) Also encouraging was a positive free cash flow of $27.6 million, excluding the company’s securitization program. For the full year, the company provided revenue guidance in the range of $2.2 to $2.3 billion (basically the same as for 2005), and improved EBITDA compared to 2005. However, the company still has a long way to go before we could recommend it on fundamentals. From a trading perspective, it’s looking expensive again. Note that the company has almost no analyst coverage, so one cannot expect to find low risk opportunities based on gaps between expectations and likely results. The free cash flow is helping to create value by allowing some reduction in the long-term debt, but the rate of improvement is still very weak at this time.  Short-term bearish - long-term, the jury is still out.

NUVELO INC [NUVO] (Biotech) was crushed losing 79.3% to close at $4.05 with trading volume of over 85 million shares (over 180 times the average daily volume for the past 90 days) after it was announced that its new drug Alfimeprase had flunked its Phase 3 clinical trials. The company was downgraded by Miller Johnson from “Outperform” to “Market Perform,” by Banc of America Securities from “Buy” to “Neutral,” and by Brean Murray from “Hold” to “Sell.” Our sense is that Monday’s reaction was too extreme given the company’s balance sheet (especially considering deferred revenues) and that while the pipeline is thin for the next few years), this would be an attractive, albeit speculative, entry point.

NEOPHARM INC [NEOL] (Biotech) was also hammered losing 67.9% to close at $2.16 after announcing that its new drug, cintredekin besudotox, for the treatment of recurrent brain tumors, also flunked a critical Phase 3 clinical trial for improved efficacy over an existing drug. Although the company was downgraded by First Albany from “Buy” to “Neutral” and by JMP Securities from “Strong Buy” to “Market Outperform,” it was actually upgraded by Brean Murray from “Sell” to “Hold.” Given the current burn rate, balance sheet and expected difficulties in maintaining a market capitalization above $50 million, we do not see this as an attractive entry point at this time.

Daily Sector Performance Chart

The average stock in the SI Universe posted a return of 0.07% on Monday, with 51.9% of the members posting positive returns and 3.2% unchanged.  The big sector moves were Biotech (down 2.6%, thanks of course to the impact of the two wicked outliers noted above) and Airlines (up 1.5%, thanks to CONTINENTAL AIRLINES [CAL] being the subject of rumors regarding it being a takeover target).

KEYSTONE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES INC [KEYS] was down a stunning 21.2% closing at $30.55 on the news the International Trade Commission had ruled in favor of FORD regarding 7 of 10 design patents dealing with parts of the Ford F-150 truck. Given the almost inconsequential impact of this decision on the KEYSTONE revenues (0.1% for sales on a trailing 12-month basis according to a Reuters story), we are inclined to view this as a definite buying opportunity for KEYS. Also, the ruling will be contested, although we have no estimate for the probability of a reversal at this point. Would suggest a conservative value between 0 and 0.5.

PARLUX FRAGRANCES INC [PARL] was hammered down 14.6% closing at $5.77 on the announcement that it would be selling back the Perry Ellis fragrance brand to Perry Ellis for approximately $63 million, which is well below the $140 million for which PARLUX had agreed to sell the brand to Victory International last summer. Looks like PARLUX has very little control over its brands if this is any indication. Hopefully they can put the $63 million to good use in acquiring some new brands. Given recent performance, we are not optimistic and it appears new leadership is needed.

CREE INC [CREE] tumbled 12.9% closing at $18.39 after revising downward its projections for the second fiscal quarter ending December 24^th. The company now projects sales of just $90 to $92 million for the quarter, well below the consensus estimate of $107.2 million and well below last year’s sales of $105.6 million for the same period. Yuck! Given declining sales, we do not see an opportunity at this time.

REDBACK NETWORKS INC [RBAK] jumped 11.7% closing at $16.94 after announcing that it had won the second phase of a broadband network upgrade by Guangdong Telecom – the largest provincial carrier in China. The carrier will use REDBACK’s SmartEdge® family of multi-service edge routers to deliver broadband internet, IPTV and VPN services for up to 4 million homes and businesses. With more than 50 million broadband customers, China is REDBACK’s second largest market outside the U.S. and it currently has edge routers deployed in 22 of the 32 provinces in China. Despite the high P/E ratio (89.6) and projected revenue growth of just 23% next year, we suspect the actual growth could be a lot stronger because of the international markets and this is still an interesting opportunity.

