Mid-Day Buzz: Dendreon Pops 10%, Nokia Heads South to No Man’s Land

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) shares have rebounded to almost flat this afternoon. Shares have been reaching new heights, but are taking a breather today. Investors showed interest in the pending regulatory ruling on the company’s obesity-fighting drug candidate Lorcaserin. An FDA panel last month voted 18 to 4 (with one abstention) to recommend approval, and determined that possible benefits from the drug are greater than potential risks in long-term use by overweight and obese patients. The FDA often, but not always, follows panel guidance.

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ:DNDN) shares have gained over 10 percent as of afternoon trading. Research firm Summer Street initiated coverage on the company with a Buy rating and a price target of $18. There is potential promise for their drug Provenge.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) shares plunged more than 14 percent as of this afternoon, after it issued another profit warning for the quarter and announced it would layoff 10,000 jobs. “These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia’s long-term competitive strength,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement. “We are increasing our focus on the products and services that our consumers value most while continuing to invest in the innovation that has always defined Nokia.”

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Shares of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) managed tread higher almost 2% in afternoon trading. The social-media company recently announced plans to launch Facebook Exchange, a real-time bidding platform for advertising on its site, not unlike that used by Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and other Web companies to more effectively target ads to consumers. The service will allow advertisers to target ads to users based on their browsing history, Facebook spokesman Annie Ta told Bloomberg. The apps will be served through third-party demand-side platforms, including AppNexus, DataXu, AdRoll, Turn, and MediaMath, and will be priced based on the cost per thousand views. The new service is also designed to let advertisers deliver more time-sensitive messages, according to Bloomberg.

Best Buy Co. (NYSE:BBY) shares received a boost of over 2 percent today. The company received an upgrade from Sell to Neutral by Citigroup (NYSE:C), based on valuation looking cheap due to headline stories.

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