Tag - Hgsi

Small Caps putting up the biggest gains at press time (2:30 P.M. Eastern) include La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) up 36.2% after an upgrade to strong buy from Raymond James, Atlas Pipeline Holdings (NYSE:AHD) up 30.2% after announcing a joint venture with Williams (NYSE:WMB) to expand Atlas's presence in Pennsylvania, Tivo (Nasdaq:TIVO) up 51.1%, Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq:HGSI) up 16.7%, and Applied Signal Technology (Nasdaq:APSG) up 16%.

Big decliners include energy darling Valero (NYSE:VLO) down 18.3%, CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) down 17.4%, Frontier Oil (NYSE:FTO) down 14.9% as crude oil inventories spike to 2.9 million barrels based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Yesterday's darling stock, Green Plains Renewable Energy (Nasdaq:GPRE) was one of today's dogs lose 16.2% as volume slows from Monday and Tuesday's trading sessions.

As of press time (2:30 P.M. Eastern) all major indices are off with the S&P 500 leading the decline by a 2.0% drop, followed by the Dow sloughing off 1.5% and the Nasdaq down 1.4%. The Russell 2000 Index, comprised of the 2,000 largest small cap stocks was down 8.5 points, or 1.61% to 518.13.

*****Russia is grumbling. Seems they are not happy that rising debt, slow growth and record Treasury bond sales are dragging the U.S. dollar down. In fact, Russian president Medvedev is calling for some kind of global currency to replace the U.S dollar as the world's reserve currency. (Sound familiar? Like he's taking a page from the Chinese?)

In an interview with CNBC on Monday he said, "We need some kind of universal means of payment, which could create the basis of a future international financial system…"

Of course, this is a horrible idea. As one analyst put it, "It took decades for the euro to be established. I can only imagine how long it would take for the BRIC countries to put together a currency."

*****It's an investing truism that the financials always lead the stock market. Recall that it was bullish comments from Citigroup that kicked off this rally back in early march. And I'm sure nobody needs reminding that it was the financials that kicked off the worst bear market in 80 years.

When the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq blew through their 200-day moving averages on Monday, the financials were out in front. But today, even though the major indices finished with slight gains, many financials finished in the red.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) dropped nearly 5%. JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) lost 4.46%. Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) lost 4% and Citigroup (NYSE:C) lost 4.88%.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is about the only major financial stock to finish in the green, and that was a 1.7% gain. In fact, the Financials SPDR (AMEX:XLF) failed to make a new recovery high along with the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

So what gives? Why have the financials underperformed, and why were they weak today?

*****One clue comes from the Healthcare Select SPDR (AMEX:XLV). As you may know, healthcare stocks are considered defensive stocks. That's because their revenues are seen as being stable as healthcare is a necessary, as opposed to discretionary, expense.

In difficult markets, institutional investors will park their money in healthcare stocks as a way to maintain exposure, but lower risk.

If we compare the Healthcare SPDR XLV to the Financial SPDR XLF, we see an interesting divergence starting on May 8. Healthcare has been trending up since that date. And the Financial SPDR has been trending down. To me, this looks like sector rotation.

It appears that institutional investors are moving money out of aggressive financial investments and into defensive healthcare stocks. When the institutional investors start playing defense, individual investors should pay attention.

*****Technical analyst for TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts, Jason Cimpl, thinks the rally has about another week before we start seeing some downside. And for good measure, he recommended that his readers take their 29% profits on Fushi Copperweld (Nasdaq:FSIN). This trade took less than 3 weeks. Nice job, Jason.

Jason is still holding the two stocks you may have learned about from the TradeMaster video I included in yesterday's Daily Profit. In case you entered either trade, you should know that Jason has recommended a stop loss for FXI at $35.15 and UNG at $12.60. If you missed the video, you can check it out HERE.

Small-cap stocks opened higher, but stalled quickly as bargain hunters were on the buy side trying to balance a mixed bag of corporate profit reports, worries about the stimulus package progress and valuation levels on the indices that have are seen as attractive in many corners. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Sonesta International Hotels Corp.  (Nasdaq:SNSTA), John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. (Nasdaq:JBSS) and Transdigm Group Inc. (NYSE:TDG).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Treasury markets clearly extended morning declines after the pending home sales report, which suggests money flow out of debt markets and potentially into stocks.  
• The pending home sales report rose 6.3%, better than expected (the forecast was flat) and helped spark a recovery bounce in equities.  
• Crude oil prices were higher in choppy trade ahead of the open; energy markets appear to be on steady footing coming into today’s session.  
• Pending home sales data comes out at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• Carmakers will release sales figures today, which could move stocks not just for automakers, but also for the general market.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Sonesta International Hotels Corp. jumped 30%, but volume on the move was limited. See (Nasdaq:SNSTA).  
• John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. rose 26% as the nut snack maker got an earnings-related lift. See (Nasdaq:JBSS).  
• Transdigm Group Inc. rallied nearly 13% as the aircraft component designer was another firm reporting solid results. See (NYSE:TDG).  
• OSI Pharmaceuticals rises over 11% in pre-market after the company and Genentech say its drug’s benefits ended their lung cancer trial early. See (Nasdaq:OSIP).

Small Cap Losers:

• The Pantry Inc. fell 13% as the convenience chain store operator was on the negative side of the earnings response. See (Nasdaq:PTRY).  
• SanDisk sharply lower in pre-market following quarterly results. See (Nasdaq:SNDK).  
• Human Genome Sciences begins delivery of first-in-class Anthrax; shares dip slightly in pre-market on light volume. See (Nasdaq:HGSI).

Palm Inc (Nasdaq:PALM), DryShips Inc (Nasdaq:DRYS) and A Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd (Nasdaq:APWR) are among the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Human Genome Sciences Inc (Nasdaq:HGSI), Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd (Nasdaq:ALDN), Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc (Nasdaq:EGLE), YRC Worldwide Inc (Nasdaq:YRCW), TXCO Resources Inc (Nasdaq:TXCO) and Oceanfreight Inc (Nasdaq:OCNF).

Iconix Brand Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ICON), Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Nasdaq:SLXP) and Human Genome Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq:HGSI) are among the  lead small-cap volume in pre-market in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: i2 Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:ITWO), Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:CADX), Harmonic Inc. (Nasdaq:HLIT), STEC Inc. (Nasdaq:STEC), Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:PGNX) and Evergreen Solar Inc. (Nasdaq:ESLR).

Here are the  lead small-cap volume in pre-market among small caps:

Sequenom Inc (Nasdaq:SQNM), Royale Energy Inc (Nasdaq:ROYL) and OMNI Energy Services Corp (Nasdaq:OMNI) are among the most actively traded companies in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Frontier Finl Corp (Nasdaq:FTBK), Medarex Inc (Nasdaq:MEDX) and Human Genome Sciences Inc (Nasdaq:HGSI) are also among the most actively traded companies.

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

Here are the current biggest percentage gainers and losers among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:


• CompuCredit Corp. (CCRT), up 29%.
• Buckeye Technologies Inc. (BKI), up 24% on news it will lay off between 20 and 25 employees at a production facility in Canada. That’s up to 16.6% of the plant’s workforce.
• Stanley Furniture Co. (STLY), up 22%.


• Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (HGSI), down 44% on news of serious side effects from a study of a hepatitis C drug. Shares have been downgraded by analyst.
• First Cash Financial Services, Inc. (FCFS), down 35% on news it has lowered its full-year earnings forecast.
• The PMI Group, Inc. (PMI), down 15%.