Morning Movers (MFN, PETS, URG, CBRX, TWIN)

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include Minefinders Corp. Ltd. (AMEX: MFN), PetMed Express Inc. (NASDAQ: PETS), Ur Energy Inc. (AMEX: URG), Columbia Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRX), and Twin Disc Inc. (NASDAQ: TWIN).

After the first half-hour of trading, Minefinders is up nearly 26%. Volume is already more than double the daily average of about 700,000 shares traded. The Canadian silver miner is being acquired by Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) for CDN$1.5 billion.

PetMed is up more than 14% at $12.87. Volume is already 3x the daily average of 222,000 shares traded. The pet supply company reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations.

Ur Energy is up more than 7% at $1.14. Volume is about one-third the average daily volume of 368,000 shares traded. The junior uranium miner has signed a multi-year contract to provide 200,000 pounds of uranium concentrate annually to a North American utility company. The contract sales begin in 2013.

Columbia Laboratories is down more than -55% at $0.70 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.65. Volume is more than 4x higher than the daily average of about 1.13 million shares traded. The drug company’s progesterone vaginal gel was not approved by a committee of the US FDA.

Twin Disc is down more than -17% at $32.61. Volume is already 3x the daily average of 136,000 shares traded. The machinery maker reported weak quarterly results and a lower backlog of orders.

Paul Ausick