Investors Checking Into Hotels, IT, And Ethanol

Some of today's market highlights (after hours): Here's a summary of some of today's notable action:

1. Information Technology (IT). Three players in this space broke out to new highs: Fleetcor (FLT, $142) shares roared out of a two month consolidation pattern, gaining nearly 10% on five times normal volume on news that the company had acquired Comdata. Not sure where analysts are targeting the new combined price but technically it could easily move to the $155-$160 range. The other two stocks are our old buddy Xerox (XRX, $13.6; technical target of $20) and WEX (WEX, $113).

2. Hotels/Hospitality. Shares in both La Quinta Holdings (LQ, $19.7) and Marriott Vacations Worldwide (VAC, $59.9) surged to all-time highs on heavy volume. If growth in the US is expected to slow, one certainly wouldn't expect investors to buy into IT or hotel stocks...just sayin'.

3. Ethanol producers. Although ethanol producers have enjoyed a hefty run-up, shares of bothPacific Ethanol (PEIX, $20) and Rex American (REX, $96) continue to notch new highs. Despite the fact that shares in Rex have more than quintupled in less than two years, the stock's fundamental metrics (compared with its industry averages) justify the valuation and then some.