Volatility and small stocks
I've owned 1,000 shares in a small biopharmaceutical company named ARCA biopharma (ABIO) for 9 months now. The company's principal focus is developing genetically-targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. I bought during a downturn in their fortunes. As you can see in that graph on the left, of the past of the stocks performance, things were rather bleak last June. I saw the stock fall and bought when it leveled out at $5 a share (see asterisk). Unfortunately the slide soon continued and the stock went down to $3 a share, eventually getting down to $2.20 in mid-July. At that point I was down $2,800 --- at least on paper. As you can see from the graph, the stock didn't move much for quite a while. Today is a different story. ARCA Biopharma announced a patent issued to it for treating heart failure patients with Bucindolol. This has caused the stock to surge. I sold during a momentary lull early this morning and made an $800 profit. The stock im...