Stocks to Watch for Thursday 7/14/2011: 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 Wednesday's trading session (listed from highest total volume to lowest):

1) SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD): Shares of SPDR Gold Shares hit a 52-week high of $154.71 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $154.14. The year-to-date performance of SPDR Gold has been a gain of 11.1%.

2) Midway Gold (NYSE: MDW): Shares of Midway Gold hit a 52-week high of $2.60 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $2.49. The year-to-date performance of Midway Gold has been a gain of 196%.

3) AuRico Gold (NYSE: AUQ): Shares of AuRico Gold hit a 52-week high of $12.49 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $12.41. The year-to-date performance of AuRico has been a gain of 26.7%.

4) EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT): Shares of EQT hit a 52-week high of $55.25 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $55.09. The year-to-date performance of EQT has been a gain of 23.4%.

5) Advance America, Cash Advance Centers (NYSE: AEA): Shares of Advance America hit a 52-week high of $9.14 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $9.08. The year-to-date performance of Advance America, Cash Advance Centers has been a gain of 64.5%.

6) Sprott Physical Gold Trust ETV (NYSE: PHYS): Shares of Sprott hit a 52-week high of $14.09 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $14.06. The year-to-date performance of Sprott has been a gain of 13.8%.

7) Globe Specialty Metals (NASDAQ: GSM): Shares of Globe Specialty hit a 52-week high of $25.67 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $24.90. The year-to-date performance of Globe Specialty Metals has been a gain of 45.7%.

8) Miller Energy Resources (NYSE: MILL): Shares of Miller Energy hit a 52-week high of $7.95 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $7.87. The year-to-date performance of Miller Energy has been a gain of 51.3%.

9) Fossil (NASDAQ: FOSL): Shares of Fossil hit a 52-week high of $129.82 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $128.58. The year-to-date performance of Fossil has been a gain of 82.4%.

10) ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: IMGN): Shares of ImmunoGen hit a 52-week high of $15.15 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $15.05. The year-to-date performance of ImmunoGen has been a gain of 62.5%.

11) Celsion (NASDAQ: CLSN): Shares of Celsion hit a 52-week high of $3.97 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $3.93. The year-to-date performance of Celsion has been a gain of 91.7%.

12) Shire (NASDAQ: SHPGY): Shares of Shire hit a 52-week high of $99.39 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $99.12. The year-to-date performance of Shire has been a gain of 37.5%.

13) Ruth's Hospitality Group (NASDAQ: RUTH): Shares of Ruth's Hospitality hit a 52-week high of $7.09 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $6.98. The year-to-date performance of Ruth's has been a gain of 50.7%.

14) Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD): Shares of Royal Gold hit a 52-week high of $65.05 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $63.50. The year-to-date performance of Royal Gold has been a gain of 16.9%.

15) Velti (NASDAQ: VELT): Shares of Velti hit a 52-week high of $20.00 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $19.51. The year-to-date performance of Velti has been a gain of 143%.

16) Akorn (NASDAQ: AKRX): Shares of Akorn hit a 52-week high of $7.47 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $7.44. The year-to-date performance of Akorn has been a gain of 22.6%.

17) Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI): Shares of Bridgepoint hit a 52-week high of $28.27 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $28.05. The year-to-date performance of Bridgepoint has been a gain of 47.6%.

18) BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: BMRN): Shares of BioMarin hit a 52-week high of $29.34 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $29.25. The year-to-date performance of BioMarin has been a gain of 8.6%.

19) Open Text (NASDAQ: OTEX): Shares of Open Text hit a 52-week high of $69.67 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $69.22. The year-to-date performance of Open Text has been a gain of 50.3%.

20) Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE: CHT): Shares of Chunghwa hit a 52-week high of $36.16 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $36.06. The year-to-date performance of Chunghwa has been a gain of 42.7%.

21) Material Sciences (NASDAQ: MASC): Shares of Material Sciences hit a 52-week high of $8.77 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $8.46. The year-to-date performance of Material Sciences has been a gain of 32%.

22) WGL Holdings (NYSE: WGL): Shares of WGL hit a 52-week high of $40.41 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $40.03. The year-to-date performance of WGL has been a gain of 15.4%.

23) Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT): Shares of Liquidity Services hit a 52-week high of $26.45 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $25.80. The year-to-date performance of Liquidity Services has been a gain of 83.6%.

