Illumina and Other Technology Stocks Making Big Moves on December 20, 2012

The Nasdaq is trading down 0.4%, the S&P 500 remains relatively unchanged and the Dow is down 0.1% so far today. The technology sector is a category of stocks relating to the research, development and/or distribution of technologically based goods and services. This sector contains businesses revolving around the manufacturing of electronics, creation of software, computers or products and services relating to information technology. The technology sector offers a wide arrange of products and services for both customers and other businesses. Consumer goods like personal computers, stereos and televisions are continually improved and upgraded, offering the latest technology to all users. Businesses receive information and services from software and database systems, which allow the companies to make strategic business decisions.

On a quiet day for the market overall so far, the Technology sector (XLK) has slipped 0.3% and its biggest movers are currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Eloqua (Nasdaq:ELOQ)	$617.5 million	+31%
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (Nasdaq:MDRX)	$1.83 billion	-15.6%
Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL)	$3.82 billion	+8.5%
Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN)	$6.44 billion	+6.9%
Mellanox (Nasdaq:MLNX)	$2.68 billion	-6.3%
HomeAway (Nasdaq:AWAY)	$1.79 billion	+5.9%
EZchip (Nasdaq:EZCH)	$994.8 million	-5.5%

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Eloqua (Nasdaq:ELOQ) has soared 31% to reach a current price of $23.47 per share. So far today, 3.3 million shares have changed hands.

Taking a 15.6% hit, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (Nasdaq:MDRX) is currently trading at $9.02 per share. With 23.8 million shares changing hands so far today, the company's volume is 10 times the average volume over the last three months.

Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL) is up 8.5% to reach a current price of $20.15 per share. The company is trading at a volume of 6.1 million shares. Yesterday, volume was only 4.9 million shares.

Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN) has moved up 6.9% and is currently trading at $55.76 per share. The company's volume is currently 5.6 million shares for the day, five times the average daily volume.

Mellanox (Nasdaq:MLNX) is down 6.3% to reach $59.40 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 970,776 shares.

HomeAway (Nasdaq:AWAY) has risen 5.9% to hit a current price of $22.83 per share. At 559,793 shares, the company's volume so far today is 1.1 times its average over the past three months.

EZchip (Nasdaq:EZCH) is currently trading at a share price of $33.49, a 5.5% decline. The company's volume is currently 353,670 shares. This is greater than yesterday's volume of 284,056 shares.

The Bottom Line No matter the economic climate, Wall Street will always have stocks that make major moves each week. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. Keep in mind that all these ratios should be compared against historical numbers and industry information in order to get a more complete picture.