Champions Biotechnology Inc. focuses on oncology drug developments and preclinical platforms and data to enhance and accelerate the value of those drugs. The company today announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Yale University and Southern Research Institute for the development of Bithionol for cancer treatment.

According to scientists from Yale and Southern Research, Bithionol, which is available for parasitic infections, shows activity against solid cancerous tumors and may be effective in treating melanoma, prostate, breast, lung and other cancers.

Per the agreement, Yale and Southern Research will receive an upfront payment, as well as milestone payments and royalties; Champions has exclusive rights for continued development of Bithionol for all oncology applications, and will use its predictive Biomerk Tumorgraft platform to determine optimal applications and efficient clinical development. If Champions is able to deliver results, the company will conduct human clinical trials.

“We are excited to work with Champions’ experienced scientific

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Robert Shiller, economics professor at Yale University and co-creator of the S&P/Shiller home-price index, talks with Bloomberg’s Carol Massar about the US housing market. The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index climbed 1% from the prior month, seasonally adjusted, after a 1.2% increase in July, the group said. From a year earlier, the gauge fell 11.3%, less than forecast. (The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices can be accessed here.)

Click here or on the image below to view the interview. (There is no longer embedding available for the Bloomberg videos on YouTube.)

Source: Bloomberg (via YouTube), October 27, 2009.

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The Economist’s Buttonwood Gathering, a conference bringing together global regulators and bankers to discuss and debate new ideas and develop a new set of guidelines moving forward, has just taken place in New York. Michael Panzer, writer of the Financial Armageddon blog and author of “Financial Armageddon: Protect Your Future from Economic Collapse”, was in attendance and has kindly shared some of the more interesting quotes on his blog, as reported below.

Secretary Tim Geithner, United States Department of the Treasury:

“Generally, we did not do enough.” (Referring to the failure to address growing concerns over excessive risk-taking in the period leading up to the financial crisis.) [Editor's note: understatement of the year?]

Stephen Roach, Chairman, Morgan Stanley Asia:

Those who are looking for a “V”-shaped recovery are in for “a rude awakening.”

“The imbalances going into the crisis were large to begin with.

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

• Matt Taibbi (Taibblog): An inside look at how Goldman Sachs lobbies the Senate, September 29, 2009.

Samuel Brittan (Financial Times): A cool look at the current deficit hysteria, October 1, 2009. In the early Victorian period the debt ratio was nearly 200 per cent and almost reached that level again in the early 1920s.

• Edmund Conway (Telegraph):  An inconvenient truth: financial crises are inevitable, October 1, 2009. The IMF’s new early warning system to avoid crises such as the credit crunch is doomed to disappoint.

• Edward Harrison (Credit Writedowns): The recession is over but the depression has just begun, October 1, 2009. This post discusses why we are in a depression, not

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Ask most investors about E*Trade and you’ll get a mouthful about why the company is a toxic asset to be avoided at all costs.

I can’t say I blame them. After all, the company did make a foolish foray into the real estate lending business. And it did so at precisely the wrong time – the top of the market. In turn, like many banks, it got sacked as loan losses mounted.

At that point, forget a takeover. Bankruptcy appeared more imminent. And the stock quickly reflected this widely held belief, plunging by 95% from its 2007 high to trade below $1.

Unsurprisingly, many investors sprinted away from the company. But here’s what most of them don’t understand: Beneath the muck of E*Trade’s real estate operations, it possesses a valuable asset – its brokerage business…

For example, even during aterrible year for stocks in 2008, E*Trade (NASDAQ:ETFC) still managed to grow

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Real estate legends Bob Steers of Cohen & Steers and Robert Shiller of MacroMarkets and Yale University provide their insights into the current state of both REITs and residential real estate.

 

In this sweeping look at the current trends and opportunities in real estate investing, Robert Steers of Cohen & Steers looks at the history and potential of the REIT market, while Robert Shiller of MacroMarkets examines the environment and opportunities for investors in retail housing. A lively panel discussion moderated by IndexUniverse.com's Jim Wiandt follows.

Click here to view the archived recording of this webinar.

Click here to download a PDF copy of the presentations.

Note: Certified Financial Planners who preregistered and attended this event live are eligible to receive one CE credit. Information on receiving credit has been sent to all registered attendees

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Stock markets came under pressure over the past few days as skepticism crept in that economic green shoots could be withering. On top of that, fears that the the US could be facing a credit rating downgrade (are the rating agencies now relevant again?) also caused losses for the US dollar and bonds.

These issues, together with another dose of discussion about the repayment of TARP funds, featured prominently in this week’s video clips. Commentators included in the selection below include James Galbraith, Jim Bianco, Robert Shiller, Sam Stovall, Bill Gross, David Rosenberg, Jim Rogers and Steve Leuthold.

The compilation kicks off with a top-quality interview with James Galbraith, saying that the banks can hardly lose but the rest of us aren’t so lucky, and concludes with the “American Casino” movie trailer.

Yahoo Finance, Tech Ticker: Galbraith - banks can hardly lose “Big banks have raised billions since the stress tests and policymakers

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Robert Shiller Professor of Economics Yale University Karl Case Professor of Economics Wellesley College Sam Masucci President, CEO and Co-Founder MacroMarkets Please join us for an in-depth discussion on Real Estate Investing: Risk Management, Transparency & Liquidity, with world-renowned economists Karl Case and Robert Shiller, at the historic New York Stock Exchange, on May 1, 2009. The presentation coincides with the initial public offering of the MacroShares Major Metro Housing, the first exchange-traded products allowing investors access to this $18 trillion asset class and the ability to either ...

Adviser is finding that hedging techniques can help reduce overall portfolio risk and volatility. At the same time, he's avoiding leveraged ETFs.

 

David Kreinces is a portfolio manager with ETF Portfolio Management. Before founding the Newbury Park, Calif.-based firm in 2007, he was a portfolio manager in Merrill Lynch's global private client group, specializing in absolute return strategies using exchange-traded funds.

Kreinces is one of a growing number of independent portfolio advisers offering all-ETF portfolios that implement hedging strategies.To find out more about his unique quantitative-based methodology, IndexUniverse.com's Managing Editor Murray Coleman recently caught up with him at ETF Portfolio Management's southern California headquarters.

 

IU.com: How do you implement ETFs in absolute return strategies?

Kreinces: Our strategies are built around quantitative, rules-based models. And they don't use leverage at all. That's an important point. By not using leverage, we feel like our ability to limit volatility and control portfolio risk

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Adviser also finds that hedging techniques can help reduce overall portfolio risk and volatility. At the same time, he's avoiding leveraged ETFs.

 

David Kreinces is a portfolio manager with ETF Portfolio Management. Before founding the Newbury Park, Calif.-based firm in 2007, he was a portfolio manager in Merrill Lynch's global private client group, specializing in absolute return strategies using exchange-traded funds.

Kreinces is one of a growing number of independent portfolio advisers offering all-ETF portfolios that implement hedging strategies.To find out more about his unique quantitative-based methodology, IndexUniverse.com's Managing Editor Murray Coleman recently caught up with him at ETF Portfolio Management's southern California headquarters.

 

IU.com: How do you implement ETFs in absolute return strategies?

Kreinces: Our strategies are built around quantitative, rules-based models. And they don't use leverage at all. That's an important point. By not using leverage, we feel like our ability to limit volatility and control portfolio risk

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