Technical Review: HNSN, PBE, BCRX, AMSC

American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BCRX), PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome (PBE), and Hansen Medical, Inc. (HNSN) were rocking and rolling today. Here's what investors need to know, and what they need to understand about their charts.

Things are not looking good for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BCRX) shares at all... at least in the short run. The stock broke under an important support line last week, and followed through with plenty of selling volume on Monday.

Based on the momentum and the size of the gains (read 'potential profit taking') created  between July and August, BCRX may fall to under $4.00 before it's all said and done. That was where BioCryst Pharmaceuticals formed a base before the big jump to a peak above $14.00, and more importantly, where the stock left a big gap behind in July 17th.

Again, the fact that volume has been so strong with this pullback from BioCryst hints that the sellers aren't playing around. 

Don't freak out yet over the 12% plunge we saw from American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) today. It's nothing we haven't seen before, and the move didn't break any major support lines.

And to be clear, horizontal support levels have been an integral part of American Superconductor Corporation's recent history. We saw a range between December and March around $16.00 for AMSC, and then range-esque action around $25 between April and July. Most recently, we've seen the stock trading between support at $30.00 and highs around $35.00.... which is the reason we're not sweating Monday's close of $32.70.

Our only concern is the draw that American Superconductor shares may have towards breaking that support - there's a major gap right below it. If it happens it could get ugly real fast for AMSC. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it though. 


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Normally a 34.8% pop like the one we saw from Hansen Medical, Inc. (HNSN) today would send us well clear of the stock. In this case, however, there may actually be more upside in front of the stock than behind it.

The heart of the bond actually goes back to support around $2.60, which is where HNSN stopped tumbling - for the second time - in July. That support ultimately set up what took shape today as a break above a falling resistance line for Hansen Medical shares.


Volatility is almost a certainty going forward, and HNSN is still a high-risk proposition. However, the bulls struck an interesting blow today, and now the chart's at least worth watching for any follow through. We'll follow up.

First of all yes, technical analysis can successfully be applied to an ETF, and second, since it can.... PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome (PBE) looks like it topped out today.

The concern here is double-barreled. The chart shows the PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome fund is overbought thanks to a massive runup between July and September. That's the vulnerability. The signal of trouble is the shape of today's bar - a 'doji' that occurred after a strong runup from PBE.

A doji bar (one particularly made in high volume like we saw from the Dynamic Biotech & Genome ETF today) frequently indicates that equilibrium has been met.... meaning the number of bulls and the number of bears has finally matched one another. This may also signal that the bulls are done buying - only leaving the bears behind to do their thing.

We've got no target for PBE in mind... just that it's out of gas.

If you'd like to know of any changes in our opinion of AMSC, HNSN, PBE, and BCRX (or if we officially recommend them as trades), be sure to sign up for our free newsletter today. It's delivered 2 to 3 times per week.