Why Did My Stock Just Die?

Your stock just took a nosedive -- but don't panic. First, let's see whether it had good reason to fall. Sometimes, panic-fueled drops can make excellent buying opportunities. Here's the latest crop of cratered stocks that could provide a possibility for profit.

Dow Jones index dropped 115 points, or 1%, on Friday as worries about Greek austerity plans remained topmost in traders' minds. So stocks that went down by even larger percentages are pretty big deals.

The devil's in the details
It looks as if the world of pain that analysts envisioned for Pain Therapeutics if partner Pfizer failed to win FDA approval of Remoxy was realized, when the regulatory agency sent out a complete response letter. The agency rejected the abuse-resistant formulation of oxycodone because it was worried about chemistry, manufacturing, and controls for the medicine.

Initially, we didn't know why the drug developers were dealt the setback, because the pharmaceutical giant merely said it's working on a response to the rejection. The uncertainty led to confusion, but Pain Therapeutics revealed more information that said the regulators had much deeper concerns about it and that it may take more than a year to gain approval.

This isn't the first time the drug has failed to pass muster. The FDA rejected it back in 2008, but back then Pain Therapeutics said the agency was simply seeking more data and didn't need to do additional testing.

Pfizer was looking to go 2-for-2 with abuse-resistant oxycodone therapies. Last week, the FDA green-lighted the drug Pfizer is developing with Acura Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ACUR), Oxecta.

Pharmaceutical giants such as Johnson & Johnson, as well as generic-drug makers such as Teva Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TEVA), are charged with coming up with ways to limit the abuse of their drugs by inhibiting the ability of addicts to extract the active ingredients from them. Remoxy, which Durect helped develop and was anticipating receiving royalties on its sale, is a taffy-like capsule that prevents the oxycodone from being crushed, snorted, or injected.

Investors thought the trio of drugmakers had a good chance of gaining approval. More than 91% of CAPS members rating Pain Therapeutics and Durect thought they could beat the market indexes. Pfizer, with more than 6,000 members of the investor community weighing in, had a similarly higher percentage, but its drug business is obviously more diversified.

If you want to see what PT or Durect will do to minimize the pain in the future, add the stocks to your watchlist or the Fool's free portfolio tracker. Then let us know on the Pain Therapeutics CAPS page or the Durect CAPS page how you think they'll recover.

Don't feel a thing
When the tech sector is flying, look for Micron Technologies to be one of the companies leading the way higher. And while certain aspects of the tech market are doing well -- smartphones and iPads, for instance -- many more are ailing. It also just so happens that Micron's specialties are in the areas that are doing worse than usual.

Sales of tablet computers, particularly iPads, are humming along, but Micron specializes in PC memory chips, and tabs have been eating that segment's lunch. Further key customers Nokia (NOK) and Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) are having problems of their own in the handset market.

It's no wonder the last remaining U.S. DRAM maker's stock is down 37% over the past three months. Sales are down 6.5% year over year and profits plummeted from $939 million last year to just $75 million this quarter.

The depressed stock price has CAPS member Tradersinfo saying the market isn't recognizing some key competitive advantages it holds: "Investors don't seem to be appreciating the fact that this Company is still able to sell its products for a profit margin of 22%, in spite of the fact that there is definitely a DRAM glut out there. True, revenue declined last quarter as well, but the outlook is finally starting to look better."

Let us know on the Micron Technologies CAPS page whether you think the chipmaker will dial up growth soon.

Ready for a resurrection
Just because your stock has taken a beating, that doesn't mean it's going to roll over and die. Markets are known for overreacting. A closer look on Motley Fool CAPS at what's happened to your stock can give you an edge over other investors who just react to the market's lead. You can decide for yourself whether it's ready to come back from the dead.