Top Day Trader Alerts (ARNA, AVII, BIDU, BAC, C, GOOG, OREX, PLCM, VVUS)

We have many names on the move, some tied to earnings and some not.  This Friday’s top day trader alerts and active trader alerts have been seen in Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA), AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII), Baidu. Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), BP plc (NYSE: BP), Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX), Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), and VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS).  We have provided the news for the move, the move and volume, and added in some color for traders on each where applicable.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) in a winner despite VIVUS getting its Qnexa voted against by 10-6 at the FDA panel yesterday.  This company already partnered with Eisai in Japan.  As this could now be the sole or one of a smaller group of weight loss drugs, shares are up 20% at $4.71 on almost 1 million shares.

AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII) is surging after announcing a potential funding of up to $291 million to advance the development of therapeutic candidates for Ebola and Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever viruses from the government.  Shares are trading up 20% at $1.96.  Keep in mind that this was a $180 million market cap before the news came out.

Baidu. Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is down almost 1% at $74.90, although we have not even seen 50,000 shares at 9:00 AM.  This is solely a tie to Google being lower and a soft tape after days of gains.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is down after initially having traded up this morning.  Profits were down about 3%, but they beat expectations.  Shares are down 4.2% at $14.74 on 14 million shares.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) has actually seen one downgrade so far in analysts calls and S&P remained cautious.  The well-capping saw a sell the news reaction because the pressure continues to build on the new cap.  ADRs are down 1.4% at $38.38, but keep in mind that this has rallied about 40% from lows.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) was hit after its earnings beat but many metrics are viewed cautiously.  Shares are down almost 2% at $4.08.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is down over 4% around $474.00 on light earnings: $6.45 EPS on ex-TAC revenues of $5.09 billion.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $6.52 EPS and $4.99 billion in ex-TAC revenues.  Trading volume is Google is so far rather light, likely because of pre-market spreads being wide for a $400+ stock.

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX) is down almost 11% at $4.46, all tied as an indirect bet on how the FDA will treat it after VIVUS was given an FDA panel vote against.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) showed a drop in earnings and shares are trading down 8.8% at $29.20 on less than 25,000 shares.

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is getting hammered and probably feels like it was slipped a Mickey.  Shares are down 56% at $5.31 after the FDA panel recommended against Qnexa for weight loss in a 10-6 vote yesterday.

JON C. OGG