TapImmune Inc. is a biotechnology company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. They specialize in the development of immunotherapeutic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases. Their core business focus is on emerging technologies based on cellular immunology and genetic understanding of the cause and potential novel treatments of disease.

TapImmune Inc.’s lead product is the TAP vaccine. It performs a key step in moving characteristic markers called antigens to the surfaces of cells. Without TAP, there are no cancer markers. Therefore, the immune system fails to spot the rogue cells and the cancerous cells can grow undetected. In addition, the TAP molecule works as an adjuvant (accelerant) to enhance targeted vaccines against infectious diseases.

The Company is developing AdhTAP for the commencement of toxicology studies leading to the initiation of Phase I clinical trials. The expectation is that the global vaccine market will grow from $13 billion in 2007 to $21 billion

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Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) today said that it plans to develop two of its offshore Australian gas fields using its floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) production technology. This technology is a method of cheaper and quicker development of offshore gas reserves.  Under the FLNG technology, producers won’t have to build onshore LNG plants or set long gas pipelines under the sea. Shell has 100% working interest in both the Prelude and the Concerto fields. These fields will be developed one after another.  The Prelude FLNG project is now in the front end engineering and design phase of development. This field has 2.5 trillion to 3 trillion cubic feet of gas and about 120 million barrels of condensate. The company is expected to underpin an LNG plant with an annual capacity of 3.5 million tons. Shell has a history of innovation on the technology front.  The ...

Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ:SNIC) has soared over the past six months. Is now the time to buy? Savvy investors are checking out this easy options strategy.

Battles for dominate, market-accepted technology are rarely good for the companies mired in the fight. Sony’s (NYSE:SNE) torturous foray in the VHS versus Beta battle is a perfect example.

But a divided market is not always bad.

Just ask Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ:SNIC) shareholders. As the entertainment industry slowly figures out if DVDs or Blu-ray technology will dominate the video world, Sonic’s shareholders had the chance to rake in a fortune.

Shares of the $175 million company have soared by 1,050% over the past six months as the global economy rebounds and Blu-ray production increases.

As the go-to firm in Blu-ray production technology, Sonic is embarking on an era of strong growth. Earlier this week, the company announced a list of nearly two dozen European

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Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (ENER) recently reported unenthusiastic results for the fourth quarter. Adjusted loss per share of 5 cents was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. This bucked the trend of 5 consecutive profitable quarters.   On a GAAP basis, the downslide was higher with a loss of $15.8 million or a loss per share of 37 cents in comparison to a net income of $9.9 million or EPS of 24 cents in the year-ago period. The disparity stemmed from unabsorbed overhead costs of $6.1 million (14 cents per share), restructuring costs of $1.7 million (4 cents per share), a write down of an asset held for sale of $1.2 million (3 cents per share) and other costs of $4.6 million (11 cents per share).   Energy Conversion’s revenues for the quarter fell to $51.4 million from $82.4 million in the year-ago quarter and $66.0 million ...

Early yesterday, Michigan-based Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ENER) declared that it has signed a multi-year supply agreement with Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) company. Energy Conversion will supply its UNI-SOLAR laminates for commercial roofs to Johns Manville.

The deal is mutually beneficial. For Energy Conversion, this increases its exposure in the rooftop solar technology apart from increasing its order backlog. The company will also be able to tap into Johns Manville’s customer base spread across the industry segments aerospace, automotive and transportation, air handling, appliance, HVAC, pipe and equipment, filtration, waterproofing, building, flooring, interiors and wind energy. For Johns Manville, this will facilitate its entry into the field of solar energy.

Johns Manville is a prominent manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality products for building insulation, mechanical insulation, commercial roofing and roof insulation, apart from fibers and nonwovens for commercial, industrial and residential applications. The company operates 40 manufacturing facilities

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Different concepts of potential GDP

For serious macroeconomists, the magnitude (or existence) of the output gap is a central factor for determining the appropriate policy actions (see for instance Weidner and Williams). In several recent posts, I've discussed the variety of approaches to estimating the output gap [0] [1]. A recent symposium on Projecting Potential Growth published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is an excellent resource for anybody who wants to think seriously and carefully about the challenges in estimating this variable. In the lead article entitled "What Do We Know (And Not Know) About Potential Output?", the authors John Fernald and Susanto Basu write:

To keep the discussion manageable, we confine our discussion of potential output to neoclassical growth models with exogenous technical progress in the short and the long run; we also focus exclusively on the United States. We make

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Optimistic about Energy Conversion Devices We remain optimistic about Energy Conversion Devices' (ENER) long-term potential success in the high growth alternative energy industry, given increased activity in solar power projects, federal incentives, and extension of the federal ITC.Looking forward, the story will continue with a geographically diversified sales pipeline, reducing cost per watt, declining polysilicon prices, committed supply agreements and improving material costs through expansion of its supplier base. Although in the near-term, a dilapidated market led to under-utilization of capacity and affected margins, forcing the company to suspend its expansion plans.Note the stock's high volatility pending the sale of its Cobasys joint venture, tightening credit markets and high pre-production costs. These collectively show moderate-to-high returns -- with high risk. Accordingly, we maintain a speculative BUY recommendation on ENER common stock with a six-month target price of $18.50, representing 11.4%% upside potential....

China Opportunity Acquisition Corporation, a New Jersey investment company set up to search out and acquire or control a uniquely positioned Chinese operating business, announced success today in an agreement to merge with one of China’s leading specialty steel producers. The Chinese company is called Golden Green Enterprises, Ltd. (“BVICo”), and its steel producing subsidiary is called Henan Green Complex Materials Co., Ltd. (“Ge Rui”).

Under terms of the agreement, BVICo will be the surviving entity, with Ge Rui’s current management team remaining in place. China Opportunity’s Chairman and CEO, Harry Edelson, will become a director of the combined company, and will name one additional director to the seven member board. The combined company is expected to change its name to China Opportunity Holdings Ltd., with its securities to be listed on NASDAQ.

Mr. Edelson explained China Opportunity’s choice of BVICo and Ge Rui. “Ge Rui has emerged as one of

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