MONDAY - NOVEMBER 26, 2007..... Stocks rose as investors capped a capricious week by engaging in a bit of Black Friday bargain hunting while awaiting word of how retailers might fare during what is expected to be a tough holiday shopping season. Friday's holiday-shortened session ended three hours early and followed fractious trading that on Wednesday saw the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index give up more than 1.5 percent. The S&P's climb Friday put the index back into positive territory for the year. The day's gains weren't enough to reverse losses for the week, however, and observers cautioned the session could prove more an aberration than a reversal of recent trends. With many of Wall Street's principal players on vacation, volume was light as is typical on such days. "While I'd love to celebrate this rally, it is on very thin volume and we have to really wait until next week to get a sense of the true direction of this market," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. Still, he said it's a good sign that stocks didn't extend Wednesday's slide. "It looks like a little rebound rally," Ablin said. "Maybe the day off for Thanksgiving enabled investors to reflect that maybe the bottom isn't falling out of the economy."

The Dow rose 181.84, or 1.42 percent, to 12,980.88, finishing at the highs of the session rather than losing steam in the final minutes as has occurred often in recent weeks. Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 23.93, or 1.69 percent, to 1,440.70, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 34.45, or 1.34 percent, to 2,596.60. For the week, the Dow lost 1.49 percent, the S&P slid 1.24 percent and the Nasdaq gave up 1.54 percent. Government bonds showed little movement. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, stood at 4.01 percent, flat with late Wednesday. The dollar was lower against other major currencies, while gold prices rose. With no major economic data arriving and not much in the way of corporate news, some investors appeared to make some pro forma trades and search for any insights into the health of the economy, particularly with the arrival of Black Friday, the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season.

Oil prices, which flirted with $100 per barrel earlier in the week, gained as heating oil rose amid concerns about tightening supplies. Light, sweet crude for January delivery advanced 89 cents to settle at $98.18 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Friday's advance comes after the S&P 500 on Wednesday slipped into negative territory for the year -- unwelcome news as many investments such as mutual funds mirror the index. By Friday, however, the S&P had rebounded and was up 1.58 percent for the year. The stock market's recent swoon is owed in part to concerns about the health of the banking sector and how it will emerge from a recent string of write-offs on soured subprime loans, which are those made to borrowers with poor credit. Banks have announced about $75 billion in writedowns for the third and fourth quarters. Ron Kiddoo, chief investment officer at Cozad Asset Management in Champaign, Ill., said Wall Street needs a dose of good news such as continued strength in the job market to shed its sense of anxiety. "There just needs to be a realization that while subprime is crucial it's not had an effect on jobs yet and it hasn't had a great effect on the overall economy." Analysts view a robust labor market as crucial to upholding strong consumer spending.

Financial stocks, which have seen steep selloffs in recent weeks showed gains Friday. Some of the concern came after goverment-sponsored mortgage-makers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae reported huge quarterly losses in recent weeks. Moody's Investors Service this week lowered its rating on some Freddie Mac debt. Freddie Mac rose 47 cents to $26.47, while Fannie Mae rose $2.97, or 10.2 percent, to $32.20. E-Trade Financial Corp. jumped $1.07, or 25.1 percent, to $5.33 amid speculation that the company is in talks to strike a deal for all or a portion of its assets. A CNBC report, which cited undisclosed sources, named TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. and Charles Schwab Corp. as possible suitors. TD Ameritrade rose 82 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $18.90, while Schwab rose 75 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $23.56.

Among retailers drawing Wall Street's attention on Black Friday, Circuit City Stores Inc. jumped $1.06, or 19.5 percent, to $6.51, while Target Corp. climbed $3.07, or 5.7 percent, to $57.17. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, rose 87 cents to $45.73. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.48 billion shares. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 14.73, or 1.99 percent, to 755.03. Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.74 percent, Germany's DAX index advanced 0.62 percent, and France's CAC-40 gained 1.94 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed up 2.06 percent. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 195.91, or 1.49 percent, at 12,980.88. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 18.04, or 1.24 percent, at 1,440.70. The Nasdaq composite index ended down 40.64, or 1.54 percent, at 2,59.60.

Oil will undoubtedly be a conversational piece over the holiday break. The older and younger generation will collectively curse the big oil companies, the government, and whoever else they can pin the spiking price upon.

The winter and holiday season have historically been times of cheaper crude and, in turn, gasoline at the pump, but not so this year. The two have basically switched as this past summer saw somewhat tame prices while the third quarter saw crude rally from $71 to over $80 and now to almost $100 a barrel. But gas prices haven’t really correlated with crude over the past few weeks. The effects are slowly but surely beginning to make that move.

