A mixed bag on the economic data front gave the major indices enough of a push to erase most of their earlier losses. The ISM numbers came in a bit better than expected, but construction spending fell in February. The continual mixed numbers show that the recovery is weak at best and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
Europe is also recovering on the heels of the US data. banking stocks continue to weigh on their major indices but the markets there are off their lows thanks to the ISM beat.
The Dow is currently down 14 to 13,198. Nasdaq and S&P 500 are both positive, up 4 and 2 points respectively.
Hot Stocks
Vringo, Inc. (AMEX:VRNG) is up 31.51% this morning at $2.17. VRNG has traded 4.2 million shares already today, way above its daily average of 826 thousand shares. VRNG shares are up nearly 200% on the year. The company has a market cap of 30.91 million.
Theravance Inc. (NASDAQ:THRX) has rallied 22% so far today at $23.74. THRX has traded 521 thousand shares a day on average and trades 689 thousand shares a day on average. THRX shares are up this morning as it entered into a deal with GlaxoSmithKline in which Glaxo would buy 10 million additional shares of Theravance. The company has a market cap of 1.97 billion.
E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE:DANG) is up 11.99% today at $9.09. DANG has traded 5.1 million shares this morning, more than double its daily average. DANG shares are up $1.50 in the past two days. The company has a market cap of 712.21 million.
InterOil Corporation (NYSE:IOC) is up 8.60% today at $55.83. IOC has traded 748 thousand shares in early trading and is already above its daily average volume. IOC shares have jumped nearly $8 a share after dropping below $48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of 2.67 billion.
QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ:QUIK) is up 9.52% this morning at $2.99. QUIK has traded 342 thousand shares already today, well above its daily average of 123 thousand shares. QUIK shares have rallied more than $0.50 in the past week. The company has a market cap of 115.98 million.
Apollo Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:AINV) is up 4.46% today at $7.49. AINV has traded 2.4 million shares this morning, 300 thousand shares more than its daily average. Apollo Investment Corporation purchased $50 million of its stock at net asset value in a private placement. The company also began looking for a CFO. The company has a market cap of 1.47 billion.
KIT digital, Inc. (NASDAQ:KITD) is up 4.86% today at $7.55. KITD has traded just over a million shares so far this morning and trades 1.2 million shares a day on average. KITD shares are up $1 a share in the past 3 days. The company has a market cap of 357.87 million.
Renren Inc. (NYSE:RENN) is up 5.98% this morning at $5.8501. RENN has traded 5.7 million shares so far today and trades 8.9 million shares a day on average. RENN shares are up $0.50 in the past two days. The company has a market cap of 2.29 billion.
About Martin Stephenson
