4 Stocks on Traders' Radars: Must-See Charts

Here's a technical look at how to trade some of the most active stocks on the market right now.
By Jonas Elmerraji ,

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.

Apache 

  • Nearest Resistance: $57.50
  • Nearest Support: $48
  • Catalyst: Takeover Offer

$18 billion energy-firm Apache (APA) - Get Report  is up more than 11% this afternoon, popping after the announcement that the firm had rebuffed an unsolicited takeover offer. Apache is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs to figure out its options.

From a technical standpoint, Apache has looked "bottomy" for the last several months, breaking out above $48 former resistance last week. From here, Apache has limited resistance in the way of upside. Shares could recover from the energy sector slump in the final stretch of the year.

Horizon Pharma

  • Nearest Resistance: $32
  • Nearest Support: $18
  • Catalyst: Outlook

Shares of mid-cap biopharmaceutical company Horizon Pharma (HZNP) - Get Report  are up 5.8% this afternoon, rallying following a better-than-expected outlook for the firm. Last week, Horizon reported that it earned a profit of 70 cents per share during the third quarter, outpacing the 40.6-cent analysts' best guess by a big margin. And Monday morning, management announced it expects sales to more than double over the next four years, driving today's follow-up rally.

Horizon spent much of this year selling off, and the last two sessions are cementing what looks like a major change in trend. From here, continued upside is starting to look more likely again. Now still looks like a good place to be a buyer in Horizon -- just be sure to keep a protective stop in place.

Hertz Global Holdings

  • Nearest Resistance: $21
  • Nearest Support: $16.75
  • Catalyst: Q3 Earnings

Rental car firm Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ) - Get Report  is selling off on big volume this afternoon, down more than 12.6% in reaction to third-quarter earnings results. Hertz reported profit of 49 cents per share, excluding some one-time charges. Wall Street had been looking for a 52-cent profit. Adding to the miss were vehicle depreciation accounting errors that resulted in restated first-half numbers.

Technically, the decline in Hertz this afternoon isn't as bad as it first appears. While shares are selling off today, they're retracing back to trend-line support and holding their uptrend from July's lows. A bounce from here would provide investors with a buying opportunity.

General Electric

  • Nearest Resistance: $30
  • Nearest Support: $29
  • Catalyst: Technical Setup

General Electric (GE) - Get Report  is seeing big volume for technical reasons this afternoon, as shares move up to test an important resistance level just below $30.

In the very near term, GE has been forming an ascending triangle setup, a bullish continuation pattern that's offering to help propel this stock to new highs for the fall. A breakout above that $30 price ceiling gives traders a pretty clear-cut buy signal this week -- and that makes GE a stock to keep a close eye on here.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.

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