crackspread

I'll look into it. No one has any idea how debilitating it is to deal with all day headaches. It makes you feel like you are incapable to do what you want, and be the best person you can be.

Hi all, I have been dealing with concussion symptoms for over a year. It is very debilitating to be continuing to go through life with extreme fatigue and a constant headache. Has anyone experienced a concussion before? What helped?

mindshare, high prices/high margins, and good employees. the other coffee chains flat out do not offer that. i do think mcdonalds will own more market share in the next 5 years however.

Calgary, AB!

Go Stampeders Go! If you ever make it down to Calgary, be sure to get tickets to a Calgary-Sask game. It's fun going to these games when 55% of the fans are Calgarians and the other 45% are from Sask.

Investing and poker principles can also be related to sports betting. All the principles are still there...solid money management keys to success, having an "edge" and betting big if so, if odds and probablities are in your favour and the public takes the opposite opinion, it is probably a good bet. I've made a few bets in my time that worked out very well by simply ignoring the public opinion, betting big when I thought I had an edge or better knowledge, and probably a little luck. I don't bet with large sums of money and it is only for fun, but I am a huge boxing fan, so it definitely makes the fights more enjoyable. Something I've noticed with boxing and the UFC is that the marketing machines behind these two sports grossly influence the public. The public usually sways the odds tremendously and for the most part, is very dumb money. I remember a few years ago when the odds were 2-1 come fight time Mayweather v Hatton, when Mayweather is the vastly superior fighter, but obviously the british fans were putting it all down on their favorite fighter Hatton. The fight ended with a brutal Mayweather KO of Hatton. Another recent fight I noticed was between Price and Thompson when it is well known among non-casual boxing fans that Thompson is the vastly superior fighter but was a 3 to 1 underdog, even after KOing Price last fight.

They have been in PIII for 3 years now with expected results coming "sometime in Q3". (exact words coming from the CEO) I agree with your assessment about 6 months being aggressive. I am in long term so that is no problem for me. I'm also looking at potentially trading this company if positive PIII results come out. As I mentioned before, this company has had success in every single trial. A few bumps in the road, management mistakes explains why the market doesn't like this stock. The same thing happened with REGN and CELG, and now they are both north of 100 bucks. I also forgot to mention that getting FDA approval does not require two double blinded studies, they only require one. As for their current PIII trial, it is a small market, but currently an unmet need in cancer. If approved, it will certainly serve as a catalyst for future events for this company. Since you guys may be curious, here is a list of the current trials for REOLYSIN: Breast carcinoma (Combined with PTX) PII Recruiting CRC PI Active not recruiting i.v. Combined with FOLFIRI PII (Combined with BVC and FOLFOX) Recruiting HNC PII Active not recruiting (Combined with CBP and PTX) PIII Active not recruiting (Combined with CBP and PTX) Lung cancer PII Recruiting (Combined with CBP and PTX & DCX or pemetrexed) Melanoma PII Active not recruiting (As a single agent) PII Recruiting (Combined with CBP and PTX) Multiple myeloma PI Recruiting (As single agent) Pancreatic cancer PII Recruiting (Combined with CBP and PTX) PII Active not recruiting (Combined with gemcitabine) Pediatric solid tumors PI Recruiting (Combined with cyclophosphamide) Prostate cancer PII Recruiting (Combined with DCX and prednisone) Reproductive tract tumors PI Recruiting i.v. + i.p. (As single agent) PII Recruiting i.v. (Combined with PTX )

did a quick glance and nothing really blew my skirt tail off about the company. Head and neck is a small market so if the drug was so effective why would they not put a priority on a dug that would provide better cash flow? By the end of this year they will need to have financing lined up. They may have cash through 2015 but they dont have that long to tap the equity market. You may think it looks great now but is it just as attractive with twice as many shares outstanding? there will be delays and CRL's before this comany will be able to turn any cash (hope your ready for that ride). Under perfect conditions your 3 years away from having a product to market. Who is going to sell the drug in Europe? If they plan to do it on their own, expect a long ramp up b/c development and production is two completely different worlds. Most of your good points listed above have no effect in why you should invest in a particular biotech. The first question you need to ask yourself is... why is this drug better then anything currently on the market? H&N was one of the trials that is co sponsored by the national cancer institute of canada & america and progressed faster then all the others. Agree on the financing, and I know I am a few years away from having a product to market but FDA Approval in Europe may come within the next 6 months. This will help to fasttrack the process and definitely improve the share price. Why is this drug better than anything else? Because all of the results have been stellar, PFS on every single trial has been very very good. They even own patents on the AMGEN T-vec gene modification.