With crude making the strong moves, it hasn’t raised consumer awareness as much because of the lack of correlation with the gas prices, but that will certainly change over the coming weeks, and with that in mind, one needs to look at the alternate energy names much harder as the sleeping consumer will undoubtedly take notice in the near future.

While the market has seen a downturn with many thinking a recession could be on the horizon, it could be time to look for cheap names to protect against the inevitable pullback.

In the alternate energy space, one name to look into that could be considered cheap relative to peers is US BioEnergy Corp (USBE). The Company is one of the many ethanol producers in the US. The Company IPO’ed in mid Dec of 2006 in the $14 area and have since seen their share price slide to the $7’s.

Currently, Archer-Daniels Midland Company is the largest player in the space but isn’t a pure play. Some of the other producers similar in size to USBE are Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings Inc. (AVR) and VeraSun Energy Corporation (VSE).

Last week, USBE reported earnings that displayed some growth in both bottom line and production quarter over quarter. During the third quarter of 2007, the company sold 73.2 million gallons of ethanol at an average selling price of $1.76 per gallon, compared with 67.1 million gallons of ethanol at an average selling price of $1.91 per gallon for the second quarter of 2007. Revenues were $151 million compared to $154.4 million for the second quarter. Earnings were reported at 15c a share versus 12c a share in the earlier period.

The top line production growth is also expected to continue over the coming months. Their Marion, South Dakota facility is expected to being production in the first quarter of 2008 with a 110 million gallon a year capacity. Their Hankinson, North Dakota facility is expected to being production in the second quarter of 2008 with a 110 million gallon a year capacity. Their Dyersville, Iowa facility is expected to being production in the second quarter of 2008 with a 110 million gallon a year capacity. And their Janesville, Minnesota facility is expected to being production in the third quarter of 2008 with a 110 million gallon a year capacity.

Over the next year, USBE will be adding 440 million gallons a year in production to bring their total to the 750 million gallon a year range. But it has been noted that acquisition is now cheaper than new facility production evidenced by recent acquisitions by USBE and VSE in the $2.20 to $2.40 a gallon price range.

With production expected to be in the 750 million gallon a year range and an acquisition price of $2.20 a gallon, the value could be in the $1.65 billion range. Now consider the market cap which is only $556 million and one can see the discrepancy.

Even in simple comparisons to similar firms, USBE could be considered a better value play. VeraSun has more shares outstanding, more than double long term debt, very similar EBITDA and slightly higher revenue in the trailing twelve months, but the stock is trading 40% higher. On just a production comparison, USBE could easily be considered the better choice. The only real difference is the amount of cash VSE has ($320M) versus USBE’s ($80M). Even so, USBE hypothetically could issue $300 million in notes and end up with more cash than VSE and still have less long term debt.

AVR has produced revenue of $1.62 billion in the trailing twelve months which is more than double compared to USBE, but their EBITDA ($60M) was significantly less than what USBE produced ($79M) in the past year. Also, AVR has $39 million in cash versus USBE’s $79 million. Additionally, AVR’s short term debt is $48 million compared to USBE’s of only $15.8 million. Long term debt is comparable at $331 million versus AVR’s $300 million.

While some fundamental numbers are better in AVR or VSE, the majority could be considerably point towards USBE as being a better value. And with the expected production coming online in the next year, the name is certainly one to follow. With that in mind, investors would be wise to watch.

Jennifer Shares Fall Slightly Due
To Correction in Q4, FY07 Earnings
Jennifer Convertibles Incorporated’s (JEN) shares were down slightly in Wednesday’s light intraday trading after the Company had to release a correction to its earlier year end results. The Company had previously reported Q4 results of 23c and FY07 results of 48c on Tuesday morning during market hours. However the company said that earnings per share had been miscalculated. The corrected numbers provided on Wednesday showed the Company had actually reported Q4 earnings of 20c and FY07 earnings of 45c. In addition, diluted earnings from continuing operations for FY07 were corrected from 49c to 46c. JEN, which Convertibles was founded in 1975 and is based in Woodbury, New York. is a owner and licensor of sofabed specialty retail stores and leather specialty retail stores in the United States. As of November 20, 2007, the Company owned 159 stores and licensed 22 (including 21 owned and operated by a related company on a royalty free basis) and operates one licensed Ashley Furniture HomeStore. Shares of JEN were down just 6c, or less than 1.5%, on Wednesday. On Tuesday shares had climbed as high as $4.49 in Tuesday’s intraday before closing at $4.11. The Company’s 52-year high is $5.56 while the 52-year low has been $3.75.

