THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Posts Comeback, Rises On Light Trade.(B)

Byline: JONAH KERI

Shrugging off early struggles, the Nasdaq surged to positive territory Monday on light trade. The tech-stuffed index added 0.9%. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.8%, buoyed by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which rose 2.5%.

Direct Focus followed through on Thursday's breakout, rising 1.34 to 39.39. Volume swelled more than twofold.

U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray confirmed its strong buy rating on the maker of Bowflex, StairMaster and other exercise equipment, saying it expects another strong quarter. Analysts expect first-quarter profit of 54 cents a share, a 32% year-over-year increase.

Direct Focus gets an A+ diagnosis from Stock Checkup at IBD's Web site, investors.com. It leads the 38 stocks in its group in technical, fundamental, attractiveness and overall rankings.

Verisity's follow-through didn't go as smoothly. The maker of software used to design integrated circuits zoomed as high as 24.85 before closing up just 0.48 at 22.91 on more than four times its normal trade. It's now 8.6% above its pivot point of 21.09.

Chattem grew 1.63 to 25.06 on four times typical ...