ON SEMICONDUCTOR CORP [ONNN] was up 10.6% closing at $7.52 following a very strong presentation at the Lehman Brothers Technology conference in San Francisco on Thursday. Given the relatively low P/E ratio (12.4) but only 5% expected growth next year, we do not see a lot of upside potential at this time and the continued selling by TPG is likely to continue to keep downward pressure on the stock.

MOVIE GALLERY INC [MOVI] up once again – this time 10.3% - to close at $4.49. Probably a good time to sell since we see no justification for the 47% increase in price since Monday!

IMMUNOMEDICS INC [IMMU] ramped up 10% closing at $3.09 following the announcement that the company had been awarded a patent for various methods of treating B-Cell lymphomas, leukemias and autoimmune diseases using the company’s monoclonal antibody that binds to a certain antigen present on B-lymphocytes. We need some evidence of execution here. A patent award by itself does not necessarily bring in revenue. Can the company successfully license its patents? The jury is out.

MEDAREX INC [MEDX] shot up 7.5% closing at $15.46 after announcing that the FDA had designated as a Fast Track product the company’s new drug ipilimumab used in combination with chemotherapy in previously untreated metastatic melanoma patients, or by itself in previously treated metastatic melanoma patients.

AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES INC [AKAM] up 7.4% closing at $53.38 with a trading volume more than double that of the average daily volume for the past 3 months. No real news and the P/E is 143.5 and the consensus estimate is for next year’s revenue growth to be about 34%, which I think is on the aggressive side, so this appears to be considerably over-valued at this point.

Daily Sector Performance Chart

With lots of nervousness on the jobs front, the markets were off with some substantial drops in all ranges of market capitalization. The average stock in the SI Universe posted a loss of 0.33% on Thursday.  Only 32.3% of the members posted a positive return for the day.  Unusual sector moves were Alternative Energy (down 1.7%), Construction (down 1.5%), and Tobacco (up 1.2%).

MOTHERS WORK INC [MWRK] continued to fade, dropping another 7.4%, to close at $47.10. The two day loss amounts to about 18% and is apparently due to rather heavy insider selling by the founders, Dan and Rebecca Matthias, who have sold more than half of their holdings. The magnitude and suddenness of the selling activity is a cause for concern. On top of the recently announced bonuses and salaries for the two, the extent of the selling is hard to explain.

SYSTEMAX INC [SYX] surged 17.2% closing at $14.20 after reporting results for the company’s second quarter ended June 30^th. With this report, the company is actually still one of the White Rabbits (tardy SEC filers) tracked by Wall Street Nuggets because it still hasn’t filed its third quarter results, although it is not quite as tardy as it was when we last published our White Rabbits list. Net sales for the second quarter were $547.2 million, up 8.1% from the same period last year. Net income for the quarter was $24.7 million or $0.67 per diluted share, and increase of 493% over the same period last year, which includes $0.12 per diluted share from the sale of a warehouse facility. Excluding special items, income would have been $0.56 per diluted share. It appears at this time that the delayed filings are due primarily to delays in engaging another independent registered public accounting firm and not to any internal investigations into stock option timing or other issues that are likely to require restatements. However, with the lack of transparency resulting from the delayed filings, we are reluctant to identify any opportunities.

IMMUNOGEN INC [IMGN] rose another 16.3% to close at $5.58 following the initiation of coverage by Cantor Fitzgerald with a “Buy” rating. Currently, there are four analysts covering the stock with three “Buy” ratings and one “Sector Perform” rating. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, based company researches and develops antibody-based anticancer therapeutics using its Tumor-Activated Prodrug (TAP) technology, with several candidates in Phase I and Phase II clinical tests. The company also licenses its technology to other biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi-Aventis, Genentech and Amgen Inc. It appears IMGN may still have some upward momentum, and that it would be prudent to wait for a leveling off, before assessing the opportunity.

ENCYSIVE PHARMACEUTICALS INC [ENCY] was up 9% closing at $6.88 following comments by Phil Nadeau (with Cowen & Co.) expressing some optimism with regard to the approval of the company’s new drug candidate, Thelin, based on the company’s filing of a response to the FDA’s request for additional information. We remain convinced that this is a buy opportunity, up to a level of about $9 per share.

Daily Sector Performance Chart

We are adding a new sector called Security today. This sector reflects a wide range of medical technology, information technology, and other industries focused on providing goods and services to address homeland security. The abbreviated trading day following the holiday saw relatively light volume and with some concerns regarding a weakening dollar, slipped into negative territory for the day. The average stock in the SI Universe lost 0.02% with only 41.8% of the members posting a positive return for the day. The outlier sectors were Automobiles (down 0.7%) and Mining (up 1.1%).

HOT TOPIC INC [HOTT] was up a sizzling 17.4% to close at $13.04 after reporting third quarter results that met earnings expectations and reaffirming guidance. Earnings for the quarter ended October 28, 2006, were $7.07 million, or $0.16 per share, compared with earnings of $5.93 million, or $0.13 per share, for the same period last year. The consensus estimate was for earnings of $0.16 per share. Since earnings were up in contrast to most others in the Retail Apparel sector, and also in-line with expectations, the market’s gut reaction was favorable. However, net sales were up a truly tepid 2% year-over-year, despite having opened 45 Hot Topic stores and 15 Torrid stores over the course of the year. To make matters even more depressing, same-stores sales for the quarter were down 6.8% for the quarter. With an extremely high P/E ratio of 41.1, this one is definitely not a buying opportunity!

BEA SYSTEMS INC [BEAS] was beaten down 16.4% closing at $13.11 after announcing third quarter results that were in line with expectations at the top line (up 19%), but raised concerns in the area of higher margin license fees (up only 12%). Because of its ongoing investigation into stock option granting practices, there is now a 200 day gap between the last period covered by a quarterly report and today (in other words, it has the dubious distinction of belonging to our White Rabbits club). The stock was also downgraded by WR Hambrecht from “Buy” to “Hold.”

Convenience store operator, PANTRY INC [PTRY], slipped 11.7% closing at $47.03 after announcing its financial results for its fourth fiscal quarter, ended September 28, 2006. Total revenues for the quarter were $1.7 billion, representing a 22.5% increase over the same period last year and in line with the consensus estimate. Earnings of $26.7 million, or $1.16 per share, represent a 5.2% increase over the same period last year, and slightly better than the $1.15 per share consensus estimate. However, the company’s guidance for 2007 earnings between $2.80 and $3.00 per share were well below the consensus estimate of $3.32 per share.

DENDREON CORP [DNDN] dropped 11% closing at $4.76 after announcing that it had entered into a definitive agreement with some institutional investors to sell 9,890,110 shares of its common stock for gross proceeds of $45 million (about $4.55 per share). No opportunity.

WILLIAMS SONOMA INC [WSM] dropped 9.9% closing at $31.70 after announcing disappointing third quarter results. Net revenues increased only 3% to $852.8 million. Earnings of $0.25 per diluted share were down 19.4% from the previous year.

ZUMIEZ INC [ZUMZ] plummeted 9.6% closing at $28.49 after announcing strong but lower than expected third quarter numbers. The company reported third quarter revenues of $82.3 million, and increase of 43% over the same period last year. Earnings of $0.24 per diluted share were up 33.3% year-over-year but below the consensus estimate $0.27 per diluted share. The company’s guidance for the 2006 fiscal year remains in the range of $0.66 to $0.67 per diluted share, although this is still a bit below the consensus estimate of $0.69 per diluted share. Comparable same-store sales were a very strong 10.7% for the quarter. While the revenue growth of 43% certainly warrants a high P/E ratio, the current P/E ratio of 55.2 is a tad-bit high. Probably less risky than getting on the damn skateboard, but not much.

MENS WEARHOUSE INC [MW] dropped 7.7% closing at $37.00 after announcing third quarter results. Earnings for the quarter were $0.58 per share compared to $0.44 per share for the same period last year. The consensus estimate had been for earnings of $0.54 per share. Guidance for the fourth quarter earnings of $0.68 to $0.72 was below the consensus estimate of $0.79, although it included a special charge of $0.08 per share. Guidance for same-store sales has been pretty good and we see this as a good sign. With a fairly low P/E ratio of 16.7, and revenue growth of 9.5%, this could be an interesting buying opportunity, although there does not appear to be any really significant opportunity for revenue growth at this time – just a relatively attractive entry point for a well run business.