Analysts Scramble to Cut Quebecor
World Outlook; Shares Continue Free-Fall
Opinions of Quebecor World, Inc. (IQW) continued to worsen Wednesday with four additional firms cutting their respective outlooks. National Bank Financial, Cormark, Scotia, and BMO Financial all downgraded the Company, setting new price targets in the range of $2.50 to $4. NBF went a step further than its $2.98 target, lowering Quebecor’s rating from “Sector Perform” to “Underperform”. Wednesday’s announcements follow other downgrades from the likes of S&P on Tuesday, and Moody’s earlier this month. S&P analyst Lori Harris cited a “deteriorating liquidity position following the withdrawal of the company’s refinancing plan to raise about C$750 million by issuing debt and equity.” Quebecor shares plummeted in early trading, dropping over 30% to $1.90, before recovering somewhat to around $2.40. The session dip adds to a general free-fall of the Company’s stock, trading at less than a quarter of its value from just three weeks ago. The downgrades come amidst perceived labor problems and disappointing earnings results. In June, the Company announced the closing of a profitable plant in Vancouver, drawing sharp criticism and protests from employees. Earlier this month, Quebecor reported an adjusted loss of $0.36 per diluted share for the third quarter versus a gain of $0.17 for the same period a year ago. Quebecor World provides high-value, complete marketing and advertising solutions to retailers, catalogers, branded-goods companies and other businesses with marketing and advertising activities, as well as complete, full-service print solutions for publishers. The Company’s product categories include advertising inserts and circulars, catalogs, direct mail products, magazines, books, directories, digital premedia, logistics, mail list technologies and other value-added services. Quebecor has posted TTM revenues of $5.92 billion, with net losses of $28.9 million.

MIV Therapeutics Comments on Sale
of SagaX to Focus on Cardiology Segment
MIV Therapeutics, Inc. (MIVT) has entered into a definitive Share Purchase Agreement to sell all of its issued and outstanding shares of SagaX Inc. in Israel for consideration of $4.0 million plus future royalties on sales of 8.0%. The purchaser is Israeli-based Shimoco LLC, which is owned and controlled by and Dr. Dov Shimon, the founder of SagaX, who has resigned from his position on the company’s Board of Directors as a consequence of the entering into of the Share Purchase Agreement. SagaX is principally engaged in the business of developing a neuro-vascular embolic stent filter medical device, called an Anti Embolic Protection Device. “This transaction is a win-win for all parties,” commented Dr. Mark Landy, president of MIV Therapeutics. “The sale of SagaX will allow MIV to better focus on its goal of being a leader in the interventional cardiology space, and saves us in excess of $1.0 million or more annually in development costs, while freeing up SagaX to pursue other financing avenues.” MIVT develops ultra thin, polymer-free passive and drug-eluting coatings for cardiovascular stents and a broad range of other implantable medical devices. The Company’s proprietary ultra-thin, hydroxyapatite (HAp) based polymer-free coating has demonstrated excellent safety and biocompatibility in animal studies and human clinical trials. Hydroxyapatite is a naturally occurring porous material that makes up human bone mineral and the matrix of human teeth and is widely used today as a bone substitute material and for coatings on implantable fixation devices in orthopedic, dental and other applications. Through a Collaborative Research Agreement (CRA) with The University of British Columbia, the Company has received a Canadian Government grant for its research program. Introduction of new biocompatible polymer-free coatings is expected to provide an attractive alternative to current polymer-based drug-eluting coatings especially in the drug eluting stent market, where it is widely believed that polymers are associated with an increase in undesirable side effects that may be fatal. Last week, the Drugs Controller General of India, the governmental agency with regulatory authority over medical products, approved two of the Company’s bare metal stents for manufacture and sale in India. The GenX(TM) Stainless Steel Coronary Stent & Stent System and the GenX(TM) CrCo Chromium Cobalt Coronary Stent & Stent System along with the Company’s additional angioplasty products will be officially launched into the Indian market beginning December 5, 2007, through third party distributors. Dr. Landy noted, “This regulatory achievement permits MIV Therapeutics’ entree into one of the world’s fastest growing stent markets with a highly competitive offering, and allows us to continue refining and increasing our manufacturing capability as we advance the clinical development of our unique drug-eluting stents using our advanced biocompatible coatings and drug delivery technology.”

