Stocks Slightly Lower as Investors Look for Direction, Hot Stocks to Watch: BSDM, BIOF, FOLD, SPB, EMXX, QCOR

The Dow and S&P 500 are trending slightly lower this morning as investors take a wait and see approach ahead of Alcoa’s earnings. The Nasdaq is down nearly 1% as Apple drops 1.5% after Nomura initiated coverage with a neutral rating and a $710 price target. Investors are also on edge this week after the IMF lowered its global growth forecast to 3.3% for 2012, the slowest forecast since 2009. The IMF also warned politicians in the U.S. and Europe that failure to address their respective economic problems would extend slower growth even further.

The major stock averages are negative this morning with the Dow off 5 points, the Nasdaq down 23 points and the S&P 500 down 3 points.

Hot Stocks

BSD Medical Corp. (NASDAQ:BSDM) is up 59.24% this morning at $1.8790. BSDM has traded 1.5 million shares so far today, way above its daily average of 46 thousand shares. BSDM shares are rallying today after the company announced a nearly 400% increase in sales for its MicroThermX microwave ablation system. The company has a market cap of 60.94 million.

BioFuel Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:BIOF) is up 14.15% today at $7.26. BIOF is up on heavy volume this morning with 1.2 million shares traded, well above its daily average of 323 thousand shares. BIOF shares are up more than $2 a saher over the past two days. The company has a market cap of 39.35 million.

Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:FOLD) is up 11.80% today at $5.78. FOLD has traded 930 thousand shares so far today, 4 times its daily average. FOLD shares are up today after a few articles across the web say it could see a move similar to Sarepta. The company has a market cap of 284.19 million.

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB) is up 12.17% this morning at $46.17. SPB has traded 839 thousand shares so far today, well above its daily average of 167 thousand shares. Spectrum Brands said it will buy Stanley Black & Decker unit for $1.4 billion. The company has a market cap of 2.36 billion.

Eurasian Minerals Inc. (NYSE:EMXX) is up 10.04% today at $2.5199. EMXX has traded 417 thousand shares this morning, nearly 10 times its daily average. The company has a market cap of 136.28 million.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOR) is up 5.47% today at $21.40. QCOR has traded 4.1 million shares so far today and trades 5.4 million shares a day on average. Jefferies upgraded Questcor to buy from hold today with a price target of $28. The company has a market cap of 1.33 billion.