Starting off the week strong at midday today are Supertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUPX), International Tower Hill Mines Ltd (NYSEMKT:THM) and RetailMeNot Inc (NASDAQ:SALE). On the flip side are The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:MDCO), LIN MEDIA LLC (NYSE:LIN) and YPF SA (ADR) (NYSE:YPF).
International Tower Hill Mines Gives Paulson a boost
By quite a margin, our midday gainer is Supertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUPX), a company dedicated to designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing high voltage analog circuits in Asia, the United States and Europe. The stock surged +35.27% after the announcement that Supertex is to be acquired by Microchip Technology (NASDAQ: MCHP) for $33 per share in cash. With 166,000 shares, billionaire George Soros has a 0.05% stake in SUPX. Ray Dalio owns just over 176,000 assets of Microchip.
Following Supertex is International Tower Hill Mines Ltd (NYSEMKT:THM), its price increasing +12.49%. The John Paulson pick is up a wowing +53.9% YTD, beating every single available forecast. The price of gold has increased this year as well, from an average $1230 per ounce on January 7th to $1263.30 at market close on Friday. This has likely attributed to International Tower Hill’s surge.
Up +6.99% is RetailMeNot Inc (NASDAQ:SALE). Also a Soros bet, the stock’s price has increased more than +40% YTD. The online coupon platform most recently unveiled big jumps in revenues and subscribers.
FDA Divisions Spell Trouble for MDCO
The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:MDCO) fell -6.05% by midday today. The cause? The FDA staff is divided over whether or not to approve one of its blood clot prevention drugs, Cangrelor. George Soros holds 250,000 MDCO assets (0.09% of his fund).
Leon Cooperman pick LIN MEDIA LLC (NYSE:LIN) is also having a rough start to the week, down -4.63% midday. The broadcasting and television conglomerate announced its quarterly and yearly results on Friday, with net revenue down -6% for Q4 2013 and several other metrics below expectations. And although yearly revenues were up +18% from 2012, operating income was down -47%.
Rounding out today’s list of losers is yet another Soros bet, YPF SA (NYSE:YPF). Its stock price slipped -3.87% despite a recent courtroom win against former parent company Repsol of Spain. The likely cause of this latest decline: Argentina’s ongoing economic and political turmoil.
