Palm, Boots & Coots: Early Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Several stocks trading near $5 were poised to move on above-average volume during Monday's session.

Palm (PALM) jumped by 44 cents, or 8.5%, to $5.60 in the premarket session following a Bloomberg report that said the handset maker plans to seek bids as early as this week. Palm is working with Goldman Sachs and Qatalyst Partners to find a buyer, the report said, citing three people familiar with the situation. Shares of Palm rallied more than 30% last week on speculation the company would be acquired. The 50-day average daily volume for Palm is 26.07 million, according to the Nasdaq.

GSI Technology (GSIT) may trade higher Monday after the chip maker raised its fourth-quarter revenue guidance to $20.6 million to $21.2 million, up from the prior range of $18.3 million to $19.1 million. That compares to the two-analyst average of $18.85 million. GSI, which will report earnings on May 6, did not offer a reason for the increased revenue guidance. The stock closed Friday at $4.91. The 50-day average daily volume for GSI Technology is 99,400.

RRI Energy (RRI) gained 34 cents, or 8.6%, to $4.29 in the premarket session after the company said it is merging with Mirant (MIR) in a $1.61 billion stock-swap deal. Mirant stockholders will receive a fixed ratio of 2.835 shares of RRI Energy common stock for each share of Mirant common stock they own. The three-month average daily volume for RRI Energy is 5.76 million, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Boots & Coots (WEL) should trade sharply higher Monday after Halliburton (HAL) said it will acquire the company in a cash and stock deal worth $240 million. Boots & Coots shareholders will receive about $3 for each share of Boots & Coots they hold, consisting of $1.73 in cash and $1.27 in Halliburton stock. Boots & Coots shares closed Friday at $2.35. The three-month average daily volume for Boots & Coots is 553,000.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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