Investing

10 Highly Unusual Volume Spikes with Huge Gains in Shares Traded

24/7 Wall St. is tracking the highly unusual volume increases in shares today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new all-time high today, but the volume on these news bits is taking some way up and some way down. The actual trading volume here is so strong that you know day traders and speculators are involved in many of these stocks today.

Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACUR) shares are surging on its Nexafed pharmacy deal, where its new next generation pseudoephedrine with abuse deterrent technology will now be stocked by chain drug store KERR DRUG. Shares are up a whopping 60% at $3.25 versus a 52-week range of $1.06 to $4.50, The share volume of more than 6.8 million shares compares to average volume of only about 530,000 shares. That is a 13X volume spike with about 3 hours until the close.

American Apparel Inc. (NYSEMKT: APP) is actually trading up after earnings and shares have now doubled off of the 52-week low. The 14% gain to $1.47 is on more than 1.27 million shares, representing a 3.5-times volume spike. This is currently the third most active day of 2013.

Chuy’s Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHUY) is at it again, with big gains of 7% to $31.20 and shares hit a new all-time high of $32.00 today. The 335,000 shares is already close to twice the normal trading volume, and it is on no formal news.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) is up 15% after an analyst upgrade today at $51.40. What is so unusual is that Cree’s 8.7 million shares is more than a 4X volume spike as the average volume each day is about 1.97 million shares.

Himax Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is up a whopping 32% at $4.55 to a new 52-week high by just over $1.00 per share. A Seeking Alpha article said shares could triple on Monday. The 11.1 million shares with about 3 hours to go is on more than 11.1 million shares. That represents more than 19-times normal daily share volume. Count that as a 20X volume spike already.

Read Also: 11 Stocks Analysts Think Will Rise 50% to 100% (or Even More)

Impax Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IPXL) is down a sharp 24% at $15.08 after the FDA identified manufacturing issues at the company. What is odd here outside of the drop taking it well under the prior 52-week low of $18.90 is that the 7.5+ million shares represents a 12X volume spike.

J. C. Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is down yet another 9% at $15.20 after Vornado is unloading shares; but the volume of 29 million shares with about 3 hours to go is already almost a 3X volume spike. The is the second most active day of 2013 after the 48 million shares traded after earnings.

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) is at it yet again for days in a row of gains. With 40 million shares traded, that is more than a 6X volume spike. Shares are up 24% at $5.20 after an analyst upgrade. Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) was also in the upgrade and its 6% gain to $10.47 is on more than 22 million shares, representing a 3X volume spike.

Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) is seeing a massive volume spike after a secondary offering of 11.25 million units at $49.14 per unit. Its units are down 3.4% at $48.83, but the 9.2 million units traded already with about 3 hours until the close is more than 11X volume spike against an average daily volume of 813,000 units.

Want to Retire Early? Start Here (Sponsor)

Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?

Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.

Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.