The S&P 500 continued its positive trend this week, locking in another 3 points on Friday’s trading for an overall 12% gain for the index this year so far. Amid the recent gains across the major indices many traders are still positioning themselves defensively against instability in the European and other foreign markets. The ongoing situation with European debt has taken a bite out Asian markets, with both Hong Kong and Singapore reporting lower than expected Q2 GDP results on Friday. The top-performing stocks from this trading week came from the healthcare, technology and basic materials sectors.
The stocks in this week’s Big Weekly Winners: Swing Trading with PowerRatings all earned PowerRatings of 8 or higher one week ago on August 3, 2012.
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Performance of 8/3/12 – 8/10/12 Trading Week
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PPHM)
Several biopharmaceutical companies garnered gains later in this trading week, and shares of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. were no exception as it hit a new 52-week high during Thursday’s trading. The announcement of PPHM’s CEO presenting at the upcoming Wedbush Securities conference this week helped the rally, while the stock goes into Monday’s open comfortably above its 50 and 200-day moving averages.
- 8/3/12 Entry Price: 1.66 with a PowerRating of 9
- 8/10/12 Exit Price: 2.29
- Gain: 37.95%
Mattson Technology Inc. (MTSN)
Shares of Mattson Technology Inc. rose over 13% on Friday after issuing its quarterly earnings report and trading on below-average volume. Since hitting a new 52-week low during the previous Friday’s 8/3/12 trading and dropping into oversold territory, MTSN reverted to very overbought by the end of the week and reached the highest RSI value its seen over the last 14 trading periods.
- 8/3/12 Entry Price: 0.83 with a PowerRating of 8
- 8/10/12 Exit Price: 0.97
- Gain: 16.87%
NovaGold Resources Inc. (NG)
NovaGold Resources Inc. was among the handful of gold mining companies that realized substantial gains on Thursday and Friday this week. Despite the recent sell-off of NG shares among other gold mining companies as the price of gold continues to faces various challenges, NG secured a 16.58% gain to end the week’s trading.
- 7/27/12 Entry Price: 3.68 with a PowerRating of 8
- 8/03/12 Exit Price: 4.29
- Gain: 16.58%
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Joshua Glasgall is Editor in Chief of Connors Research