Stocks to Watch for 6/17/11: Fresh 52 Week Highs and Lows

Stocks trading at or near 52-week highs and lows provide excellent trading opportunities, as volatility tends to increase at such levels.

The following stocks hit new 52-week highs in Thursday's trading session:

1) Raptor Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RPTP): Shares of Raptor Pharmaceuticals hit a 52-week high of $6.75 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $6.57. The year-to-date performance of Raptor has been a gain of 80.4%.

2) Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: ONTY): Shares of Oncothyreon hit a 52-week high of $7.99 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $7.83. The year-to-date performance of Oncothyreon has been a gain of 140%.

3) Conn's (NASDAQ: CONN): Shares of Conn's hit a 52-week high of $6.99 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $6.98. The year-to-date performance of Conn's has been a gain of 49%.

4) Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX): Shares of Crocs hit a 52-week high of $24.46 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $23.66. The year-to-date performance of Crocs has been a gain of 38.2%.

5) MediaMind Technologies (NASDAQ: MDMD): Shares of MediaMind hit a 52-week high of $22.49 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $21.91. The year-to-date performance of MediaMind has been a gain of 59.9%.

6) Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX): Shares of Quest Diagnostics hit a 52-week high of $60.23 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $60.16. The year-to-date performance of Quest has been a gain of 11.9%.

7) Southern Union (NYSE: SUG): Shares of Southern Union hit a 52-week high of $34.21 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $33.21. The year-to-date performance of Southern has been a gain of 37.9%.

The following stocks hit new 52-week lows in Thursday's trading session:

1) Sony (NYSE: SNE): Shares of Sony hit a 52-week low of $24.66 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $24.80. The year-to-date performance of Sony has been a loss of 30.5%.

2) Renesola (NYSE: SOL): Shares of Renesola hit a 52-week low of $4.93 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $5.08. The year-to-date performance of Renesola has been a loss of 42%.

3) Gafisa S.A. (NYSE: GFA): Shares of Gafisa hit a 52-week low of $9.36 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $9.47. The year-to-date performance of Gafisa has been a loss of 33.3%.

4) BPZ Resources (NYSE: BPZ): Shares of BPZ Resources hit a 52-week low of $2.91 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $2.02. The year-to-date performance of BPZ has been a loss of 36.5%.

5) Crexus Investment (NYSE: CXS): Shares of Crexus Investment hit a 52-week low of $10.19 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $10.28. The year-to-date performance of Crexus has been a loss of 21.5%.

6) Linkedin (NYSE: LNKD): Shares of Linkedin hit a 52-week low of $67.49 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $68.27. The year-to-date performance of Linkedin has been a loss of 27.5%.

7) Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE: THG): Shares of Hanover Insurance hit a 52-week low of $37.43 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $37.70. The year-to-date performance of Hanover has been a loss of 18.3%.

8) MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR): Shares of MEMC hit a 52-week low of $8.40 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $8.47. The year-to-date performance of MEMC has been a loss of 24.7%.

9) Artio Global Investors (NYSE: ART): Shares of Artio Global Investors hit a 52-week low of $12.00 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $12.06. The year-to-date performance of Artio has been a loss of 17.9%.

10) Radioshack (NYSE: RSH): Shares of Radioshack hit a 52-week low of $12.28 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $12.49. The year-to-date performance of Radioshack has been loss of 32.4%.

11) Fibria Celulose (NYSE: FBR): Shares of Fibria Celulose hit a 52-week low of $13.24 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $13.35. The year-to-date performance of Fibria has been a loss of 14.6%.

12) CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX): Shares of CoreLogic hit a 52-week low of $16.64 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $16.82. The year-to-date performance of CoreLogic has been a loss of 9.1%.

13) Bank of America (NYSE: BAC): Shares of Bank of America hit a 52-week low of $10.40 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $10.60. The year-to-date performance of Bank of America has been a loss of 20.5%.

14) Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS): Shares of Lender Processing hit a 52-week low of $23.33 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $23.37. The year-to-date performance of Lender Processing has been a loss of 20.3%.

15) Vanceinfo Technologies (NYSE: VIT): Shares of Vanceinfo hit a 52-week low of $19.62 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $20.19. The year-to-date performance of Vanceinfo has been a loss of 41.5%.

16) AbitibiBowater (NYSE: ABH): Shares of AbitibiBowater hit a 52-week low of $21.19 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $21.39. The year-to-date performance of AbitibiBowater has been a loss of 9.6%.

17) VimpelCom (NYSE: VIP): Shares of VimpelCom hit a 52-week low of $13.03 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $13.18. The year-to-date performance of VimpelCom has been a loss of 10.2%.

18) General Motors (NYSE: GM): Shares of General Motors hit a 52-week low of $28.16 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $28.59. The year-to-date performance of General Motors has been a loss of 22.4%.

19) Venoco (NYSE: VQ): Shares of Venoco hit a 52-week low of $12.40 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $12.56. The year-to-date performance of Venoco has been a loss of 31.9%.

20) Desarrolladora Development (NYSE: HXM): Shares of Desarrolladora Development hit a 52-week low of $21.45 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $21.75. The year-to-date performance of Desarrolladora Development has been a loss of 35.6%.

21) Gerdau S.A. (NYSE: GGB): Shares of Gerdau hit a 52-week low of $9.94 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $10.07. The year-to-date performance of Gerdau has been a loss of 27.5%.

22) Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (NYSE: BWP): Shares of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners hit a 52-week low of $27.40 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $27.51. The year-to-date performance of Boardwalk Pipeline has been a loss of 8.6%.

23) Exeter Resource (NYSE: XRA): Shares of Exeter Resource hit a 52-week low of $4.37 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $4.41. The year-to-date performance of Exeter has been a loss of 28.9%.

24) Golden Star Resources (NYSE: GSS): Shares of Golden Star Resources hit a 52-week low of $2.18 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $2.21. The year-to-date performance of Golden Star has been a loss of 51.8%.

25) Array BioPharma (NASDAQ: ARRY): Shares of Array BioPharma hit a 52-week low of $2.05 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $2.06. The year-to-date performance of Array has been a loss of 31%.

26) Asiainfo-Linkage (NASDAQ: ASIA): Shares of Asiainfo-Linkage hit a 52-week low of $13.77 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $13.81. The year-to-date performance of Asiainfo has been a loss of 16.6%.

27) Conceptus (NASDAQ: CPTS): Shares of Conceptus hit a 52-week low of $11.99 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $12.01. The year-to-date performance of Conceptus has been a loss of 12.9%.

28) Cree (NASDAQ: CREE): Shares of Cree hit a 52-week low of $35.18 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $35.60. The year-to-date performance of Cree has been a loss of 45.9%.

29) Harbin Electric (NASDAQ: HRBN): Shares of Harbin Electric hit a 52-week low of $5.82 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $6.98. The year-to-date performance of Harbin has been a loss of 59.7%.

30) Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI): Shares of Logitech hit a 52-week low of $11.49 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $11.61. The year-to-date performance of Logitech has been a loss of 37.4%.

31) Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL): Shares of Marvell hit a 52-week low of $13.66 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $13.79. The year-to-date performance of Marvell has been a loss of 25.6%.

32) Shanda Interactive Entertainment (NASDAQ: SNDA): Shares of Shanda Interactive hit a 52-week low of $35.34 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $35.98. The year-to-date performance of Shanda has been a loss of 9.2%.

33) Zoom Technologies (NASDAQ: ZOOM): Shares of Zoom Technologies hit a 52-week low of $2.02 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $2.04. The year-to-date performance of Zoom has been a loss of 54.3%.

34) Oclaro (NASDAQ: OCLR): Shares of Oclaro hit a 52-week low of $6.47 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $6.66. The year-to-date performance of Oclaro has been a loss of 49.3%.

35) Fushi Copperweld (NASDAQ: FSIN): Shares of Fushi Copperweld hit a 52-week low of $4.25 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $4.52. The year-to-date performance of Fushi has been a loss of 49.1%.

36) Capella Education (NASDAQ: CPLA): Shares of Capella hit a 52-week low of $42.97 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $43.20. The year-to-date performance of Capella has been a loss of 35.1%.

37) Perfect World (NASDAQ: PWRD): Shares of Perfect World hit a 52-week low of $18.58 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $18.98. The year-to-date performance of Perfect World has been a loss of 19.7%.

38) China Gerui Advanced Materials (NASDAQ: CHOP): Shares of China Gerui hit a 52-week low of $3.33 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $3.39. The year-to-date performance of China Gerui has been a loss of 42.3%.

39) Smart Technologies (NASDAQ: SMT): Shares of Smart Technologies hit a 52-week low of $5.66 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $5.72. The year-to-date performance of Smart Technologies has been a loss of 39.4%.

40) AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB): Shares of AllianceBernstein hit a 52-week low of $18.82 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $18.84. The year-to-date performance of AllianceBernstein has been a loss of 16.1%.

41) AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO): Shares of AU Optronics hit a 52-week low of $7.40 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $7.43. The year-to-date performance of AU Optronics has been a loss of 28.6%.

42) Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB): Shares of Dolby Laboratories hit a 52-week low of $42.94 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $43.13. The year-to-date performance of Dolby has been a loss of 35.3%.

43) Eldorado Gold (NYSE: EGO): Shares of Eldorado Gold hit a 52-week low of $13.51 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $13.68. The year-to-date performance of Eldorado has been a loss of 26.3%.

44) Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (NYSE: GOL): Shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes hit a 52-week low of $11.21 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $11.34. The year-to-date performance of Gol Linhas has been a loss of 25.5%.

45) China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC): Shares of China Life Insurance hit a 52-week low of $49.25 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $49.56. The year-to-date performance of China Life has been a loss of 17.6%.

46) Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE: SID): Shares of Companhia Siderurgica hit a 52-week low of $11.99 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $12.18. The year-to-date performance of Companhia has been a loss of 23.6%.

47) Ternium S.A. (NYSE: TX): Shares of Ternium hit a 52-week low of $28.19 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $28.46. The year-to-date performance of Ternium has been a loss of 31.2%.

48) NeoPhotonics (NYSE: NPTN): Shares of NeoPhotonics hit a 52-week low of $6.78 In Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $6.93. The year-to-date performance of NeoPhotonics has been a loss of 47.6%.

49) Fusion-io (NYSE: FIO): Shares of Fusion-io hit a 52-week low of $20.06 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $20.29. The year-to-date performance of Fusion-io has been a loss of 23.2%.

50) Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL): Shares of Freescale Semiconductor hit a 52-week low of $15.06 in Thursday's trading session. The stock closed at $15.34. The year-to-date performance of Freescale has been a loss of 16.3%.