Monday's Hot Stocks on Heavier Volume

Today's breakout report is for Monday April 5, 2010. If this is your first time reading one of my breakout reports you'll want to read the section below, however if you are familiar with my daily breakout report you should skip ahead to the list of stocks.

To reiterate previous blog posts like this, the first thing I do is scan the list for familiar names, such as stocks I am quite familiar with or ones which have appeared on similar scans multiple times in the past week or two (most of these names are unfamiliar so it saves a lot of time). This indicates there may be some real momentum behind the stock, and that it could trade higher/lower in following sessions as well. Then (if and when any of the stocks I find are familiar to me), I make sure the stock has options available to trade, and then take a look at the chart(s) to see if I can structure a potential option trade. The list in this post includes 22 stocks which traded higher on heavier volume, and 3 stocks which traded lower on heavier volume Monday April 4, 2010. Many times I find an option strategy I plan on opening if I am convinced some money can be made.

The tables below show the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). The first table is a list of potential bullish stocks, the second table is a list of potential bearish stocks. For your convenience I have ranked both tables in order from greatest to least volume % change.

Breakout Bull
Company	Ticker	Price Change	Volume Change
GeoMet, Inc.	(GMET)	20.44%	1460.55%
Symyx Technologies, Inc.	(SMMX)	22.15%	676.45%
Antares Pharma, Inc.	(AIS)	4.58%	663.89%
POZEN Inc.	(POZN)	8.93%	523.40%
GeoResources, Inc.	(GEOI)	8.62%	521.70%
Anooraq Resources Corporation	(ANO)	6.45%	484.42%
CARDIOME PHARMA CORP	(CRME)	7.70%	470.69%
Microvision, Inc.	(MVIS)	18.54%	407.07%
Axcelis Technologies, Inc.	(ACLS)	7.07%	385.59%
Overstock.com, Inc.	(OSTK)	10.53%	366.65%
Cerus Corporation	(CERS)	14.84%	309.17%
Reliance Steel & Aluminum	(RS)	7.83%	297.00%
Eastman Kodak Company	(EK)	13.19%	292.16%
KMG Chemicals, Inc.	(KMGB)	8.05%	283.07%
AerCap Holdings N.V.	(AER)	7.05%	194.38%
Joe's Jeans Inc.	(JOEZ)	11.31%	191.86%
Harley-Davidson, Inc.	(HOG)	10.54%	183.33%
First BanCorp.	(FBP)	14.35%	181.19%
Cree, Inc.	(CREE)	9.96%	169.51%
Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc.	(RUTH)	8.82%	164.60%
Aixtron	(AIXG)	4.47%	134.76%
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation	(LPX)	9.11%	109.31%
Breakout Bear
Company	Ticker	Price Change	Volume Change
Lender Processing Services, Inc.	(LPS)	-4.12%	302.06%
Global Payments Inc.	(GPN)	-2.08%	104.51%
Lindsay Corporation	(LNN)	-3.49%	101.79%

From the bullish list of stocks above, one stock which has had some serious momentum lately is KMG Chemicals, Inc. (KMGB). I caught nearly a double in this stock almost three years ago, when many chemical stocks were near their all time highs. As we know most of these stocks including KMGB came crashing back down to earth, however KMGB has been on a tear the last week, and it is starting to remind me of summer 2007. Although I usually write an option strategy on stocks I am bullish on, I will not be able to today, because KMGB is not an optionable stock, however I did not want to pass up the opportunity to let my readers know about this potential bullish breakout. As always I will first give a summary of KMGB from Google Finance and a 6 month daily chart below.

KMG Chemicals, Inc. manufacture, formulate and globally distribute specialty chemicals. The Company has acquired and operates segments engaged in the electronic chemicals, industrial wood preserving and animal health businesses. The electronic chemicals segment provides wet process chemicals to the semiconductor industry, primarily to clean and etch silicon wafers in the production of semiconductors. The Company is a supplier of wet process chemicals to the semiconductor industry in the United States, and has presence in Europe. The Company’s wood preserving chemicals, pentachlorophenol, or penta, and creosote, are sold to industrial customers who use these preservatives primarily to extend the useful life of utility poles and railroad crossties. Its animal health pesticides are used on cattle, swine and poultry to protect these animals from flies and other pests.

Click image to enlarge

KMG Chemicals traded in a tight range for most of March and looks as if it may have formed a base near the 15-16 area before breaking to the upside. Short term it looks as if KMGB is a bit over extended, however I certainly won't be shorting it here. To play the momentum I would purchase shares on any weakness and set a tight trailing stop loss of about 4% - 7%. On weakness, I would need to see KMGB hold the 17.50 level two consecutive days in order to purchase shares.

This is a bullish strategy and should not be considered if you think the stock will sell off in the near future. However if you feel the stock could move higher in the near future, this strategy could yield a nice gain.

These are just examples and are not recommendations to buy or sell any security; if you're more bullish/bearish, you’ll want to adjust the strike price and expiration accordingly.

Disclosure: No Positions