Trading Where the Action Is!

Stocks shook off early selling to move strongly higher as of midday on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq up more than 1%. Nasdaq shares moving higher included those of Qualcomm
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, up more than 3%, and Research in Motion
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up more than 4%.

Also moving higher on Wednesday as of midday were shares of Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold
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, which was up more than 5%. The stock had traded lower for eight consecutive days and was extremely oversold.

Among Wednesday’s biggest midday movers to the downside were Washington Mutual
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. The savings and loan’s outlook was lowered by Standard and Poor’s yesterday from “stable” to “negative.” Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group
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, a stock that had been on our “Consider Avoiding” list at TradingMarkets for the past two days, was also among today’s biggest losers.

Here is a list of stocks that have gained 20% or more so far in trading today.

Name Symbol % Up
Fortress International Group Inc. FIGIW +51.56
American Community Bancshares ACBA +48.57
Alsius Corporation ALUSW +42.86
First Mariner Bancorp FMAR +32.34
Blue Holdings Inc. BLUE +20.70

Here is a list of stocks that have lost 20% or more so far in trading today.

Name Symbol % Down
Encorium Group Inc. ENCO -46.88
Capital Crossing PR Series CCPCN -26.87
Yadkin Valley Financial Corporation YAVY -25.37
Dollar Thifty Automotive Group DTG -24.70
Washington Mutual Inc. WM -22.42
Gfi Group Inc. GFIG -21.96
Gravity Company Ltd. GRVY -21.63
Ashworth Inc. ASHW -21.16

Source: MarketWatch

For a list of today’s top-rated stocks, click here.

David Penn is Editor-in-Chief at TradingMarkets.com.