Highs & Lows: Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Smart Balance, and Key …

U.S. stocks are heading into the final hours of the session. Despite the , the Dow is being led northward by banking components Bank of America (BAC and JPMorgan Chase (JPM. Not surprisingly, the number of stocks hitting new highs versus those falling to new lows is relatively even-keeled. At last check, the Nasdaq has 42 stocks reaching fresh peaks, versus 32 sinking to new lows, while the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE shows 32 securities tapping new highs, and 33 stocks finding new bottoms. Among the stocks touching 12-month highs or lows in today’s trading are Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (, Jack in the Box Inc. (, Smart Balance, Inc. (, Key Energy Services, Inc. (, Forest Oil Corporation (, and Pengrowth Energy Corp (.

• Brokerage firms Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( – 66.40 with love. This morning, the stock was upgraded to «equal weight» from «underweight» by Morgan Stanley, giving ONXX a push to its new all-time peak of $66.49 in early morning trading. The equity has been on quite a roll for some time, though, with the shares sitting on an eye-catching 89% year-over-year gain. In fact, the security is well on its way to clocking its first-ever weekly close atop the round-number $60 mark — an area that served as an overhead ceiling in mid-2004, and again in late 2007. In light of ONXX’s technical milestones, the stock could benefit from a round of short-covering activity. Short interest currently accounts for 11.5% of the equity’s available float, and it would take more than a week to cover these shorted shares, at ONXX’s average daily trading volume.

• Also benefiting from a bullish brokerage note today is California’s own Jack in the Box Inc. ( – 26.97. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch boosted the fast-food concern to «buy» from «underperform» this morning, bringing the stock to its loftiest level since June 2009. JACK’s technical might is further highlighted by the 30% it’s added on a year-to-date basis. The equity continues to trade near its new multi-year high of $27.13, suggesting that the $26 mark — which has served as resistance for a number of years — could now emerge as a layer of support. Additional upgrades and/or price-target hikes may be in store. Seven out of 12 covering analysts maintain a «hold» or «sell» suggestion toward the security, while its average 12-month price target of $27.15 is just a hair’s breadth from JACK’s current perch.

• Additionally, Smart Balance, Inc. ( – 9.11 got an assist from a bullish brokerage nod today. The stock climbed to a four-year high of $9.18, after Canaccord Genuity placed a «buy» rating on the equity, and upped its price target by $2 to $10. The plant-based and organic food producer has tacked on a formidable 70. 5% in 2012, with SMBL’s 10-day moving average giving it a solid push up the charts throughout the month of June. Not everyone is convinced that SMBL can sustain its upward momentum. The stock sports a Schaeffer’s put/call open interest ratio (SOIR of 1.29. This ratio ranks in the 62nd percentile of its annual range, suggesting that short-term traders are more put-heavy than usual toward the stock.

• Key Energy Services, Inc. ( – 8.19 fell to a two-year low of $7.72 today. The Texas-based oil issue was hit with a slew of downgrades and price-target cuts this morning, following Wednesday’s downwardly revised second-quarter outlook. The equity has had a dismal showing on the charts, losing 52.2% of its value over the past 52 weeks. Since March, KEG has been ushered quickly down the charts by double-barreled pressure from its 10- and 20-day moving averages. Options players have maintained an optimistic outlook toward the stock, however. Over the last 50 sessions, traders at the International Securities Exchange (ISE, Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE, and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX have bought to open 7.52 calls for every put. Plus, KEG’s SOIR of 0.41 indicates call open interest more than doubles put open interest among options set to expire within the next three months.

• Forest Oil Corporation ( – 6.62 tumbled to $6.22, its lowest level since March 1999. Wall Street initially soured toward the energy concern’s announcement that it will replace exiting CEO H. Craig Clark with board member Patrick R. McDonald, effective immediately. McDonald insists that he will serve in this role strictly on an interim basis. The stock has since pared its early morning losses, and is now cutting into its hefty 52.3% year-to-date deficit. FST’s chart troubles can be viewed from a longer-term perspective, with the equity wallowing beneath its 10-month moving average since May 2011. Today’s reversal could simply be a dead-cat bounce. FST’s Relative Strength Index (RSI of 30 is sitting squarely in oversold territory, suggesting that a short-term bounce may have been in the cards.

• Pengrowth Energy Corp ( – 6. 41 has charted a path to a two-year nadir of $6.40 today, after Raymond James downgraded the oil and natural gas producer to «market perform» from «outperform.» The stock has proven itself as a technical laggard, losing 48% of its value in the last 12 months, and underperforming the SP 500 Index (SPX by 28% during the previous 60 sessions. PGH may be at risk of an additional round of downgrades and/or price-target cuts. Despite the stock’s poor price action, no fewer than 60% of analysts deem the stock a «buy» or «strong buy». Plus, the consensus 12-month price target of $9.82 represents a brazen 53. 4% premium to today’s intraday bottom.

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