Morning Movers (INSM, ASTI, CCOI, GOOG, ALTH)

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include Insmed Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM), Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTI), Cogent Communications Corp. Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Allos Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTH).

After the first half-hour of trading, Insmed is up nearly 33% at $5.10. Volume has already reached 20x the daily average of 82,000 shares traded. The biotech company announced that the FDA has lifted a clinical hold on a lung disease drug.

Ascent Solar is down more than -14% at $0.91. Volume is already 4x the daily average of 227,000 shares traded. The solar panel maker is likely experiencing some profit taking from the recent run-up in solar stocks.

Cogent Communications is down more than -15% at $15.87. Volume is 7x the average daily volume of 357,000 shares traded. The network communications provider is suffering from the shutdown last night of the Megaupload website, one of Cogent’s largest customers.

Google is down nearly -8% at $589.43. Volume is already 50% higher than the daily average of about 2.9 million shares traded. The search giant reported higher costs and lower earnings last night. We have more coverage here.

Allos Therapeutics is down nearly -11% at $1.48. Volume is already exceeds the daily average of 631,000 shares traded. The drug maker has received a negative opinion on use of one of its cancer drugs from a European regulator.

Paul Ausick