RAMBUS INC [RMBS] soars once again up 30.5% to close at $21.72 on speculation that an upcoming ruling by the FTC will not involve penalties related to at least two of the memory-chip technologies that the company licenses. Meanwhile the company continues to delay its quarterly filing with the SEC due to an ongoing investigation into its stock option grant practices. The gap is now 230 days for RAMBUS since we have had any visibility into its profitability (another White Rabbit). According to a recent 8-K filing, revenues for the third quarter were $45.9 million, up 28% year-over-year, but down 6% sequentially. Given lack of visibility and rampant speculation on muddy legal matters, we would exercise extreme caution here.

ZOLL MEDICAL CORP [ZOLL] rolled up 28.2% closing at $53.06 after announcing very strong results for the fourth fiscal quarter ended October 1, 2006. Net sales for the quarter were $72.3 million, up 26.5% from the same period last year, easily beating the consensus estimate of $64.75 million. Earnings for the fourth quarter were $0.56 per share, more than double the $0.23 per share from the same period last year, and again easily topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 per share. However, with a rather pricey P/E ratio of 64.8, we do not see an additional opportunity at this point.

DYNCORP INTERNATIONAL INC [DCP] up 10.1% closing at $11.47 on unusually large volume (3 times average daily volume) with no particular news. This looks suspicious. Accounts receivable is unusually high. Long-term debt of $629.3 million as of September 29, 2006, is also very high. The cash flow from operations for the first six months of 2006 was about $65.8 million, but the P/E ratio is extremely high, so this does not seem to be a classic private-equity deal candidate. Sounds like some buying taking place in anticipation of a big contract announcement.

READERS DIGEST ASSOCIATION INC [RDA] rose 7.7% to close at $16.70 with the announcement that it had entered into a definitive merger agreement under which it would be going private in a transaction valued at $2.4 billion including debt, or $17.00 per share. Long-term debt at the end of the third quarter was $776.3 million, but the cash flow from operations has turned sharply negative and with declining quarterly revenues, the long-term prospects for the company were rather bleak. We’re not sure what the strategy will be for creating value in this case, but the road ahead will not be easy.

L-1 IDENTITY SOLUTIONS INC [ID] climbed 7% to close at $16.26 after announcing yet another acquisition – this time the target is COMNETIX, a Canadian company, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol [CXI]. The deal is estimated to be worth $12.5 million, or approximately $0.82 per share of COMNETIX to be paid in cash. L-1 expects COMNETIX to add $13 million in revenue next year and to be cash flow positive. Not too surprised to see ID trading higher.

Daily Sector Performance Chart

Despite the strength in the large and midcap stocks, the broader market was generally very mixed, despite the big drop in oil prices. The average member of the SI universe posted a gain of just 0.03% with 53% of the members posting positive returns for the day. The only capitalization bins posting positive gains for the day were the large and midcap bins.

Given the big drop in oil, there was little surprise in the outlier sectors. Alternative Energy was down 1.6%, Mining was down 3% and Oil & Gas Production was down 2.5%.

US AIRWAYS GROUP INC [LCC] shot up 16.8% closing at $59.46 on news that it had made a hostile $8 billion bid for troubled DELTA AIR LINES INC [DALRQ.PK]. This news triggered a feeding frenzy for other potential targets in the Airlines sector. CONTINENTAL AIRLINES INC [CAL] was up 12.3% closing at $43.08, UAL CORP [UAUA] was up 9% closing at $39.99, AMR CORP [AMR] was up 5.4% closing at $32.33, JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP [JBLU] was up 7.4% closing at $15.13 and NORTHWEST AIRLINES [NWACQ.PK] was up 93.3% closing at $0.84. However, the news was good for all airlines. Regional service providers, like MESA AIR GROUP INC [MESA], REPUBLIC AIRWAYS HOLDINGS INC [RJET] and SKYWEST INC [SKYW] were all down significantly on the assumption that the US AIRWAYS bid could interfere with contracts between DELTA and those regional providers.

