4 Big Stocks to Trade (or Not)

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Put down the 10-K filings and the stock screeners. It's time to take a break from the traditional methods of generating investment ideas. Instead, let the crowd do it for you.

>>5 Rocket Stocks Worth Buying This Week

From hedge funds to individual investors, scores of market participants are turning to social media to figure out which stocks are worth watching. It's a concept that's known as "crowdsourcing," and it uses the masses to identify emerging trends in the market.

Crowdsourcing has long been a popular tool for the advertising industry, but it also makes a lot of sense as an investment tool. After all, the market is completely driven by the supply and demand, so it can be valuable to see what names are trending among the crowd.

While some fund managers are already trying to leverage social media resources like Twitter to find algorithmic trading opportunities, for most investors, crowdsourcing works best as a starting point for investors who want a starting point in their analysis. Today, we'll leverage the power of the crowd to take a look at some of the most active stocks on the market today.

>>5 Stocks Poised for Breakouts

These "most active" names are the most heavily-traded names on the market -- and often, uber-active names have some sort of a technical or fundamental catalyst driving investors' attention on shares. That's especially true now that earnings season is officially underway. And when there's a big catalyst, there's often a trading opportunity.

Without further ado, here's a look at today's stocks.

Cisco Systems

Nearest Resistance: $22.75

Nearest Support: $21.50

Catalyst: Technical Setup

Cisco Systems (CSCO) is bouncing this afternoon, following Friday's breakdown through an important technical level at $21.50. Today's rebound is giving buyers a second chance to assert themselves before shares move lower. From here, the downside target comes in at $20.25.

Keep a close eye on where CSCO closes this afternoon.

Synovus Financial

Nearest Resistance: $3.55

Nearest Support: $3.20

Catalyst: Technical Setup

Shares of mid-cap financial firm Synovus Financial (SNV) are trading on big volume this afternoon as buyers and sellers battle it out over where this stock should sit following tomorrow's ex-dividend date.

Despite the fight buyers are putting up, sellers have been on the right side of SNV's price action more recently. This stock has putting in a textbook rounding top pattern, and support at $3.20 looks like a solid downside target at this point. Unless buyers can assert themselves into catching a bid above $3.55 resistance, it doesn't make sense to go jump in here.

EMC

Nearest Resistance: N/A

Nearest Support: $26.50

Catalyst: Technical Setup

Computer storage stock EMC (EMC) has been turning out some solid performance in 2014, up more than 9% since the calendar flipped over to January. Now, with a bullish technical setup pushing EMC to new highs on big volume this afternoon, buyers are getting another high-probability opportunity to harness the momentum in this stock.

Making new highs is significant from an investor psychology standpoint because it means that everyone who has bought shares in the last year is sitting on gains. As a result, the "back to even" mentality is less of a concern than it would be for a name with a higher proportion of shareholders sitting on losses. If you decide to be a buyer here, I'd recommend keeping a stop under support at $26.50.

Kandi Technologies Group

Nearest Resistance: N/A

Nearest Support: $17

Catalyst: Earnings

Chinese electric car company Kandi Technologies Group (KNDI) is breaking out to new highs today, after posting better-than-expected earnings. Kandi's sales doubled last quarter, buoyed by increasing demand for low-cost electric vehicles in China. The market reaction shoved KNDI to new highs, following this stock's fourth bounce off of trendline support since December.

KNDI's trading within a well-formed uptrend gives traders a high-probability range for shares to remain within. And despite the 22.75% rally in today's session, shares are only midway through the channel as I write. That leaves a lot of upside room before buyers get fatigued.

Traders who aren't risk-averse should consider jumping in here, just keep a tight stop in place.

To see these stocks in action, check out the at Most-Active Stocks portfolio on Stockpickr.



-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

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At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji