Hot Small Cap Companies To Buy Right Now

The biotech sector has been hot this year with�small cap biotech stocks�Fate Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: FATE),�Omeros Corporation(NASDAQ: OMER) and TNI BioTech (OTCMKTS: TNIB) being among those biotech stocks in the news this week. However, there has also been talk�and perhaps�some signs of a bubble in biotech that investors and traders alike need to consider. With that in mind, here is a recap of the latest news for biotech or small cap biotech stocks:

Understanding What�� Driving the Performance of the Biotech Sector Right Now. JMP Securities' Mark Lehmann was recently on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart��to�talk about�what is driving the biotech sector�� stellar performance. Mark noted the sector is being driven by optimism (as in when some things are working, more investors want to get in) and M&A activity because when a biotech gets taken over, investors (especially fund managers) need to find an alternative to invest in���such as small cap biotech stocks. Mark also pointed out that the JMP Securities' small cap biotech index is a good gauge for the sector because as soon as a small cap biotech goes over the $750 million mark, they yank it from the index. Finally, Mark noted that over the last 12 months, life sciences IPOs have averaged 50% to 60% gains and some are over 200%. Canadian Biotechs or Health Care Stocks Are Hard to Find. If you are an investor north of the border, the Globe and Mail has a lengthy article about how there are�only a few mid- to large-cap companies in the health sector in Canada and fewer still that pay dividends. The choices for investors is also set to get smaller as CML HealthCare Inc. is set to be taken over by its�private rival, LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services. However, Alan Ridgeway, an analyst at Paradigm Capital Inc., was quoted as saying: ��here are lots of small caps, and there are some really interesting small caps, but it is such a different risk profile than CML.�� The Fate Therapeutics IPO Flops. FierceBiotech.com has noted how the IPO for Fate Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of adult stem cell modulators, was supposed to involve 4.6 million shares at $14 to $16 to raise up to $73.6 million. However, Fate Therapeutics went public earlier this week at only�only $6 a share to raise�$40 million on the sale of 6.7 million discounted shares. The Fate Therapeutics� is the 38th biotech to go public this year and some observers are expressing concern that the market�� appetite for new biotech IPOs may be waning. Omeros Corporation Surges on Good News. Small cap Omeros Corporation, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company�focused on�discovering, developing and commercializing small-molecule and protein therapeutics targeting inflammation, coagulopathies and disorders of the central nervous system,�has surged for two days in a row (its up over 35% since Tuesday) after announcing�that the New Drug Application (NDA) for its experimental eye-surgery drug, OMS302, has been confirmed for filing by US and European regulators. Wall Street expects the FDA to make an approval decision on OMS302 in the middle of next year. In addition, Omeros Corporation announced a�settlement agreement with its insurer, Carolina Casualty Insurance Company (CCIC), related to CCIC's defense of, and coverage of obligations owed to the company and its CEO and chairman, Gregory A. Demopulos, M.D., in previously settled litigation with�OMER�� former chief financial officer. What happened was the CFO had�claimed that he was wrongfully dismissed while Omeros Corporation settled the case in 2012 by�making a one-time payment of $3.94 million, which included legal costs, while the insurance company will pay�OMER $12.5 million to handle related costs. Omeros Corporation shares are now up 148.7% since the start of the year, up 40.7% over the past year and up 56.4% over the past five years. TNI BioTech Makes Important Announcements. TNI BioTech, which was formed in 2012 to�acquire patents, develop treatments, market and license immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, HIV/AIDS and autoimmune diseases, has announced that its subsidiary,�TNI BioTech International, Ltd., has signed a distribution agreement with a Nigerian company called AHAR Pharma to market Lodonal��in Nigeria for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. TNI BioTech says that under the agreement, AHAR will generate just over $53,000,000 in gross revenue for�the company�in 2014 with approximate $21,000,000 in available cash flow to meet TNIB�� financial clinical trial commitments. AHAR has also�pre-paid for the API necessary for the soft launch and has committed to purchase a minimum of $1,000,000 of capsules between now and January 2014. Previously, TNI BioTech�had�announced a manufacturing and supply�agreement with Laboratorios Ramos for the production of Low Dose Naltrexone (��DN���and gave a�financing update which noted the company has�received $826,250 as consideration for the exercise of previously-issued warrants and $531,250 for the purchase of common stock under the Private Placement (for an aggregate sum of $1,357,500).

Hot Small Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of treatments for infectious diseases. The company focuses on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Its drug candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV include ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor, which is in phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV; ACH-2684, a pangenotypic protease inhibitor, which is in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV infection; and NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, which is to enter a phase I clinical trial, as well as various additional NS5A inhibitors in preclinical development. Its pipeline of product candidates also includes ACH-702 and ACH-2881 for drug resistant bacterial infections; elvucitabine for HIV infection; and AC H-1095 for HCV infection. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Few biotechs were hit as hard as Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) this week, however. Achillion makes up around 2% of the weight of the SPDR Biotech ETF, and its 7.5% loss this week was a major reason for the fund's fall. This stock has failed to capitalize on the markets' surge this year, losing 10% year-to-date. The company only recently named a new CEO, lifting its former R&D head and chief science officer to the top job. Achillion's still in the developmental stage of its life and thus produces no revenue, and the company's cash burn makes it seem likely that more share dilution is on its way as the company looks to advance its hepatitis-C pipeline over the coming years. Until Achillion produces some meaningful results from that pipeline, this stock will remain a risky play in an already risky space.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Liver quivers
  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) ranks as the top drop of the week. Shares plunged 24% on news that the Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold on experimental hepatitis C drug�sovaprevir.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) has plunged 51% to $3.53 after the FDA kept a hold on its hepatitis C drug in trials. The stock was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: ATA Inc.(ATAI)