24) KiOR (NASDAQ: KIOR): Shares of KiOR hit a 52-week high of $15.76 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $15.69. The year-to-date performance of KiOR has been a gain of 4.6%.

25) BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ: BJRI): Shares of BJ's hit a 52-week high of $55.67 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $55.51. The year-to-date performance of BJ's has been a gain of 56.7%.

26) Oritani Financial (NASDAQ: ORIT): Shares of Oritani hit a 52-week high of $13.20 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $13.13. The year-to-date performance of Oritani has been a gain of 8.1%.

27) Imperial Sugar (NASDAQ: IPSU): Shares of Imperial Sugar hit a 52-week high of $23.87 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $23.47. The year-to-date performance of Imperial Sugar has been a gain of 76.1%.

28) Clean Harbors (NYSE: CLH): Shares of Clean Harbors hit a 52-week high of $111.47 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $110.48. The year-to-date performance of Clean Harbors has been a gain of 31.4%.

29) Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD): Shares of Lithia Motors hit a 52-week high of $21.22 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $20.89. The year-to-date performance of Lithia has been a gain of 47.3%.

30) Hi-Tech Pharmacal (NASDAQ: HITK): Shares of Hi-Tech Pharmacal hit a 52-week high of $32.61 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $32.32. The year-to-date performance of Hi-Tech has been a gain of 29.5%.

31) Agilysys (NASDAQ: AGYS): Shares of Agilysys hit a 52-week high of $9.44 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $9.39. The year-to-date performance of Agilysys has been a gain of 66.8%.

32) AmTrust Financial Services (NASDAQ: AFSI): Shares of AmTrust hit a 52-week high of $23.98 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $23.95. The year-to-date performance of AmTrust has been a gain of 37.9%.

33) ONEOK Partners (NYSE: OKS): Shares of ONEOK Partners hit a 52-week high of $43.95 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $43.12. The year-to-date performance of ONEOK has been a gain of 9.9%.

34) Magellan Health Services (NASDAQ: MGLN): Shares of Magellan Health hit a 52-week high of $56.25 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $55.92. The year-to-date performance of Magellan Health has been a gain of 18.3%.

35) Orthofix International N.V. (NASDAQ: OFIX): Shares of Orthofix hit a 52-week high of $43.93 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $43.63. The year-to-date performance of Orthofix has been a gain of 50.4%.

36) Myers Industries (NYSE: MYE): Shares of Myers hit a 52-week high of $11.91 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $11.77. The year-to-date performance of Myers has been a gain of 22.6%.

37) Intersections (NASDAQ: INTX): Shares of Intersections hit a 52-week high of $22.80 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $22.28. The year-to-date performance of Intersections has been a gain of 118.2%.

The following stocks hit new 52-week lows in Wednesday's trading session (listed from highest total volume to lowest):

1) Nokia (NYSE: NOK): Shares of Nokia hit a 52-week low of $5.63 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $5.67. The year-to-date performance of Nokia has been a loss of 41.7%.

2) Investment Technology Group (NYSE: ITG): Shares of Investment Technology hit a 52-week low of $11.22 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $11.78. The year-to-date performance of Investment Technology has been a loss of 28%.

3) Transcept Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TSPT): Shares of Transcept hit a 52-week low of $4.89 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $4.94. The year-to-date performance of Transcept has been a loss of 33%.

4) Shaw Group (NYSE: SHAW): Shares of Shaw hit a 52-week low of $26.57 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $26.61. The year-to-date performance of Shaw Group has been a loss of 22.3%.

5) Vanceinfo Technologies (NYSE: VIT): Shares of Vanceinfo hit a 52-week low of $17.75 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $18.04. The year-to-date performance of Vanceinfo has been a loss of 47.7%.

6) Cogo Group (NASDAQ: COGO): Shares of Cogo hit a 52-week low of $4.64 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $4.68. The year-to-date performance of Cogo has been a loss of 47.1%.

7) Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC): Shares of Corporate Office hit a 52-week low of $30.26 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $30.28. The year-to-date performance of Corporate Office Properties Trust has been a loss of 11.1%.

8) Baltic Trading (NYSE: BALT): Shares of Baltic Trading hit a 52-week low of $4.99 in Wednesday's trading session. The stock closed at $5.08. The year-to-date performance of Baltic has been a loss of 95.6%.