10 Stocks Shaking the Market

By Rich Duprey | More Articles
September 10, 2009 | Comments (4)

Some stocks are one-hit wonders, making a big splash when they first appear, then quickly fizzling into obscurity or oblivion. But for other stocks, that initial big move is only a preview for even bigger and better gains to come.

Today, we've compiled 10 stocks that made some of the biggest upward moves over the past month. We'll then pair that list with the ratings issued by our Motley Fool CAPS community. The higher each stock's rating, the greater CAPS members' faith in that company's ability to keep on beating the market.

Stock	30-Day Change^	CAPS Rating (out of 5)
Helicos BioSciences (Nasdaq: HLCS )	297.22%	**
Sinovac Biotech	107.48%	****
ATP Oil & Gas (Nasdaq: ATPG )	79.17%	*****
Kodiak Oil (NYSE: KOG )	79.00%	***
American Axle & Manufacturing	78.24%	*
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia	72.26%	*
Popular (Nasdaq: BPOP )	70.45%	***
Empire Resorts (Nasdaq: NYNY )	68.88%	*
Fannie Mae	66.00%	*
Delta Petroleum (Nasdaq: DPTR )	57.81%	****

^Aug. 10 to Sept. 9.

As the markets whipsaw in reaction to changes in consumer sentiment, there will be weeks like this one, where we see gains that are exceptionally ahead of the pace of the movers and shakers of prior weeks. So before we get shaken out again, let's see why the CAPS community thinks some of these companies might continue to outperform the market.

A mighty temblor
It's easy to see why a tiny life sciences company like Helicos BioSciences would surge north on news it's making some sales. The genetic analysis equipment maker managed to score only $2 million in revenue over the past year, but the number of instrument installations doubled during the second quarter, and it just got its first multisystems sale the other day. It's also engaging an investment bank to explore what options it has, all big doings for a small company, and we can expect to hear more from them soon.

More curious might be the jump Empire Resorts took. Sure, the company secured $55 million in financing from an investment company, but that just serves to underscore the dire financial position it’s in.

Don't get me wrong -- that cash infusion, coming in two installments as it does, puts off the day of reckoning. But it also dilutes current shareholders and gives up a large voting bloc to Malaysian investor Kien Huat Realty III. Even CAPS member shakerlxxv understands that "the financials are not there to justify the performance."

Empire is under pressure from nearby Yonkers Raceway, which also operates a racino -- that's slot machines and horse racing under one roof -- and from the casinos operating next door in Pennsylvania. Las Vegas Sands' (NYSE: LVS ) refurbished steel-mill casino is less than a two-hour ride away, closer than Connecticut's Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods resorts.

Shareholders might have gotten the chance to bet another day, but it looks to me like the odds are stacked against them.

The Bakken is rockin’
E&P special Kodiak Oil & Gas reported some positive news out of its Bakken shale wells, with longer-term production volumes showing promising results.

Highly rated CAPS All-Star member EriKarju is a believer in the Bakken shale plays, and though risky, he finds Kodiak "very cheap":

There are some signs that Bakken legends are at least partially true. Kodiak is actually producing both oil and gas. What is worrisome is that the company managed to produce it at a loss, actually recording a crummier first 6 months for 2008 than the corresponding 6 months of 2007. This during record oil prices. This feat was caused by 50 % drop in oil production and, according to Kodiak, were due to workover operations on producing wells. When completed the operations should result in increased production from the said wells. Basically, you can blame management for bad timing on upgrade work, not for total incompetence.

Got a different opinion on the Bakken, Marcellus, or Haynesville fields? Give your opinion in the comments box below.

Shake, rattle, and roll
With these stocks shaking the market this past month, it pays to start your own research on them at Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page.

The Steve Jobs Betrayal
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Fool contributor Rich Duprey does not have a financial position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. You can see his holdings here. You can shake, rattle, and roll The Motley Fool's disclosure policy, but it still won't break.

Read/Post Comments (4) | Recommend This Article (19)

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On September 10, 2009, at 4:50 PM, richardk33 wrote:

How can you consider sayin something positive about LVS when you have told people its a "Clunker" as quoted two days ago by MF and have been telling to people to sell the trash stock since its been $2.00 and now is up 1100%, You people are pathetic, why don't you keep telling people how you picked Walmart 20 years ago and its up 435% Fine I picked LVS 4 months and I'm up 1100% and you keep saying its garbage, You and Cramer need to shut down for trying to get people to sell their stocks so your analysts can make money on their shorts, You should sell your garbage books at roadside stands out on the highways to morons passing by that know zero about stock investing, anyone with a sense and a brain knows your information is trash
Report this Comment On September 10, 2009, at 8:08 PM, rocknroll4 wrote:

Ditto on LVS...the man on top knows what he is doing.Go Sands!
Report this Comment On September 11, 2009, at 10:31 AM, TMFCop wrote:

richardk33,
Contrary to what you think, "us people" aren't some monolithic bloc that walks lockstep to s single drummer. Each article has a byline by a different writer so one opinion might very well differ from another.
What would you prefer, analysis that only spouted one viewpoint regardless of what the writer actually believed, or independent thinking that provides investors with the widest possible viewpoints -- both good and bad -- so they can make up their own minds with as much information as possible available to them?
While it looks like you'd prefer the former since you're all upset that I didn't trash LVS as other analysts may have done in the past, I really think you'd want the latter.
And as for your ludicrous claim that we're trying to drive stocks down because we short them, check out each and every article that's published on the Fool's website: they all end with a disclosure statement telling of a writer's financial position in a stock. Moreover, Foolish trading guidelines prohibit the writer from trading in a stock for 10 days before and after an article is published.
The Fool takes its disclosure policy very seriously and a writer's not going to ruin his reputation or his position with the Motley Fool (as I said they're very serious about this) for a few measly points on a stock.
It's great that you've apparently made a ton of money on LVS shares while some people have had a bearish stance. But I'd caution against being so emotionally attached to any stock in your portfolio that the mere mention of a bearish sentiment sends you off on a frothy tirade.
Ultimately that will work to your disadvantage. The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors. Sometimes you'll agree with our position, other times you won't, but you should really dispense with the silly notion that anyone with a different opinion from yours is in league with some nefarious hedge fund plot to take down your company.
It's just not true and claiming otherwise diminishes whatever other points you may want to make.
Rich
Report this Comment On September 11, 2009, at 11:28 AM, bigwahoo1 wrote:

The Bakken field is brand new. BEXP up 200% since July 15. CLR looks like it's going to blow through the roof. ATPG is another energy stock flying high. Energy is the deal.

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