REPORTS ISOLATION ON HUMAN VITAMIN B12 RECEPTOR: Shares of Kyto Biopharma Inc. (KBPH) soared to a 52-week high today after announcing that it has conclusively isolated the protein and gene encoding the human Vitamin B12 receptor, TCblR, for the cellular uptake of the transcobalamin-bound Vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 regulates one of two major cellular pathways for the production of Folates, the cell’s primary source of carbon and the progenitor for the synthesis of DNA. The newly isolated vitamin B12 receptor is over expressed in a host of various forms of cancer cells and serves as a viable target for development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. “Targeting TCblR in cancer cells with monoclonal antibodies holds a tremendous promise as a strategy to combat cancer,” commented Dr. Uri Sagman, a founder and a director of Kyto. Kyoto has a program to develop targeted human monoclonal antibodies to TCblR as therapeutics for various forms of cancer. In addition, Kyto intends to couple chemotherapeutic drugs and metabolic toxins to such therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and enhance their biological activity as powerful targeting agents. The Company intends to develop its Vitamin B12 receptor based technology and is looking for a suitable partner to assist with the development and commercialization of a marketable cancer therapeutic. Kyto holds an extensive portfolio of intellectual property including IP protection for the newly discovered TCblR gene and its product. The Company’s ultimate business goal is to license its proprietary antibody technologies to large pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies.

CUTS 50 JOBS: Hydrogenics Corporation (HYGS) announced that, as a result of its ongoing initiatives to streamline operations and better position itself for fuel cell commercialization opportunities, it has implemented a number of organizational changes that will reduce costs. The Corporation anticipates that the streamlining initiatives will result in a charge against the fourth quarter 2007 results of approximately $3.0 million, or $0.03 per share, reflecting the elimination of 50 full time positions representing $5.2 million of annualized cash savings by the third quarter of 2008. These staff reductions along with the Corporation’s decision on November 8th, 2007 to windup its test equipment business, will result in a 40% reduction in full time positions from 250 to 150.

RECEIVES FDA RESPONSE: Labopharm Inc. (DDSS) received a written response from the FDA regarding its appeal of the Agency’s Approvable Letter for its once-daily tramadol formulation through the Formal Dispute Resolution process. In the response, the Acting Director of the Office of Drug Evaluation II, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research has not overturned the decision in the Agency’s Approvable Letter of May 2007. Labopharm plans to appeal the matter to the next supervisory level at the FDA in the coming weeks.

ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT PLANS: Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. (ALLP) announced its clinical development plan for Oxygent(TM) (perfluorochemical [PFC] emulsion) to focus primarily on supporting the initial clinical development of Oxygent in China. The clinical development plan for China is to investigate Oxygent in maintaining hemodynamic stability during major surgery, thereby potentially reducing or avoiding intraoperative transfusions of donor blood in major surgery. In addition, the Phase 2 clinical trial in China will incorporate oxygenation endpoints of postoperative improvement of organ function, such as the gut, heart, brain and kidney. As a result, Alliance will discontinue enrollment in the current French study and is currently transferring the manufacturing technology to enable its partner, Beijing Double-Crane Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., to manufacture Oxygent in China. Following the manufacture of clinical supplies in China, Double-Crane plans to submit an IND to the sFDA, which is anticipated to be completed in 2008.

ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT: Document Security Systems, Inc. (DMC) announced that it has entered an agreement to partner with NPC, Inc. to deliver innovative anti-counterfeiting and authentication solutions. As part of the agreement, NPC will partner with Document Security Systems to deliver the AuthentiGuard(R) technology suite to new customers as well as through established sales channels in the government, healthcare, and academic markets. In the agreement, DMC has granted NPC a non-exclusive license in the United States for the AuthentiGuard(R) technology suite for which NPC has agreed to pay DMC a minimum annual royalty fee plus a percentage royalty per project.

PRESENTS POSITIVE DATA AT CONFERENCE: Systems Medicine, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTIC), announced that cumulative preliminary results of a phase I trial combining cisplatin with brostallicin in patients with solid tumors that had relapsed or were resistant to front-line treatment were presented at the Highlights in Oncology meeting in Naples, Italy, on Tuesday, November 20, 2007. The trial is based on data demonstrating tumors with high levels of GSH/GST, common in platinum-resistant disease, are more susceptible to the killing effects of brostallicin. High levels of GSH and GST are associated with resistance to most standard chemotherapy drugs. “Our phase I and II experience with brostallicin in over 160 patients demonstrates encouraging anti-tumor activity in a variety of solid tumors, with more than 50% of the patients experiencing at least disease stabilization,” said Steven Weitman, M.D., of Systems Medicine.