Five Star Stock Watch

With the way the stock market dropped right out of the gate Tuesday, one would think that all stocks were down big at one point or another. To start the morning, the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) was down almost 75 points and the benchmark S&P 500 (SPX) was down 25 points. However, hour-by-hour...

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials continue to march higher. At some point the party will end, but for now, new highs are a daily occurrence. Some of the best performing industries over this latest market tear have been airlines, metals and semiconductors. However, as has been the case...

Sometimes the stock market gets on a run and traders enjoy the ride. The same can apply with individual stocks. Once the wind is at their backs, traders can take off and run to previously unforeseen heights. However, all runs must come to an end eventually. The million-dollar question is,...

Until the markets pullback a bit, investors and traders will ride this gravy train as long as it goes. Thanks to the market run-up a lot of stocks already seem somewhat extended. However, there are some stocks that are a little late to the party and are just now breaking higher. For example,...

Biotech stocks surged nicely Tuesday with the iShares Biotechnology ETF rallying more than 2 percent. For the most part, biotech stocks have performed very well over the last month and even the last year. That performance can be seen quite well with names such as Gilead Sciences, Illumina and...

Last week’s market price action was somewhat like watching paint peel. In other words, there just wasn’t much going on. Even though the market edged higher for the fourth straight week and the S&P 500 hit new record highs, the gains came during the smallest market moves since...

With the help of an almost vertical rise in the overall stock market, most industries within the market have also performed very well. As they say, “a rising tide raises all ships.” Some industries, however, have performed better than others. For example, airlines and railroads have...

Large institutions have teams of analysts at their disposal. They also have access to corporate and market data that the typical retail investor may not have. After institutions establish a position in a stock, its next goal is to promote and market the stock to drive interest in an attempt to...

Thanks to a furious three-week rally, there have been plenty of stocks breaking to new highs. In addition, some stocks with the market wind already at their back have gotten an extra push from the release of quarterly earnings reports. The key for investors and traders now is to isolate...

Friday wasn’t a particularly good day for biotech stocks. Although there were some bright spots with names such as Amgen, Vertex and Incyte, many names were in the red on a day when the overall market had performed very well. One name in particular that got drilled viciously was...

Two weeks ago, the stock market put in an important low that has led to a near 10-percent rally. If investors had purchased virtually any stock near that time, they probably saw significant gains. However, one of the industries that continue to outperform most others is biotechnology. Many...

Biotech stocks can provide enormous gains, but unfortunately, they can take them away just as quickly. All it takes is one FDA approval for a biotech company's stock to soar, but an FDA setback could also cause that same stock to tank. One biotech stock suffered that outcome Monday morning...

This was a recent headline from earlier this week: "Hemispherx Announces Strategic Relationship with Squire Patton Boggs, Washington, DC as Governmental Counsel in Fight Against Ebola" While a lot of attention has been paid to names such as Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, most are not...

For now, it seems as if the market has calmed down a bit. The market over the last month saw the S&P 500 drop almost 10 percent from its high before finally finding its footing last Wednesday. Most stocks got hit pretty hard during that drop, but some held up relatively well. Other stocks...

Regardless of recent stock market volatility, the overall market is up for the year with most analysts still calling for higher prices. Which industries have performed the best? Biotech as an industry has had a great 52 weeks. Some of the stocks within the industry have had even more amazing...