During Thanksgiving week, the indices tend to perform best on Wednesday and Friday, but traders start to look for action in individual stocks right away, which is why small-cap names outperformed today. The major indices had some mild strength and breadth ran positive, but the best action was in some of the smaller, more speculative stocks.
Biotechnology, oil and the FAANG names didn't do much, but stocks such as Riot Blockchain (RIOT) , Social Reality (SRAX) , Overstock (OSTK) , Helios and Matheson (HMNY) and QuinStreet (QNST) attracted attention. None of these stocks has any major news, but they are in hot groups like bitcoin-related or are exhibiting strong relative strength.
We should see more of this action in the next couple of days. It is important to recognize that this has little to do with the indices, although the indices do have a positive bias. It is more about simply finding stocks with the right technical setups that are showing up on the radar screens. RIOT, for example, was just in the right place at the right time and that is why it's running now.
I suggest that if you want to be active, forget the market timing and watch for pockets of action. I'll post some names to watch in the morning. Keep it simple and appreciate it for what it is, which is just some old-fashioned holiday trading.
Have a good evening. I'll see you tomorrow.
