Homeland Security Winners: ICx, OSIS

ARLINGTON, Va. (TheStreet) -- ICx Technologies(ICXT), one of the security technology stocks that soared the week after the Christmas holiday as a result of the attempted airline bombing, was the biggest gainer on Friday in the recently hot anti-terror stock category.

President Obama made it clear on Friday morning, in a press conference about the attempted bombing by the Nigerian terrorist, that the pressure is on the heads of his intelligence agencies to improve airport screening and other security measures. Janet Napolitano, the head of Homeland Security, spoke after President Obama's remarks and said it was premature to say how much the federal government would spend on airport security measures.

Shares of ICx ended Friday up 10.7%, for a gain of 87 cents to $8.97. While the one-day spike was notable, ICx is actually much lower than the 52-week high it hit the week after Christmas. And heavy selling earlier in the week kept its Friday gain from eclipsing the ICx level shares began trading at on Monday morning.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, ICx experienced two consecutive days of more than 4 million shares traded, and closed below $8 on both days. ICx shares didn't rise above the $8 mark until Thursday. ICx shares' Friday volume of 3.3 million was well above its 1.1 million average, but still trailed the heavy trading at the beginning of the week.

During the post-holiday investor frenzy for homeland security-related technology stocks, ICx rose to a 52-week high of $10.49 on Dec. 31.

Anti-terror plays like ICx, as well as American Science & Engineering(ASEI) and Implant Sciences(IMSC), have become short-term momentum technology favorites. American Science ended Friday up a little more than 2%, or $1.71 to $83.53, though the company had attained a 52-week high during Friday's session above $84. American Science shares also cratered on Tuesday, with a decline of more than $6 from its current share price of $83.53.