EMBREX INC [EMBX] shot up 39.6% closing at $16.64 on the news that Pfizer Animal Health, a division of PFIZER INC [PFE] had agreed to acquire the company for a purchase price of approximately $155 million, or $17 per share in cash. Given PFIZER’s size, there does not appear to be an opportunity here.

RAILAMERICA INC [RRA] rocketed up 27.8% closing at $15.82 on the news that it had agreed to be bought by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC for about $1.1 billion, or $16.35 in cash per share of RRA. We were just a little tardy on this one, as it popped out on a screen yesterday suggesting it would be an interesting private-equity play.

DAKTRONICS INC [DAKT] jumped 26% closing at $33.60 after reporting very strong fiscal 2007 second quarter results. The company reported net sales of $123.5 million and earnings of $8.9 million, or $0.22 per share, compared with net sales of $75.8 million and earnings of $5.2 million, or $0.13 per share, for the same period last in fiscal 2005. The consensus estimate had been for net sales of $98.42 million and earnings of $0.15 per share. Given the company’s guidance of fiscal 2007 sales at $450 million, an increase of about 14% we find the current P/E ratio of 64 to be much too pricy.

AMERICAN ORIENTAL BIOENGINEERING INC [AOB] was up 17.3% closing at $9.89 after announcing great third quarter results. Both quarterly revenue and earnings more than doubled those of the third quarter 2005. The company expects fourth quarter revenue to be in the range of $37 to $39 million and earnings of at least $0.15 per share, easily topping the consensus estimates of $30.48 million and $0.12 per share, respectively. With a P/E ratio of only 29.17, and no significant debt, this still looks like it has a lot of upside potential.

ARVINMERITOR INC [ARM] advanced 9.1% closing at $17.68 after announcing fourth quarter (ended September 30^th) results that were basically in line with expectations but providing 2007 guidance that was better than expected. The company reported a loss of $261 million, or $3.76 per diluted share, with most of the loss due to a non-cash goodwill impairment charge. Income from continuing operations before special items was $28 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, matching the consensus estimate. The guidance for 2007 is for revenue to be in the range of $8.7 to $8.9 billion and earnings to be in the range of $1.15 to $1.25 per share. The current consensus estimate for 2007 is for revenue to be $8.58 billion and earnings to be $1.07 per share. The Balance Sheet is looking considerably better with a reduction in net debt by $103 million in the fourth quarter and by $501 million over the course of the fiscal year. With only 4% revenue growth over the past year, and a current P/E of about 15.6 it is hard to argue that this stock is undervalued. However, with $400 million in cash flow from operations in the fourth quarter and only $1.18 billion in long-term debt, this could be a private equity target as well.

CAREER EDUCATION CORP [CECO] climbed 7.9% to close at $26.02 on the news that it planned to sell some of its schools and campuses, including the 9 campuses that comprise the Gibbs division; McIntosh College; two campuses belonging to Brooks College; and Lehigh Valley College. The sale will enable CECO to concentrate on its core competencies where it has the greatest competitive advantages and the highest levels of expertise. From this perspective, we think it is a tad early to speculate on the strategy. Generally speaking it makes sense, but before passing judgment, it will be interesting to see how much money is raised by sales and how exactly it is put to use.

ARIAD PHARMACEUTICALS INC [ARIA] was up 7.4% closing at $5.40 on about 5 times the average daily volume with no really dramatic news. Looks like either a short squeeze or the impact of being featured as one of 7 bargain stocks in The Kiplinger Letter http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2006/11/seven.html

Daily Sector Performance Chart

It was another strong day in the markets, thanks to encouraging comments following the FOMC meeting, speculation regarding more consolidation in Airlines, and better than expected manufacturing data thanks to the NY Empire State Index. The average gain in the SI universe was 0.79% with 66.7% of the 3,551 members posting positive returns for the day. The big outlier sectors were Airlines (up 4.2%), Alternative Energy (up 4.8%) and Railroads (up 3.9%). Alternative Energy’s big gains were probably due to a press release by PACIFIC ETHANOL INC [PEIX] indicating that it would be delayed in filing its 10-Q for the quarter, BUT that it would be reporting an actual profit for the first time!!! PEIX was up 10%, VERASUN ENERGY [VSE] was up 8.6% and MGP INGREDIENTS INC [MGPI] was up 8%.