Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are on the Move Today

All three indexes are in the green today as traders await today’s FOMC meeting announcement at 2:00 and the Fed Chair Press conference at 2:30 eastern time. The Dow is up by around 40 points, the S&P 500 is 0.25% in the green and the NASDAQ is almost 16 points higher. Among the stocks showing more volatility than the indexes are Intellicheck Mobilisa, Inc. (NYSEMKT:IDN), EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS), YY Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:YY), Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), and J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP). Let’s find out why these stocks are on traders’ radars and see what smart money investors think about these stocks.

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Intellicheck Mobilisa Down on Offering

Nano-cap Intellicheck Mobilisa, Inc. (NYSEMKT:IDN) shares have retreated by almost 15% today after the company priced a public offering of 1.2 million shares at $1.75 per unit. In addition, the company also issued 600,000 five-year warrants to the offering buyers with an exercise price of $2.20 per share. Intellicheck will use a substantial portion of the funds raised for the development of various products based on patented photonics innovations for threat assessment and document authentication. The offering is expected to close on June 20. Two funds from our database were long Intellicheck Mobilisa, Inc. (NYSEMKT:IDN) at the end of the first quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter. As with all nano-caps, investors should do due-diligence before buying or selling.

EXACT Sciences Rallies on Updated Guideline Wording 

EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) is 8% in the green this afternoon after the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force updated its colorectal cancer screening recommendations. The new recommendations put EXACT Science’s Cologuard as first-line position along with other tests rather than as an alternative. Among the funds we track, 16 funds owned $73.87 million worth of EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS)’s stock, which accounted for 11.20% of the float on March 31, versus 20 funds and $140.38 million, respectively, on December 31.

On the next page, we examine YY Inc, Freeport-McMoRan, and J C Penney Company.
YY Rises On Buyback Announcement

YY Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:YY) is 3% higher after the company’s board authorized a 12-month, $200 million buyback program to repurchase shares and convertible notes. Separately, YY has also confirmed the withdrawal of a buyer group’s going-private proposal for the company, citing recent unfavorable market conditions. The Chinese stock market hasn’t been as hot lately due to the slowing economy in the country. A total of 19 funds were long YY Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:YY) as of the end of March.

Freeport-McMoRan Rises on Technical Buying

There never seems to be a dull day for Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) shareholders, as the value of the company is up by almost 10% on technical buying. Some traders evidently think around $10 per share is a good place to buy given current commodity prices. Also helping the bullish cause is today’s EIA report that showed inventories falling and U.S. production declining by 29,000 barrels per day last week. However, whether the $10 level holds in the long run is uncertain. The number of funds from our database with holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) fell by three quarter-over-quarter to 34 at the end of March.

J C Penney Bounces Back

Although there is no fundamental news concerning the company, some traders could be buying J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) in anticipation of some potential bullish announcements during this month’s upcoming investor conferences for various retailers (although, there is no guarantee of any bullish news during those conferences). J C Penney has the potential to do better if consumers forgive the company’s no-coupon policy intalled several years ago. Shares are up by over 6% in afternoon trade. Overall, 32 investors were long J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) at the end of the first quarter, up by five over the quarter.

Disclosure: none