ATA Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides computer-based testing services in the People?s Republic of China. It offers services for the creation and delivery of computer-based tests utilizing its test delivery platform, proprietary testing technologies, and testing services; and provides logistical support services relating to test administration. The company?s computer-based testing services are used for professional licensure and certification tests in various industries, including information technology (IT) services, banking, securities, teaching, and insurance. Its e-testing platform integrates various aspects of the test delivery process for computer-based tests ranging from test form compilation to test scoring, and results analysis. ATA also provides career-oriented educational services, such as single course programs, degree major course programs, and pre-occupational training programs focusing on preparing students to pass IT and other vocational certification tests; test preparation and training programs and services to test candidates preparing to take professional certification tests in securities, futures, banking, insurance and teaching industries; online test preparation and training platform for the securities and banking industries; and test preparation software for the teaching industry. In addition, the company offers HR select employee assessment solution, an online system that utilizes its proprietary software and an inventory of test titles to help employers improve the efficiency and accuracy of their employee recruitment process. As of March 31, 2010, it had contractual relationships with 1,988 ATA authorized test centers. The company serves Chinese governmental agencies, professional associations, IT vendors, and Chinese educational institutions, as well as individual test preparation services. ATA Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Hot Blue Chip Companies For 2014: Panera Bread Company(PNRA)

Panera Bread Company, together with its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises retail bakery-cafes in the United States and Canada. Its bakery-cafes offer fresh baked goods, sandwiches, soups, salads, custom roasted coffees, and other complementary products, as well as provide catering services. The company also manufactures and supplies dough and other products to company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes. As of March 29, 2011, it owned and franchised 1,467 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co., and Paradise Bakery & Cafe names. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Another potential way that Chipotle could probably boost sales would be to raise its menu prices. Food costs have risen substantially, and McDonald's and Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) have both successfully pushed price hikes through to customers. At the same time, though, Chipotle doesn't want to alienate customers at a time in which sales growth is already under pressure.

• [By Andrew Marder]

  I've come to loathe precedents. Nothing is more annoying than someone telling you that their favorite new book is the next Harry Potter�or that the movie they just saw is going to be the next Godfather. So it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm not overly keen on the selling of Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS  ) as the next Panera (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) or Chipotle (NYSE: CMG  ) or Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  ) . Instead, maybe we can judge the business on its merits, instead of on the success of restaurants that came before it.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Both Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG  ) and Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) have been some of the best restaurant concepts over the past few years, but particularly during the recession, as diners went down market to save money while still getting a good value for their dollar.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Loyalty programs have become quick in the fast casual space. Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) are retail darlings with their initiatives.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the development and operation of agricultural logistics and trade centers in northeast China. It also involves in purchasing, processing, assembling, merchandising, and distributing pearls and jewelry products. The company markets its pearls and jewelry products to wholesale distributors and mass merchandisers in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. In addition, it develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial properties in Hong Kong and the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Brennan]

  Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) added 0.9 percent to C$104.93 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to C$131.73.

  Niko Resources surged 3.4 percent to $8.64 after the company entered an agreement for a $60 million loan that will be funded by a group of institutional investors. Net proceeds from the loan will be used to fund working capital requirements.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Rackspace Hosting Inc(RAX)

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. operates in the hosting and cloud computing industry. It provides information technology (IT) as a service, managing Web-based IT systems for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as large enterprises worldwide. The company?s service suite includes dedicated hosting comprising customer management portal and other management tools that manage data center, network, hardware devices, and operating system software; and cloud computing that enables customers to provide and manage a pool of computing resources, as well as delivery of computing resources to business when they need them. It offers cloud servers, cloud files, and cloud sites, as well as cloud applications, such as email, collaboration, and file back-ups; and hybrid hosting that provides a combination of dedicated hosting and cloud computing services. The company also offers customer support services. It sells its service suite through direct sales teams, third-party channel partners, an d online ordering. The company was formerly known as Rackspace.com, Inc. and changed its name to Rackspace Hosting, Inc. in June 2008. Rackspace Hosting, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Monday

  Earnings Releases Expected: Sotheby�� (NYSE: BID), Otelco (NASDAQ: OTEL), Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX), Red Lion Hotels Corporation (NYSE: RLH) Economic Releases Expected: Italian industrial production, Mexican industrial production, Portuguese trade balance

  Tuesday

• [By Tim Beyers]

  Real money was on the line then as it is now, which means any one of the five stocks you see below could tip the scales in my favor. This time, Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX  ) , once one of my portfolio's top stocks, plummeted 26% after reporting an earnings miss and subpar guidance.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Petroquest Energy Inc(PQ)

PetroQuest Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas company. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of oil and gas properties in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, as well as onshore and in the shallow waters offshore the Gulf Coast Basin. As of December 31, 2009, the company had estimated proved reserves of 1,931 thousand barrels of oil and 167,361 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. It owned working interests in 9 net producing oil wells and 277 net producing gas wells. PetroQuest Energy was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  PetroQuest Energy Inc. (NYSE: PQ) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

  Rubicon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN) was downgraded to Underperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.