Acura Pharmaceuticals, Ramtron: Early Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Acura Pharmaceuticals (ACUR) was among several stocks trading near $5 poised to move on above-average volume Friday, one day after regulators rejected its abuse-resistant painkiller.

Acura Pharmaceuticals fell more than 40% in Thursday's after-market session after the Food and Drug Administration voted 19-1 against Acurox, which combines oxycodone with niacin.

TheStreet's Adam Feuerstein wrote in a live blog that panel members found that Acura's data failed to convincingly show that benefits of including niacin outweighed negative effects of the vitamin, which include flushing in patients and other irritations.

Acura shares, which closed Wednesday at $5.90 and were halted during Thursday's session, were down sharply to $3.27 ahead of Friday's open. The 50-day average daily volume for Acura Pharmaceuticals is 171,000, according to the Nasdaq.

Ramtron International (RMTR), on the other hand, jumped by 9.8% to $3.69 in Thursday's after-market session after the semiconductor company notched a first-quarter profit of 2 cents a share, swinging from a year-ago loss of 24 cents a share. Revenue climbed 51% from a year ago to $15.8 million. The 50-day average daily volume for Ramtron is 114,000.

Elsewhere, Local.com (LOCM) rose by 24 cents, or 3.3%, to $7.49 in the premarket session after the local search Web site swung to a first-quarter adjusted profit of 16 cents a share, 3 cents better than analysts had expected. Revenue jumped 68% from a year ago to $18.6 million, which was also better than consensus.

Looking ahead, Local.com offered better-than-expected earnings and revenue guidance for the second quarter and full year. The 50-day average daily volume for Local.com is 93,000.

Cheniere Energy (LNG) was set to move on increased volume after the company agreed to sell its 30% limited partner interest in Freeport LNG Development to Zachry American Infrastructure for net proceeds of approximately $104 million, which will be used to reduce debt. The three-month average daily volume for Cheniere Energy is 749,000, according to Yahoo! Finance.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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