Amgen Inc. stock closed down for the second day in heavytrading on Tuesday, following a telephone hot linerecommendation to sell the stock short.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), which topped NASDAQ's most activelist on Tuesday with almost 125 million shares traded, lost$3.75, closing at $117.75. The stock lost $4.75 on Monday, for anearly 7 percent decline in the week.

On Friday, market technician Stan Weinstein, editor andpublisher of The Professional Tape Reader in Hollywood, Fla.,advised stockholders to sell their shares or to sell short.

"Amgen is ready to have a sharp correction," said Weinstein,based on three factors: The stock has moved up with nosignificant corrections, is trading far above its longer-termmoving average, and both the biotech sector and the stockmarket as a whole are likely to decline in next 30 to 60 days.

"Put it together, and I don't think profit-taking is a dirty word,"Weinstein told BioWorld. He expects several weeks of downsidefor the stock, after which he might put out a buyrecommendation. "I'm not knocking the company," he said.

There are no corporate developments that warrant the drop,said Amgen spokeswoman Sarah Crampton. Amgen ofThousand Oaks, Calif., still expects earnings for the year endingMarch 31, 1992, to be in line with analysts' estimates in the$3.20 to $3.40 per share range.

-- Karen Bernstein BioWorld Staff

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.