Stocks are up in the first half of trading today thanks to better than expected home sales report. Existing home sales saw a 3.4% rise to annual rate of 4.62 million units in April, the highest its been in nearly two years. The positive housing news helped bring markets up after they opened mixed following a Japan credit downgrade.
Investors are also looking to Europe tomorrow and hoping officials there will agree on a policy response when they meet in Brussels tomorrow. Get Free Stock Alerts
A quick look at the markets at lunchtime show the Dow up 58 points, the Nasdaq up 15 points and the S&P 500 up 10 points.
Hot Stocks
Cleantech Solutions International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLNT) is up 51.03% this morning at $3.67. CLNT has traded 870 thousand shares so far today, way above its daily average of 25 thousand shares. CLNT shares are up today on news the company received $1.7 million in orders for wind power components. The company has a market cap of 8.72 million.
Genetic Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:GENE) is up 41.13% in early trading at $3.4010. GENE has traded 409 thousand shares so far today, more than 10 times its daily average. GENE shares are jumping after the company provides business update. The company has a market cap of 48.09 million.
SmartHeat Inc. (NASDAQ:HEAT) is up 29.84% today at $4.83. HEAT has traded 345 thousand shares so far today and trades 495 thousand shares a day on average. No news for HEAT today, but it looks like traders are bouncing the stock after it fell nearly 50% in the past month. The company has a market cap of 18.98 million.
Benihana Inc. (NASDAQ:BNHN) is up 21.09% today at $16.10. BNHN has traded 3.1 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 56 thousand shares. BNHN shares are up today after the company goes private in a nearly $300 million deal. The company has a market cap of 288.74 million. Get Free Stock Alerts
Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN) is up 19.24% today at $2.85. RDN has traded 4.2 million shares so far today and trades 4.9 million shares a day on average. RDN shares continue to rise on news a major shareholder told Radian to consider sale. The company has a market cap of 367.89 million.
Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. (NASDAQ:ROSG) is up another 11% today at $7.65. ROSG has traded 1.2 million shares so far today, 6 times its average volume. ROSG shares have seen choppy trading over the past week, trading as low as $4 and as high as $7.80.
MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE:MTG) is up 10.59% today at $2.63. MTG has traded 5.7 million shares so far today and trades 6.4 million shares a day on average. MTG shares are up $0.40 a share over the past few days. The company has a market cap of 527.30 million.
About Martin Stephenson
