Not So Sleepy Stock

One of my recent mechanical portfolio stocks, which I bought in real life was a rocket stock today: SEPR. Once again, the action made me lose some confidence in the fairness of the markets. Check out the chart for the day.

Sepracor Inc. (NMS)

Range: 1d 5d 3m 6m 1y 2y 5y max Type: Bar | Line | Candle Scale: Linear | Log Size: M | L Compare: SEPR vs S&P Nasdaq Dow Want more control over the chart? Try our Interactive Chart. Splits:28-Feb-00 [2:1]

Last Trade: 22.80 Trade Time: 2:18PM ET Change: 4.77 (26.46%) Prev Close: 18.03 Open: 18.01 Bid: N/A Ask: N/A 1y Target Est: 17.61

Day's Range: 17.53 - 23.57 52wk Range: 9.83 - 19.59 Volume: 16,031,335 Avg Vol (3m): 2,293,000 Market Cap: 2.53B P/E (ttm): 12.59 EPS (ttm): 1.81 Div & Yield: N/A (N/A)

Looking at the volumes and the prices, it is clear something happened around 1:15. Or at least some one knew something had happened. Yet there was nothing but rumor, until 1:53 (UPDATE - Dainippon Sumitomo to bid for Sepracor - Nikkei), and then trading was halted at 2:18 (InPlay: Sepracor trading halted - news pending).

Anyway, great news for my portfolio today, I think the M&A wave I have been discussing is starting to gain steam... this is my 2nd in just a few months (VM was the other). When I see things finalized a bit, I'll likely sell as I am not into the arbitrage game.

Speaking of M&A, there is a lot of noise out there about the fertilizer space (Is Now the Time to Accumulate a Potash Position?). I do find POT at under $90 an intriguing stock, even though it is not on the list. TRA is still out there, not sure if CF or AGU are still hanging on.

CMED had another wild day for me after the 19% fiasco yesterday. It started off quickly down about 8 or 9%. Then it did a U-turn and went up about 5%... ended up +3.7%. CMFO went unfilled again today, looks like that boat will have sailed pretty soon.

Finally, TC has really pulled back. I made a lot on them when I bought them in November around $3.50 a share. I sold too early (they got above $14), but they're back around $11. Not on the list again, but still an interesting stock.

Did anyone get my pun in the title?