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 a list of 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.

As the markets whipsaw along with changes in consumer sentiment, there will be weeks like this one, during which 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
During a month when the markets dropped almost 6% (briefly dipping below the 10,000 level) and global markets were rocked as well, the fact that we see a number of exchange-traded funds excelling as a result of such events is not surprising.

Yet trying to profit from these leveraged funds is difficult, if not dangerous to your financial health. When the index moves 10% in one direction or the other, a fund like Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bear 3X Shares looks to triple that. These ETFs don't bet on the underlying stocks as the index does. Instead, they use a complex system of financial instruments such as swaps and futures to achieve the negative return. These are a day trader’s dream, and even Direxion says investors shouldn't hold these funds for more than a day.

Not that an investment in Pacific Ethanol would be much better. This troubled ethanol producer has had several subsidiaries operating under bankruptcy protection, and it was only the announcement that it was restarting one of its plants and hiring a few dozen employees that caused the stock to triple in value. It's since given back a quarter of the value it generated at its peak.

However, even with 44% of the CAPS members who rated the stock believing it will continue to underperform the market, some members like skyjock7 think Pacific Ethanol will rise for no other reason than necessity. skyjock7 writes:

After all of the special interest chaff that has been thrown up, the ethanol industry is about to explode, not through popularity, but through necessity...PEIX is well positioned to exploit this explosion.

A good value
Home-furnishings discounter Tuesday Morning has been on the mend since the end of November as Black Friday sales helped retailers start the Christmas shopping season. But the closeout specialist went higher last month as it reported sharply higher earnings. The value proposition of its off-price offerings struck a chord with consumers looking to get the best deal, and it reported that same-store sales were more than 5% higher.

Highly rated All-Star CAPS member udflyerz thinks it's not only Tuesday Morning's products that are cheap:

same store sales rising again. Debt reduced. if they follow similar improvements made by Kirkland's the last 2 yrs, this is cheap by almost any measurement.

udflyerz is not alone, as 84% of CAPS members rating the home-furnishings chain mark it to outperform the broad market averages. Mark down your own thoughts on the Tuesday Morning CAPS page and tell us if you think it will grow with interest.

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.