Taiwan's stock market has bounced back hard since bottoming out in July, but hundreds of popular stocks have been left behind — good news for bargain hunters, bad news for anyone holding the laggards.

• The index has rallied more than 7,000 points and briefly touched 46,000, yet over a thousand companies are still trading below their quarterly average.
• Yageo and UMC are seen as the better catch-up candidates: both are far below their quarterly average but posted rising margins and profits in the second quarter.
• UMC earned more than NT$4 per share in the first half, and its chart suggests it is building a base as long as recent lows hold.
• Innolux is the weak one — its panel-level packaging story brings in little actual revenue, and a big price gap above it leaves plenty of trapped sellers, so it is only good for small short-term trades.
• Rising food and everyday prices are squeezing households, with retirees and office workers comparison-shopping and trading down on lunch.

Outlook: A fast run to 50,000 before the Mid-Autumn holiday would be a warning sign, since thin trading volume behind such a spike could set up a sharp fourth-quarter correction.