Technology Stocks, Including Baidu, Making Big Moves on December 4, 2012

The Nasdaq has decreased 0.5%, the S&P 500 has declined 0.3% and the Dow remains relatively unchanged after the morning's trading. 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 0.6% and its biggest movers are currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq:IACI)	$4.17 billion	-8.4%
Syntel (Nasdaq:SYNT)	$2.52 billion	-8.3%
SINA Corporation (Nasdaq:SINA)	$3.02 billion	-6.3%
Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU)	$33.51 billion	-5.8%
Mellanox (Nasdaq:MLNX)	$2.93 billion	-5.4%
Stratasys (Nasdaq:SSYS)	$1.53 billion	-4.2%
American Science & Engineering (Nasdaq:ASEI)	$527.9 million	+2.1%

Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage

At $43.21, IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq:IACI) has slipped 8.4%. The company is currently trading a volume of 2.1 million shares.

After a decline of 8.3%, Syntel (Nasdaq:SYNT) has hit a share price of $55.23. So far today, the company's volume is 150,149 shares, 2.4 times its current three-month average.

Slipping 6.3%, SINA Corporation (Nasdaq:SINA) is currently trading at $42.60 per share. The company's volume is currently 4.2 million shares. Yesterday, volume was only 1.8 million shares.

Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU) is down 5.8% to reach $90.30 per share. At six million shares, the company's volume so far today is 1.3 times the average daily volume.

Mellanox (Nasdaq:MLNX) has fallen 5.4% and is currently trading at $65.50 per share. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 762,481 shares.

Falling 4.2%, Stratasys (Nasdaq:SSYS) is currently at a share price of $67.14. The company's volume for the day so far is 1.7 million shares, two times its average over the past three months.

Rising 2.1%, American Science & Engineering (Nasdaq:ASEI) is currently trading at $64.95 per share. So far today, 10,486 shares of the company's stock have changed hands. This is on pace to fall short of yesterday's volume of 39,890 shares.

The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. Tools like valuation ratios and profit margins, however, are only as useful as the context you put them in; remember to take historical data and competitor performance into account.