Both firms make markets in 400 of the same over-the-counter stocks.

Small over-the-counter stocks continued to gain strength, but most issues leveled off.

There was good breadth in the market, with a lot of money going back into over-the-counter stocks.

A third signal would be heavy speculation in over-the-counter stocks.

Media General said 953 over-the-counter stocks rose, 900 declined and 95 were unchanged.

When such investors get out of the blue chips, these analysts say, it will not be to go into over-the-counter stocks.

The over-the-counter stock traded for less than 1 cent on average in 2012.

The Nasdaq composite index of over-the-counter stocks has gone up about 16 percent.

For one thing, investors aren't always getting the best price, particularly when they buy over-the-counter stocks traded in the Nasdaq system.

Health-care companies also dominated the winners list in over-the-counter stocks.