Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (GG), Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (HALO), and Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NWL) have fared well historically during the week of Christmas
Last Friday, we took a look at the historical performance of U.S. markets during the week of Christmas, and found it to be generally bullish. As part of our analysis, we keyed in on a group of
25 stocks that have outperformed during the holiday-shortened week, looking back 10 years. Picking up on that, here are a trio of names that are already off to a fast start, and could continue to edge higher in the days ahead --
Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG),
Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO), and
Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL).
GG is up over 2% this afternoon at $11.83, following in the bullish footsteps of gold futures. Over the past 10 years, this stock has finished Christmas week higher nine times, and sports an average return of 3.5%. Traders in the options pits are certainly positioned to benefit from a Goldcorp Inc. rally. During the last 50 days across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), speculators have bought to open 5.47
calls for every
put -- a ratio that ranks in the near-extreme 99th percentile of its annual range.
HALO has muscled higher in eight of the past 10 Christmas weeks, with an average gain of 1.8%. Today, the stock is putting that historical return to shame, up 5.3% at $16.85 on the heels of a
global collaboration and licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY). This is more of the same from HALO, which has tacked on 75% in 2015, and has
fared well in December over the prior decade.
Suffice it to say, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. short sellers are feeling the heat. Nearly 17% of the stock's float is sold short, which would take about three weeks to buy back, at average daily trading levels. In other words, there's plenty of pent-up buying power available to fuel a short-squeeze situation.
Lastly,
NWL is up 0.4% at $44.87, and more upside could be in store. Over the past 10 years, the stock has advanced 80% of the time during Christmas weeks, with a typical gain of 1.4%. On the charts, the shares have been trying to bounce back from an
M&A-induced dive, and an unwinding of short positions could be the key. Newell Rubbermaid Inc.'s short-interest ratio is 10.30, meaning there's over two weeks' worth of pent-up buying power on the sidlines, based on average trading levels.