Prana Biotech, Radcom: Midday Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Prana Biotechnology (PRAN) surged on analysis of its Alzheimer's drug, making it one of several stocks trading near $5 moving on above-average volume during Monday's session.

Prana Biotech more than doubled in share price, jumping 107.4%, to $2.80, after the company said the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease published an article Monday about PBT2, the company's lead drug candidate.

Prana said the article provided "new analysis that it is effective in reversing dementia symptoms." Volume topped 4.01 million shares, compared to the 50-day average daily volume of 41,600, according to the Nasdaq.

Elsewhere, Radcom (RDCM) rallied by $1.67, or 39%, to $5.95 a week ahead of the company's first-quarter earnings release. Earlier, the stock reached a new 52-week high of $6.80.

As no specific news was pushing Radcom shares higher, traders posting on Twitter and Internet message boards warned that the company had a very low float of 3 million shares, making it a strong pump-and-dump candidate. Volume topped 802,000 shares, compared to the 50-day average daily volume of 41,300.

On the other hand, Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida (SBCF) slumped by 31 cents, or 13.5%, to $1.99 after the company directed its escrow agent to return $200 million from investors who had purchased Series C preferred stock.

Seacoast had been holding the $200 million in escrow for a possible "assisted transaction," although the company said it was returning the money after a different bank was the winning bidder on a failed bank. Volume topped 1.24 million shares, compared to the 50-day average daily volume of 445,700.

Zion Oil & Gas (ZN) also lost ground, falling by 57 cents, or 9.6%, to $5.39 after the company said in a letter to shareholders that it will purchase a drill rigging system from Aladdin Middle East for an initial payment of $7 million plus a series of $1 million payments that will coincide with the drilling of seven wells in Israel. Volume topped 270,000 shares, compared to the three-month average daily volume of 94,000, according to Yahoo! Finance.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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