Common Sense for the Biochemist

Last one for the night. . . Got a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket and want to do a little gambling. Well, you can try your luck with this stock: BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BCRX) If you take a look at the chart for the last three months this stock has doubled in value and the volume has skyrocketed. Why all the activity: Avian flu. Seems that Biocryst has a drug on the shelf that could be used against avian flu should it cross into humans. Derek Lowe does a better job of covering the story than I could ever achieve so I encourage you to check out his post. My opinion, if you didn't get into this one ahead of the curve, say two months ago, you are out of the loop and will probably get burned on this stock. This is a stock play based on market hype. Avian flu is a major concern to society but the press has done a great job of over-hyping this story. Unfortunately, unless there is a pandemic starting tomorrow, the press will drop this story when the next Hollywood superstar is murdered. When this happens, Joe stockbroker is going to sellout for the next big thing and you are stuck with a stock worth 50% of what it was. Of course, if you were thinking ahead of the curve and have already doubled your money - sell - I think we have seen the top of this ride.