BetterTrades

RINO – Rino International Corporation ($32.35 to 27.63) -14.6%

Leading the way of top percentage losers for the past week was Rino International Corporation (RINO). Rino is a leading provider of environmental protection equipment for the iron and steel industry in China. Within that market, RINO designs, manufactures, installs and services proprietary and patented wastewater treatment, flue gas desulphurization equipment, and high temperature anti-oxidation systems, which are all designed to reduce either industrial pollution and/or improve energy utilization.

Although there was no significant news that influenced trading during the past week, there was an announcement by the company that they were initiating a plan to raise $100M in capital. Rino entered into a definitive agreement with several institutional investors to sell stock priced at $30.75 per share. The company also affirmed, in addition to the selling of common shares, that each investor would receive two warrants exercisable for common shares worth up to an additional $78.5M with an exercise price of $34.50 per share.

The warrants, which were issued as Series A and B, have variable stipulations. The Series A warrants expire on June 6, 2010 and are exercisable immediately, while the Series B warrants are not exercisable until June 3, 2010 and expire on December 3, 2010.

Rino’s offering of shares and warrants in order to raise capital was declared effective following a statement by the SEC on November 25.

Although investors were not positively influenced by the company’s recent announcement, shares of RINO surged during the December 7 session, following a week that saw the company’s stock price dip nearly 15%. At the close of Monday’s session, the stock gained $1.23, or 4.5%, to end the day at $28.86 per share.

During the past year, shares of RINO have traded within a broad range, reaching a low of $2.00 in early March 2009, while climbing to a yearly high of $35.15 per share, reached December 1, 2009.

STE – Steris Corporation ($32.48 to $29.14) -10.3%

Included in the list of percentage losers was Steris Corporation (STE), a leading provider of infection prevention, contamination prevention, and surgical support systems, products, services, and technologies to healthcare, scientific, research, and industrial customers throughout the world. During last week’s trading, shares of Steris Corp. slipped more than 10% on news from the FDA, which stated that hospitals and doctors should discontinue using a device manufactured by Steris to sterilize surgical tools after reports of malfunctions.

The device in question is the Steris SS1 sterilizer, which did not meet standards of the FDA to be safe and effective. Users of the device have reported problems indicating that the lack of sterilization of the device has led to patients becoming infected from the unsterile instrument. The FDA stated that physicians should begin using alternative instruments as quickly as possible.

The FDA stated, “Steris apparently has been reassuring customers that there is no need for a change in their clinical practice. The firm has also continued to design or redesign new accessories for the SS1. This is inconsistent with commitments made by the firm.”

The Food and Drug Administration later added that, "The FDA has determined that Steris's failure to meet its commitments, taken with a lack of data showing the safety and effectiveness of the SS1, supports advising healthcare facilities to transition to legally marketed alternatives to this device."

In response to the FDA’s warning, Walt Rosebrough, Steris’ President and CEO, stated, "We disagree with the FDA's recent notice and are working to engage in further dialogue with the Agency about this matter. Since its introduction in 1988, we estimate that the SYSTEM 1 Sterile Processing System has safely and effectively sterilized more than 300 million devices when used as directed."

The FDA did, however, mention that healthcare administrators could continue to use the SS1 device if no other alternative is available until further notice. In May 2008, the FDA warned Steris that changes to the SS1 system could dramatically alter the device’s safety and effectiveness. In response, Steris commented in January 2009 that the company would voluntarily discontinue U.S. sales of the device and help customers replace the devices. Apparently, that was not the case.

Following the news of the defective sterilizing device, shares of STE plunged more than 10% during last week’s trading. As the new week begins, investors started to reassess the recent development, sending the stock higher.

By the close of the December 7 trading session, shares of Steris added 3.6%, or $1.06, to conclude the day at $30.30 per share. Within the past year, the company’s stock has traded between $19.20 and $35.42 per share.

DD – El DuPont de Nemours & Co. ($34.40 to $32.34) -6.0%

Although not losing as much as the two aforementioned companies, El DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DD), or DuPont as most commonly known, slipped 6% during last week’s sessions on news that the company’s Pioneer Hi-Bred seed technology would delay the release of its corn and soybean products. DuPont, which is involved in a wide array of businesses, is primarily involved in science and technology, which includes high-performance materials, specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

News of the delay pushed the price of the stock down more than $2 per share, as DuPont revealed that current versions of the trait in corn did not meet the high-yield standards of Pioneer’s seed business. The Optimum GAT corn trait demonstrated superior glyphosate and ALS herbicide tolerance efficacy, but did not meet the company’s requirements.

As for the company’s Optimum GAT soybean trait, DuPont said that the trait did well in tolerance to herbicides as did the corn trait, as well as providing a 6% yield above comparable varieties that Pioneer currently offers. DuPont expects the soybean trait to be available for commercial sale in two to three years. That is well past the expected 2011 introduction. The reason for the soybean delay was due to changes in regulatory policy in key import markets.

Pioneer's continued performance in the trait industry led to a remark from the division’s President Paul Schickler, " While we are disappointed about not meeting our Optimum GAT timeline, I'm encouraged with our overall research pipeline. Product performance, along with a strong focus on the right product for the right acre, grew corn and soybean market share in 2009, and we expect to do it again in 2010."

Despite posting a down week throughout last week’s trading, shares of DuPont rebounded to start the new week. by the end of the December 7 session, shares of DD were up marginally, adding $0.06, or 0.2%, to close out at $32.40 per share.

Throughout the past year, the company’s stock price has traded within a relatively broad range, falling to a low of $16.05 in early March of this year, while topping out at $35.62 per share on December 3, 2009.