10 Stocks Shaking the Market

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.

30-day % change from Nov. 20 to Dec. 21.

As the markets whipsaw along with changes in consumer sentiment, there will be weeks 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
A lot is being made of the 3.6% rise in consumer spending this Christmas holiday, but if you take out the extra shopping day 2009 enjoyed over last year, you get a more anemic 1% increase in sales. Yet delve into those numbers a little deeper, and you're going to come away with the idea that flash memory chipmaker SanDisk may be jingling all the way to the bank.

One of the strongest performances this season was recorded by the consumer electronics sector, which saw a 5.9% increase in sales between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24. It was up 6% from Black Friday on, according to SpendingPulse, a research unit of MasterCard which compiles figures from purchases made on the credit card.

Many consumer electronic devices are powered with flash memory cards. Whether they're e-book readers, MP3 players, or smartphones, they need the type of NAND memory made by SanDisk. The market analysts at DRAMeXchange expect demand for these digital devices to continue growing to such a degree that they're anticipating a shortage of flash memory next year.

With SanDisk's stock having nearly tripled this year, some investors remain cautious that it can go higher, regardless of their otherwise high opinion of the company. CAPS All-Star member UltraLong, with a top player rating of 100, says that despite SanDisk being at the top of the flash memory heap, he's looking for it to cool off some after its torrid rise:

You know, it's always tough to bet against SanDisk because they really are the flash memory king, but the valuation here is simply not merited given the weakness I'm expected in the electronics sector once we get full holiday numbers out. SNDK is trading considerably above consensus price targets (including where I feel it should be valued) and has far less net cash per share than at any time in my recent memory (about $2 per share). 

Let us know on the SanDisk CAPS page whether this chip maker is a flash in the pan. Some 92% of the more than 1,700 members rating the memory maker disagree with that assessment, as they've marked it to outperform the market. Use this opportunity to weigh in with your opinion.

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.