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3 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 listed three stocks that made some of the biggest upward moves over the past month, which we'll pair 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

1 Month  % Change

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Gramercy Capital (NYSE: GKK  ) 90.7% *****
Uranium Resources (Nasdaq: URRE  ) 77% **
TeleCommunications Systems (NYSE: TSYS  ) 68.6% ****

One-month % change from Sept. 10 to Oct. 11.

As the markets whipsaw to changes in changes to second half economic performance, the S&P 500 has been volatile. 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
The decision to purchase up to four million shares of its preferred stock for $15 a stub is apparently all the catalyst Gramercy Capital needed to begin its bullish run. The stock, which had been rather flat throughout the summer, soared on the announcement and hasn't looked back.

Commercial real estate has been trapped in a vicious cycle of burdensome debt, plummeting property values, and sagging rents. There's 1.4 trillion worth of debt coming due in 2014, rents are 12% below their 2008 highs, and vacancy rates continue to climb, albeit at slower rates.

REITs like Resource Capital (NYSE: RSO  ) have been feeling the crunch, but real estate finance company Gramercy has been looking for a way to make the situation profitable, much like Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY  ) has carved a niche out of profiting off the spread between the cost of what it borrows and the interest it earns on its agency-backed investments. Gramercy has its own niche, acquiring and managing commercial properties primarily leased to large national banks, as well as mid-sized and community banks. Its goal is to selectively sell properties to generate a stable stream of earnings while shielding them from taxes as much as possible.

You can capitalize on the show of confidence by letting us know on the Gramercy Capital CAPS page whether you think commercial real estate is poised to pop or set to surrender the gains its made.

A sunny disposition
Although the CAPS Uranium sector has been glowing with better than 15% returns over the past month, fueled by Cameco (NYSE: CCJ  ) and to a lesser extent USEC (NYSE: USU  ) , what's really causing the sector melt up has been the performance of Uranium Resources and Uranium Energy. Both have seen stellar gains in the past month.

In his mid-year letter to shareholders, Uranium Energy's CEO pointed to strong uranium pricing and the Obama administration's support for the industry as signs that things are only going to get better from here. Perhaps more importantly, global demand for uranium also outstrips supply.

Uranium Resources also has a reason to feel good. It cleared a hurdle last month in the legal wrangling over its New Mexico project, a project delayed for more than a decade, which by extension proves the difficulty nuclear projects have in overcoming objections, and it also regained compliance with the Nasdaq exchange to keep it shares listed.

CAPS member yipeokia joins with other CAPS bulls in seeing the potential in Uranium Resources. 89% of those rating the miner believe it will go on to outperform the broad market averages. You can add the uranium specialist to your My Watchlist page and have all the Foolish news and analysis aggregated for you in one place.

A speedy opportunity
Mobile communications technology company TeleCommunication Systems has also been rolling in the good news lately, enjoying the benefit of two new orders from the U.S. Army, which came on top of another military contract. The stock has been beaten down for most of the year and has been working overtime to make up for that.

Earlier this year I noted that TCS is a victim of circumstance. Its revenues are based largely on the beneficence of the government, and contract awards can be lumpy. There was every reason to believe it would be awarded additional contracts in the future -- and the most recent are proof of that. But as I also pointed out, as social networking messaging system Twitter grew, so would TCS since it is the real power behind the service.

CAPS member tobgj says that if you add up the pieces, it's easy to see why TeleCommunication Systems is a good buy:

High value recent contracts good track record attractive industry undervalued stock = buy

To determine whether TCS belongs in your portfolio, and to know how many similar businesses already occupy your stable of investments, be sure to add it into the Fool's free portfolio tracker, My Watchlist.

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
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

Enter your email address below to find out what made Jobs so enraged!

The Fool owns shares of and has written covered calls on Cameco. The Fool owns shares of Annaly Capital Management. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

True to its name, The Motley Fool is made up of a motley assortment of writers and analysts, each with a unique perspective; sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, but we all believe in the power of learning from each other through our Foolish community.

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.


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Related Tickers

5/25/2012 4:02 PM
RSO $5.22 Up +0.02 +0.38%
Resource Capital C… CAPS Rating: ****
URRE $0.73 Up +0.01 +1.33%
Uranium Resources,… CAPS Rating: ***
USU $0.73 Up +0.07 +10.14%
USEC, Inc. CAPS Rating: ****
CCJ $19.17 Down -0.12 -0.62%
Cameco Corp (USA) CAPS Rating: *****
GKK $2.47 Down -0.02 -0.80%
Gramercy Capital C… CAPS Rating: *****
NLY $16.70 Up +0.10 +0.60%
Annaly Capital Man… CAPS Rating: ****

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