Nasdaq Stocks Moving Higher Today: ALIM, ROYL, IMOS, VVUS, ATPG, SIRI

Stocks continue to hold steady in positive territory today as positive housing news erased all losses earlier today. Pending home sales rose 8% in January, blowing past analysts’ estimates of 1%. Falling oil prices have also helped send stocks higher today as the price of oil is down more than $1 at $108/barrel. The Dow is up 16 points right now, the Nasdaq is up 6 points and the S&P 500 is up 3 points.

Alimera Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALIM) is up 28.07% this afternoon at $2.21. ALIM has traded 1.1 million shares so far today, 6 times its average volume. ALIM shares are rising ahead of the company presenting at Citi 2012 Global Health Care Conference. Alimera will also be releasing their most recent earnings on March 8. The company has a market cap of 68.20 million.

Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL) is up 10.91% today at $6.71. ROYL has traded 3 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 753 thousand shares. ROYL shares have been rising the past few days after a USGS assessment of the North Slope Shale shows a potential of 2 billion barrels of oil. The company has a market cap of 72.21 million.

ChipMOS Technologies (NASDAQ:IMOS) is up 12.42% this afternoon at $11.95. IMOS is up on heavy volume today with 402 thousand shares traded compared to its daily average of 88 thousand shares. IMOS shares have more than doubled this year. Many believe that Elpida going bankrupt could help the company. The company has a market cap of 319.75 million.

Vivus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) is up 9.94% today at $24.28. VVUS has traded 30.3 million shares so far today, 10 times its average volume. VVUS shares continue their upward trend after a FDA panel backed their weight loss drug. The company’s FDA approval date for their weight loss drug is April 17. The company has a market cap of 2.15 billion.

ATP Oil & Gas Corporation (NASDAQ:ATPG) is up 23.03% this afternoon at $8.79. ATPG is trading large volume today with 10.4 million shares traded. The stock trades 1.7 million shares a day on average. ATPG continues to move higher on news of production success on well at Telemark Hub. The company has a market cap of 444.28 million.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) is up 1.59% today at $2.23. SIRI has traded 54 million shares so far today. The stock usually trades 50 million shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 8.39 billion.