5 Unusual Against-The-Grain Winners (ALU, GDX, PCX, ROSG, SCHS)

The market was down significantly earlier in the day with a double-digit S&P 500 drop and a triple-digit drop in the DJIA.  We wanted to see some unusual gainers on the day, which are not just the largest gainers.  These were in shares of Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX), Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX), Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG), and School Specialty Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHS) as the most unusual movers today.  We have shown each of these with the moves listed in the last hour of trading.

When was the last time anything good happened to Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU)? It has been a while.  With a contract win, with the highlights around its patents, and with the highlight around speedier web traffic, this one rose on a down day.  In fact, Alcatel-Lucent was up 4.7% a $1.55 on the day with less than an hour until the closing bell.

Gold was down big earlier as investors are liquidating everything for a source of liquidity.  So what are gold miners rising handily?  Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX) is the go-to ETF for gold mining stocks and offers a great basket of the major global gold players.  This ETF was up 3.6% at $44.10 against a 52-week range of $39.08 to $66.98.  We just highlighted the value and huge upside that the components offer here.

Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) is in trouble and its viability is in question,  Still, yesterday’s news of working with Blackstone trumped a credit rating downgrade today.  The coal player was up 21% at $2.65 on more than 19 million shares as of the end of the day.

Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG) has continued its post-reverse-split surge  and this is up almost 400% from the start of last week.  This is continued buying pressure after Medicare coverage came out.  Even a small capital raise has been ignored.  Shares are up another 37% at $10.23 and the post-split adjusted 52-week range is $1.40 to $36.45.

School Specialty Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHS) is surging simply on a debt refinancing.  That is not your usual rally tool, but the move here is massive. Shares were up 23% at $3.00 in the last hour of trading and the 52-week range is $2.15 to $15.84.

JON C. OGG