4 Big-Volume Stocks to Add to Your Buy List
Put down the 10-K filings and the stock screeners. It's time to take a break from the traditional methods of generating investment ideas. Instead, let the crowd do it for you.
From hedge funds to individual investors, scores of market participants are turning to social media to figure out which stocks are worth watching. It's a concept that's known as "crowdsourcing," and it uses the masses to identify emerging trends in the market.
Crowdsourcing has long been a popular tool for the advertising industry, but it also makes a lot of sense as an investment tool. After all, the market is completely driven by the supply and demand, so it can be valuable to see what names are trending among the crowd.
While some fund managers are already trying to leverage social media resources like Twitter to find algorithmic trading opportunities, for most investors, crowdsourcing works best as a starting point for investors who want a starting point in their analysis.
Today, we'll leverage the power of the crowd to take a look at some of the most active stocks on the market.
Microsoft
- Nearest Resistance: N/A
- Nearest Support: $49
- Catalyst: Q4 Earnings
Leading things off on today's list of high-volume stocks is $438 billion tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Report . Microsoft is rallying hard this afternoon, up almost 7% on huge volume after the firm posted better-than-expected profits for its fiscal fourth quarter. Excluding one-time items, Microsoft earned a profit of 69 cents per share for the quarter, outpacing the 58-cent earnings that analysts were expecting, on average.
Technically speaking, exciting times for Microsoft could be ahead. This stock broke out above $56 resistance early in the session today, a move that, if confirmed into Thursday's session, signals the likelihood of a lot more upside ahead. If you don't already own shares of Microsoft, today's earnings reaction could actually provide a good time to buy.
Bank of America
- Nearest Resistance: $15
- Nearest Support: $12.50
- Catalyst: Technical Setup
Shares of Bank of America (BAC) - Get Report are seeing yet another big-volume day today, just a couple trading sessions out from the firm's second-quarter earnings release on Monday.
Today, though, the technicals are driving the price action. Bank of America is currently moving up to test long-term resistance up at $15, a level that, if broken, would signal the likelihood of higher ground (and a potential re-test of BofA's highs from last fall) ahead. Traders should wait for this big bank to catch a bid above $15 before pulling the trigger on it.
Marvell Technology Group
- Nearest Resistance: N/A
- Nearest Support: $11
- Catalyst: Q4 Earnings
Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) - Get Report is in breakout mode this afternoon, up more than 14% following the firm's fourth-quarter earnings call. Marvell slightly edged out analysts' expectations with comparable profits of 11 cents per share -- Wall Street had been hoping for about 10 cents on average. Likewise, guidance for the fiscal first quarter came in at better than expected, with analysts noting that big cost cuts should make Marvell's profits higher than the bleak outlook that was priced into shares.
From a technical standpoint, Marvell looks attractive here. Shares are breaking through resistance at $11 in today's session, signaling that this stock's sideways grind since April has finally run its course. If you decide to buy MRVL here, be sure to park a protective stop on the other side of $10 support.
VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF
- Nearest Resistance: $35
- Nearest Support: $28
- Catalyst: Spot Gold Prices
Gold is correcting this afternoon, and that's translating into a 4.2% big-volume dip in the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) - Get Report . Miners are basically a leveraged bet on spot gold prices, so as the precious metal goes, so too goes GDX -- only more so.
While today's correction looks painful, the reality is that GDX is still up 107% year-to-date, and the uptrend looks very much intact at this point. As shares retrace back down to the bottom of their uptrend, it makes sense to buy the next bounce in this popular mining ETF.
Disclosure: This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.