Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678

Bull of the Day

Acorda Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: ACOR) stock took a hit in late March on news that the U.S. FDA rejected the filing for Fampridine-SR based on formatting issues and the request for additional data analysis. We believe the issues are minor, and the overall resulting delay in approval will end up being roughly six months.

Notwithstanding the format issue or the analysis from the fed/fasting study, we believe the application looks solid, and that Fampridine-SR will be on the market around the middle of 2010. In the meantime, upside could come in 2009 through the signing of a European partnership.

We have been waiting for an opportunity to upgrade the name to based on the strong fundamentals and the clear path to profitability once Fampridine-SR is approved. We think Acorda represents an attractive acquisition by a larger player in the MS space such as Biogen, Pfizer, or Sanofi. Our target is $28.

Bear of the Day

Operations are getting worse at The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE). The company reported a net loss of $27.9 million or ($0.31) per share in 4Q08. 4Q earnings included impairments and write downs of $0.34 per share. While operations continue to deteriorate, the company is currently focused on maintaining liquidity and cutting expenses.

In addition, JOE has repaid most of its long-term debt and the company has sufficient cash reserves to get through the residential real estate slump. Although, there are no signs that the housing situation will get better in the next six months, and the worst could be yet to come.

Near term, we would stay away from companies with exposure to the residential building business. While we think the company is a good long-term investment, we are maintaining our near-term Sell recommendation.

Recent Analysis from the Analyst Blog

Short-Sale Primer

Currently, 8.3 million or 20% of the mortgages nationwide are in a negative equity position, meaning the homeowner owes more than the house is worth. This has caused a rise in short sales (selling a home fore a price that is less than the outstanding mortgage balance).