I'm struggling with some technology issues today, which has me feeling out of sync, but the action in individual stocks on my screens is quite robust. Breadth has slipped a little to about 4,100 gainers vs. 2,500 gainers, but the number of new 12-month highs is up to 240 now.
Financials are slipping a bit but that money is rotating into other groups. The big-cap technology names such as Amazon (AMZN) , Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) are leading, but we also have some pockets of strength in biotechnology and oil.
Small-caps are leading, which indicates that there still is a strong speculative appetite.
A couple new names I'm looking at here are Supernus Pharmaceuticals (SUPN) , Sucampo Pharmaceuticals (SCMP) , Clovis Oncology (CLVS) , Kosmos Energy (KOS) and Nanometrics (NANO) . All are showing good relative strength on increased volume and are not too extended at this point.
Typically with stocks like this I'll look to take some small initial positions and then add near the close of the day. Strong moves like this often lead to a second day of gains. A great example is BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) , which broke to a new high on Friday on a very good surge in volume. It is up an additional 17% today as the breakout buyers chase it higher. I took some partial gains on the position prematurely but will let the remainder ride. This volume is sucking in more buyers and I expect the chasers to chase it.
If the indices close near the lows of the day that may excite the bears a bit but overall it looks like we are experiencing just a slight rest as some groups consolidate. There isn't any reason to be bearish at this point.
