San Diego Reader

Shares of biotech Sequenom are up 23.12% to $8.52 this morning. The stock has almost doubled in the last month; it closed at $4.32 Feb. 2. Today (March 2) analyst Pamela Bassett of Cantor Fitzgerald raised her rating of the stock to a buy from a hold and raised her price target to $16 from $4, according to MarketWatch. Sequenom has a promising fetal test for sex determination. All it requires is a blood sample from the mother, and the determination can be made in the first trimester. Last year, the company's stock was belted after there were doubts about the accuracy of a Down syndrome prenatal test.