TapImmune, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative therapeutics and vaccines in the areas of oncology and infectious disease. The company’s lead product, the TAP vaccine, moves characteristic markers called antigens to the surfaces of cells. Without TAP, there are no cancer markers, making it impossible for the immune system to spot rogue cells and cancerous cells, allowing them to grow undetected.

The company’s vaccine has demonstrated its effectiveness in restoring TAP which in-turn restores and augments the characteristic marker (antigen) and subsequent recognition and killing of cancer cells by the immune system. The TAP molecule also works as an accelerant to enhance targeted vaccines against infectious diseases. For example, including TAP in the studied Smallpox Vaccine showed potency was increased by 100-1,000 times.

TapImmune’s technologies have broad applications in developing therapeutic and preventative vaccines. The company’s technologies have been featured on ABC News BusinessNow, B-TV, in BusinessWeek, Popular

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Where’s That Cracking Sound Coming From?

by Robert Williams, Publisher
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

When I saw the latest cover of BusinessWeek – “Why the Commercial Real Estate Crisis Looks So Scary” – I immediately fired off a text to my friend and Investment U colleague, David Fessler.

“We scooped ‘em by six whole months,” I texted.

Dave’s been tracking (and cautioning us about) the commercial real estate market for the better part of a year now. (You can read Dave’s June article on the commercial real estate fallout or his April article on the commercial real estate sector.)

“Last year, commercial real estate sales fell off a cliff, plunging 73%… But it’s going to get worse… much, much worse,” asserted Dave, months ago.

He nailed it. The market is indeed cracking.

BusinessWeek reported that $6.4 billion worth of commercial real

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McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP) recently reported third quarter 2009 results. Quarterly earnings of $1.12 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.06, but fell 8.9% from the $1.23 delivered in the prior-year quarter. On a reported basis, including one-time items, earnings fell 13% to $1.07 per share. The decline in the top line, partially offset by stringent cost controls, resulted in the fall to the bottom line. Due to effective cost management, the company now expects to achieve the high end of earnings guidance range of $2.20 to $2.25 per share for fiscal 2009. Revenue for the quarter slipped 8.4% to $1,875.9 million due to a fall in revenue in its three segments -- Education, Financial Services and Information & Media. Given the turbulent economy and softness in the elementary-high school market and advertising, management now expects revenue to decline by 7% in 2009 -- worse ...

This post is a guest contribution by Dian Chu*, market analyst, trader and author of the Economic Forecasts and Opinions blog.

The dollar’s value against major currencies has fallen in recent months as the US fiscal outlook worsened and amid expectations that interest rates will remain close to zero for some time to fight the economic downturn.

This week, the euro broke above the psychologically important level of $1.50 driving gold prices to record levels, prompting many global central banks intervening on currency markets to slow the dollar’s fall (Fig 1).

How did we get here?

Since the financial crisis last fall, currency markets have taken their cues mostly from stock markets. When stocks plunged in March of this year, investors rushed to the safety of US government bonds, pushing the

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Overland Storage, Inc. disclosed details of a strategic manufacturing agreement with Foxconn Technology Group this morning, Tuesday, Oct 20. This agreement will initially result in a collaborative effort between the companies to manufacture a line of Overland’s end-to-end data protection (EDP) solutions. This is an important move forward for Overland, leading to an increased manufacturing capacity and improved operating efficiency.

EDP is a data protection model for continuous validation of data integrity at the origin and destination within a given computer system.

Foxconn is the biggest multinational Computer, Communication and Consumer-electronics (3C) provider of manufacturing services and has a proven track record of joint-design and development. Foxconn is a recognized industry leader, recently ranking in the top 10 of BusinessWeek’s IT 100 and the Fortune Global 500. The company’s innovation and technical prowess is further confirmed by its holding of over 15,000 patents, placing it among the cream of the crop in

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This post is a guest contribution by Dian Chu*, market analyst, trader and author of the Economic Forecasts and Opinions blog.

Last Friday, US crude oil futures finished above $78, the highest level in a year, surging more than 9% during the past week making it the largest weekly gain since the height of the summer driving season, even though the US continues to sit on ample supply of petroleum.

Given the continued sluggishness of the economy, high unemployment rate and large amounts of excess oil production capacity around the world, analysts said a sudden upward spike was still unlikely, while others are predicting an immanent correction down below $70.

However, if you take a closer look, it is evident that the current crude oil market is almost entirely detached from fundamentals. Furthermore, there are several factors supporting oil rising to new levels, as fundamentals are

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After several rounds of bids by various private equity firms and publishers, Bloomberg ultimately emerged as the winner in the race to acquire struggling BusinessWeek magazine.   The terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of this year, were not disclosed. However, according to sources, Bloomberg offered cash in the range of $2 million to $5 million, and agreed to undertake BusinessWeek's liabilities, including potential severance payments to nearly 400 employees who might be laid off.   The parent group McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP) was seeking strategic options for BusinessWeek ever since July. Like other print publications, the magazine has long been grappling with the slump in advertising demand amid the global meltdown, as advertisers are migrating to the Internet due to increasing online readership and lower ad prices than print. Advertising pages in BusinessWeek's global edition fell 34.3% in the second quarter.  ...

This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• Robert Fisk (Independent): Secret plan to ditch the US dollar’s dominance uncovered, October 6, 2009. Arab states have launched a secret plan with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading.

• Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (Telegraph): China calls time on dollar hegemony, October 6, 2009. You can date the end of dollar hegemony from China’s decision last month to sell its first batch of sovereign bonds in Chinese yuan to foreigners.

• John Hussman (Hussman Funds): Defensive, but a measure of equanimity, October 5, 2009. My view continues to be that the intrinsic condition of the US economy has not improved, and that the green shoots we’ve observed are a transient artifact

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According to media reports, leading financial data, news and analytics provider Bloomberg is the frontrunner in the race to acquire BusinessWeek. McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP) also considers Bloomberg as the best bidder for the struggling magazine as it views that both the companies are at the helm of the financial media industry. Bloomberg had reportedly been approached to acquire BusinessWeek earlier, even before the start of the official auction process in July. However, the company did not consider the proposal on grounds of higher valuation. Bloomberg’s renewed interest in the struggling magazine is part of its business strategy to sustain expansion beyond its core business. The company has a news service, publishes books and magazines, and circulates business information through TV, radio and the Internet. Earlier in July, parent group McGraw-Hill said that it was seeking strategic options for BusinessWeek, which was severely battered by ...

This post is a guest contribution by Dian Chu*, market analyst, trader and author of the Economic Forecasts and Opinions blog.

The S&P has skyrocketed 58% since its bottom in early March, while the Dow is up 50% and the Nasdaq has surged 68% during that time. Meanwhile, bond prices led a rally as rates on the benchmark 10-year note have declined some 40 basis points since early August. This is good news for business: higher bond prices make it easier to refinance debt and stay in business.

Meanwhile, across the country, Main Street investors are weighing whether they should jump back into the market. However, the price correlation between equities and bonds of late has some argue that typically, if equities are trending higher, then bonds would head lower, and yield would be higher, due to concerns of higher inflation. This essentially describes “the

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