Off the top of my head, I can name a few 10 baggers if you got in at the right price point. Teck Resource back in 07, Altius Minerals from inception, AIG, etc. In fact, I rode Teck up from $4 - $30 when I was a wee young 20 year old. The elusive 10 baggers DO happen. With respect to biotechs, thats why it may be smarter to buy a biotech ETF. They all fail, but that 1 biotech that actually makes it will more than make up for the crap. Also, a quick note - I've noticed I've been bashed a little bit. I have no problem with this, this forum is based on value investing. But at least take a look at the company.

I would draw your attention to Ben Graham and Walter Schloss. Perhaps you've heard of them? A 1% position was not small compared to their average position size. I suppose I should have said, "Why do the work on a tiny investment relative to your other positions?" But, if I was presumptuous and he actually did a deep dive into the science and only made it a tiny position, he wouldn't be the only one to do so. Mario Gabelli seems to do it a lot. I've just never understood the point. Especially for a lottery ticket. With regards to the science, the company has created a drug (called reolysin) that targets RAS cancer cells. It's well documented that reovirus is known to be a cancer therapeutic for these RAS activated cancer cells. This is a fact, and I'm hopeful that REOLYSIN actually works. Not only for the upside in the stock price, but for oncology as a whole. It's a big deal if one can extend their life even 3 months. We'll see how the PIII trials go for H&N cancer. If the results are statistically significant, then I have confidence that the 7 other PII trials will do well as well.

My guess is you either didn't do your due diligence or you have a much larger portion of your portfolio invested than you're letting on. Why do the work on a 1% position? Everyone is hawking an oncology drug these days. There are hedge funds with FDA-connected oncologists on their payroll digging around in these things. Speculative biotech requires knowledge of science and government bureaucracy to do well; it has nothing to do with 'investing.' If you want to own something that could be a 10-bagger, lever Buffett-style investments with LEAPs. I do my due diligence with any investment, no matter how small it is. I also have a connection in the sense that the research and company that was created is my alma mater. You are correct with the second point, and the company, especially the board is well connected. Acuity Investment Mgmt, an 8BB fund has a significant investment in this company and has brought in a few of their guys. Just to reiterate the significance of Acuity's investment, this small little biotech is their 8th largest position, behind the Suncor's, TD/RBC/BMO/CIBC/Canadian Natural Resource's of the world. That seems significant to ME, maybe not others. And I don't really see the issue with putting a few grand towards a company that could have tremendous upside. If anything, it keeps "investing" interesting, and this is something Graham even recommended.

The Flames should really take note on how to build a team through solid draft pics and strategic trades. The whole "running on the treadmill" for the 7th/8th seed year over year does not work in any sport and is a recipe for disaster.

I agree and more than anything, I was hoping if I could get an opinion from someone on here regarding the company. I've definitely put in my DD, and I have a tiny investment in the company (only a few grand) because if the company works out, the results could be fairly spectacular. I don't see much wrong with putting a tiny portion of one's portfolio towards speculative ventures to keep things interesting.

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for a few months and am glad to finally be posting here. I wanted to start a thread about a very spec stock of mine that has potential to yield one 30x their money. I did not want to "pollute" the investment ideas thread with a speculative company that may fail. The company in question is a biotech firm called Oncolytics Biotech - based in the not so sexy bio hub city of Calgary, Alberta. Essentially, the company can potentially extend your life if you have cancer. They have 7 current ongoing phase 2 trials and one ongoing phase 3 trial for head and neck cancer with expected results out by the end of Q3. The plan is to gain approval into Europe first and then move into the north american markets. The good points: -over 360 patents -enough cash to keep the company going till 2015 -very good results in every p1 and 2 trial. the p3 head and neck is the real kicker, however. 50% of biotechs fail in p3 trials. -the 'reovirus' is a naturally occuring compound and extremely cheap to produce; the manufacturing process is apparently already underway -pfizer was going to partner with Oncolytics Biotech in 2000 and use reolysin for teh animal care market, but the deal fell through when pfizer decided to make a huge acquisition (name escapes me) and disbanded the animal care market -institutitional ownership (concentrated within a few investment firms - agf mgmt and dundee) -experienced mgmt team the bad points: -management seems very,very, very cautious and take their time on everything. there have been a few delays throughout the 15 years they have been around. This has NOT been condusive to shareholder's at all. -massive short positions on the stock currently; the stock seems to be heavily manipulated -high salaries for execs...ceo makes 700,000/yr in addition to option based compensation Has anyone heard of this company? Are there any other companies out there that you have small investments in but are essentially spec only?