The Nasdaq notched an 18-month high, thanks to some high-profile issues like Research In Motion (RIMM), which gapped up and rallied 6% on an upgrade. Baidu (BIDU) rose nearly 3% to a record high.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) climbed 4% to a 21-month high. According to its Web site, the networking giant will make a major announcement Tuesday morning that will "forever change the Internet and its impact on consumers, business and governments."

Telestone Technologies (TSTC) gapped above its 50-day moving average and rose 11% in heavy trading. The stock is trading in a cup-with-handle base that has several flaws. First, the stock corrected nearly 50% from its January peak. Second, Telestone's handle corrected more than 27% and included some big-volume sessions. Ideally, a handle should pull back no more than 10% to 15% in subdued trade. And its base is V-shaped.

China Agritech (CAGC) jumped more than 10% to a record high. [Read the full article]

One cause has been oil prices, which have risen 18% to more than $81 a barrel, from a Feb. 5 low that coincided with the stock market's bottom.

The increase easily outpaced the Nasdaq's 11% gain during the same period. It put oil back to near the high end of a price range in which it has traded since October.

Both oil and natural gas markets remain awash in supply. But anticipation of a recovery in demand has held most oil and gas within the top 50 rankings since January.

Demand for gasoline rose sharply over the past two weeks, according to Energy Information Administration data. But the gain was simply a rebound, said Jeff Mower, editor in chief of Platt's Oilgram Price Report, after a dent caused by the month's heavy storms along the East Coast.

Still, the price of gasoline firmed in tandem with the bounce in oil demand. Crude prices helped gasoline climb, Mower said. So did optimism about the economy. Another factor: Investors moved into the gasoline market. [Read the full article]

Here's the situation: Even those with jobs are reluctant to buy homes. Still-costly properties , the lure of lower-priced rents or simply not being tied to a 30-year obligation are keeping many from buying a home. That's good news if you rent out apartments, as does UDR (UDR), a real estate investment trust.

UDR owns about 46,000 apartment homes in what CFO David Messenger describes as areas with relatively steady job supply and high barriers for homebuying.

Over the past three years, he tells IBD, the company's comparable operating results were at or near the top among its peers. The reason? It knows how to use technology.

The company has a heavy focus on 25- to 35-year-olds, also known as echo boomers. These consumers aren't checking newspaper ads to find apartments, and UDR says it's a leader in the field for making its properties visible on a wide range of mobile devices. [Read the full article]