Thursday, the U.S. Fed launched QE3, resulting in boosts in the global stock markets. The U.S. stocks fell back after shooting up, and the three major indexes closed with gain narrowed. The U.S. August CPI announced this morning was in line with expectations, retail sales topped the consensus estimates in August and business inventories increased 0.8% in July. The consumer confidence index climbed to 79.2 points in September. Amid the good economic data, there were a number of big gainers Friday:
The biggest winner on Friday was Virco Mfg Corporation (VIRC), a manufacturer and distributor of furnitures for a diverse family of customers. The stock skyrocketed 77.73%, or $1.20, to $2.75, with 763,463 shares traded, much more than the average daily volume of 2,287 shares. The strong performance of Virco Mfg Corporation was after the company announced its net income for the second quarter of 2012 doubled from a year ago, regardless of slight year-over-year decline in revenue. But the current VRC stock price is still 28.39% off the 52-week high of $3.84. Virco Mfg Corporation currently has a market cap of $39.61 million.
BioFuel Energy Corp. (BIOF) ushered a big day after soaring over 55% on Thursday. BIOF stock price surged more than 40% in the regular trading on the Nasdaq and continued to rise 1.34% in the after-hours trading. BIOF stock traded on a volume of 3.03 million, far exceeding the daily average of 171,331 shares. Greenlight Capital said the hedge fund manager David Einhorn has increased the stake in the small ethanol company to 36.2%. BioFuel Energy Corp currently has a market cap of $56.04 million.
Furniture Brands International Inc. (FBN), one of the top stocks Friday, soared more than 37% in the regular trading session on the New York Stock Exchange. The home furnishings company announced that Gregory Heller has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice President, Thomasville Retail and Chief Creative Officer. The intraday Volume was 1.42 million shares, much more than the average daily volume of 223,34 shares. Furniture Brands International has a market cap of $88.94 million.
Southcoast Financial Corp. (SOCB) came in on the list of top stocks Friday, with an increase of 19.64% and a volume of 19,948 shares, doubled from the daily average of 9,994 shares, without big news. Southcoast Financial has a market cap of $21.45 million.
Junior energy stocks were strong today, Royale Energy Inc. (ROYL) rose sharply by 19.51% today with 486,810 shares traded, versus the daily average of 95,637 shares. Royale Energy has a market cap of $32.71 million.