FDA approves Provenge

Shares of Dendreon (symbol "DNDN") surged today after the FDA approved Provenge for treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Search DNDN in this blog or Google "Deep Capture Dendreon." It's a fascinating story. It includes an analyst who predicted DNDN shares would tank to $1. Jim Cramer and much of Wall Street were negative on the company when it was trading around $3. Today, it hovers above $45, before trading was halted. Laugh out LOUD!

The company has had a tough, arduous, long road, with many opponents--some crooked, including the FDA, short hedge funds, market makers, investment banks, regulators, analysts, and captured journalists--even organized crime syndicates according to conspiracy theorists. But in the end, the white hats won, and many lives will be saved.

This is not a profit-making celebration--this is a confirmation that patience and conviction are sometimes rewarded. Many long investors suffered for years; using luck and some skill (along with courage), I was able to time the trade so I would only be exposed to regulatory risk for one year.

This rollercoaster is not for the faint-hearted.

See disclaimer on side bar.

Disclosure: entry points for DNDN between $4 - $7 in April 14, 2009. Planning to exit a percentage of position at approximately $45 on April 29, 2010.

Edit: after resumption of trading, DNDN is now trading at $52!

Edit 2: Disclosure: another tranche sold at $57.55 on April 30, 2010, purchased at $7.28 on April 14, 2009.