A point I have made ad nauseam this week is that I don't put a lot of emphasis on the technical action during these light periods. However, I do recognize that where stocks close this week is where they will start next week. In other words, there can be an influence. The question is whether the crowd then buys into the move or wants to run counter to it. With that debated in mind, check out DryShips Inc (DRYS).

This one-time highflier was hit hard this year. As the chart to the right shows, the shares traded above 100 as recently as May. Some of the most aggressive selling began in mid-September when the stock was more than halved in just a few weeks.

However, it is the shorter-term action that caught my eye here. The stock is up 15% today and the intraday chart below shows the shares have been consolidating after a strong run earlier this month.

As mentioned above, I am putting less emphasis on moves here but there is an interesting factor to consider. This is a heavily shorted stock. According to data collected by our Quantified Analysis group, 27% of the stock's float is sold short. What I am wondering is how the action this month might be interpreted as we head into next week. The shares are up over 140% in the last 4 weeks and December is on pace to be the first positive month since May. That might be enough to spur some covering.

Charts Courtesy of Thomson Financial