A Strip View of Biotech from the Aria Sky Suite

After earnings, shares of mid-cap biotechnology firm Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. are trading higher by nearly 10% as I write this.

ARIA was a name we looked at a few weeks back as having a better relative chart than most other biotechs, which are still licking their wounds and trying to salvage some type of identifiable base bottom after quarters on end of, net-net, more selling than buying pressure. 

If biotech is to stage a secondary rally, say, up to the IBB and XBI 200-day moving averages, respectively, then I suspect ARIA will be a mid-cap leader, given the surges in buy volume and price back above all moving averages seen on the daily chart, below. 

IBB above $272 and XBI back over $54.70 would be a step in the right direction for the sector at-large, after those two ETFs lost their prior breakout levels last week. If bulls cannot recapture those levels, then the ARIA strength will start looking like an outlier for a sector which may still be under distribution. 

Other individual biotechs to observe for possible ARIA catch-up plays: BLUE EXAS ONCE OVAS JUNO.