3 Big Stocks on Traders' Radars

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Put down the 10-K filings and the stock screeners. It's time to take a break from the traditional methods of generating investment ideas. Instead, let the crowd do it for you.

>>3 Big-Volume Stocks in Breakout Territory

From hedge funds to individual investors, scores of market participants are turning to social media to figure out which stocks are worth watching. It's a concept that's known as "crowdsourcing," and it uses the masses to identify emerging trends in the market.

Crowdsourcing has long been a popular tool for the advertising industry, but it also makes a lot of sense as an investment tool. After all, the market is completely driven by the supply and demand, so it can be valuable to see what names are trending among the crowd.

While some fund managers are already trying to leverage social media resources like Twitter to find algorithmic trading opportunities, for most investors, crowdsourcing works best as a starting point for investors who want a starting point in their analysis. Today, we'll leverage the power of the crowd to take a look at some of the most active stocks on the market today.

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These "most active" names are the most heavily-traded names on the market -- and often, uber-active names have some sort of a technical or fundamental catalyst driving investors' attention on shares. And when there's a big catalyst, there's often a trading opportunity.

Without further ado, here's a look at today's stocks.

Yahoo!

Nearest Resistance: $40

Nearest Support: $32

Catalyst: Pre-Earnings Selling

Yahoo! (YHOO) is down 2% a ahead of this afternoon's earnings call, as traders who have been exposed to this volatile, high volume name make their exits before the numbers hit. From a technical standpoint, YHOO has looked pretty ugly since the start of March, as a textbook bearish setup triggered a downside move that's pushed Yahoo down more than 12.7% in the last month. But while there's still downside room on the chart, the event risk from tonight's earnings call makes it more a gamble than a trade.

The recent flight to quality on the Nasdaq could help draw some cash to YHOO following earnings, given this stock's attractive balance sheet and big cash generation. So, despite the abundance of sellers in Yahoo, I wouldn't want to hold this name short over earnings today...

Himax Technologies

Nearest Resistance: $11

Nearest Support: $8

Catalyst: Google Glass Drama

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. At least that's the "rule" that's being proven in Taiwanese micro-display maker Himax Technologies (HIMX) right now. Shares of HIMX are down 4% this afternoon, adding onto a nearly 50% one-month decline as speculation over Google Glass dumps volatility on this small-cap stock.

HIMX is a key supplier for Glass, and the device's one-day sale is the catalyst for the big moves in shares, as investors wonder whether they'll see material sales in 2014. You can buy your own Google Glass today for $1,500.

Technically speaking, HIMX's chart is broken. There's some semblance of support down at $8, but ever since breaking its uptrend in mid-March, this stock has been crashing through stronger support levels with ease. Don't look for a bargain in HIMX this week.

Applied Materials

Nearest Resistance: $21

Nearest Support: $18

Catalyst: Technical Setup

Applied Materials (AMAT) is down 3.3% on high volume today, the result of a broad selloff in tech stocks and an already bearish setup. But zoom out a bit, and things don't look so bad. In fact, it makes a lot of sense to buy the bounce in AMAT. That's because this $23 billion semiconductor manufacturer is still in the midst of a long-term uptrend, with well-defined trend line support sitting below shares. The high probability move is to buy the bounce off of support.

The 200-day moving average has been a good proxy for support since last fall. That makes it a good place to keep a protective stop when the bounce in AMAT happens.

To see these stocks in action, check out the at Most-Active Stocks portfolio on Stockpickr.



-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

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At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji