3 Huge Tech Stocks Grabbing Headlines -- and How to Trade Them

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.

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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.

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

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Alibaba

Nearest Resistance: $99

Nearest Support: $90

Catalyst: IPO

It's impossible to talk about high-volume stocks today without talking about Alibaba (BABA). The Chinese marketplace has traded more than 170 million shares as of this writing, in one of the most hotly-anticipated IPOs of recent years. But that excitement has been fading over the course of today's session, after BABA hit its head on resistance up at $99 and then reversed lower. Shares have been fading as Friday's session has progressed. While it's still far to early to see where BABA will settle from here, the fade is indicative of what's going on elsewhere in stocks; momentum names are lagging hard this afternoon.

For buyers looking for a chance to build a position in Alibaba, I'd recommend waiting for shares to establish some semblance of a trading history before jumping in.

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Yahoo!

Nearest Resistance: $41

Nearest Support: $37

Catalyst: Alibaba IPO

While Alibaba's intraday weakness is masked somewhat by the big gap higher from when shares began trading in the secondary market, Yahoo! (YHOO) is bearing the full brunt of the weak trading this afternoon. Shares of the $40 billion Web giant are down more than 4% in this afternoon's trading, dragged down by YHOO's huge stake in Alibaba.

While the price reaction in Yahoo! is likely overblown, shares are testing a breakdown through important support at $41 today. If shares confirm their violation of that $41 price tag, then I'd expect this stock to see a test of the next-lowest support level at $37.

For more on Yahoo! and Alibaba, check out "Tax Treatment of Alibaba Stake Sale Key for Yahoo! Analysts Say."

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Oracle

Top 5 Information Technology Companies To Own For 2015

Nearest Resistance: $43

Nearest Support: $40

Catalyst: Larry Ellison Resignation

Oracle (ORCL) dropped a bomb on investors at the end of its earnings call yesterday, when the enterprise software giant announced founder Larry Ellison's resignation as CEO. While Ellison will stay at the firm as Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, the change-up is scaring investors as Mark Hurd and Safra Catz step up to share the CEO seat. That's a unique arrangement, and it's one that has the potential to obfuscate Oracle's goals – Wall Street will need to see the pair establish a track record before it gets comfortable with the arrangement.

Technically speaking, ORCL fell to key support at $40 this morning on the news, and shares are testing their ability to hold that price level here. If they do, that's great for shareholders – if not, then Oracle unlocks a downtrend that could send shares materially lower. In other words, it's make-or-break time for Oracle's chart, and shareholders should keep a close eye on things in the next couple of sessions.

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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 the names 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