7 Stocks to Shake the Market

In music, they're called one-hit wonders: singers who belt out tunes but are never able to regain the magic of their big hit song. Think Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" or Brownsville Station's "Smokin' in the Boys Room."

We have seen similar wonders in stocks, too, like Pets.com or drkoop.com. Companies that burst onto the scene -- many during the tech heyday -- never to live up to the promise they held.

Whole lotta shakin' going on
While nostalgia's fun, "Stocks to Shake the Market" isn't about finding stocks that can't repeat their success: It's about looking at those that have made big moves and are likely to continue doing so.

To do that, we're looking at seven stocks that made some of the biggest moves up over the past month. We'll then pair that with the ratings issued by our Motley Fool CAPS community. Those that rate higher suggest that members believe they'll continue to move higher and outperform the market.

In the first 20 months since we began tracking the collective intelligence at CAPS, the data shows that newly minted five-star stocks offer the best opportunities for investors, while the lowest-rated companies fared the worst. Four-star stocks outperformed the market by seven percentage points, and five-star stocks -- tops in CAPS -- did even better.

Source: Motley Fool CAPS. Price change from Nov. 14 to Dec 15.

Note that these are not formal recommendations. So let's see what the CAPS community thinks about a couple of these.

General Growth Properties
General Growth Properties, one of the largest mall operators in the country, got a bit of a reprieve late last week when it was able to refinance about $900 million of its substantial debt load. However, it's still in negotiations to refinance or extend due dates on another $900 million. According to Bloomberg, company spokesmen said that lenders haven't moved to claim it's in default yet and that talks are ongoing. However, with nearly $25 billion in debt at the end of last quarter, it seems as though the company will remain hobbled even if it clears this hurdle.

CAPS member amicidelbosco points out that not only is its debt a sticking point, but General Growth Properties also needs to deal with mall tenants who are reeling from the recession.

This company is in deep trouble. It's like a boxer in the corner with its hands down, defenceless. It may not stand up to the year end.

[General Growth] is caught in a [deteriorating] economic environment with retail sales at a low and probably to decline further. Tenants will default on leases and probably will need rent adjustments to merely survive. This will further erode [General Growth's] income and cash flow prospects which are badly needed at this time.

Despite the huge percentage run-up, the one-star CAPS rating suggests that this company might not be able to make it.

Genworth Financial
Grasping at a lifeline called the TARP fund, Genworth Financial is trying to buy a bank and convert to a savings and loan to get access to the government money. It had significant exposure to the mortgage industry that led to large losses last quarter, but CAPS member JSykora thinks the TARP money will let it reclaim its mantle of respectability.

They announced yesterday information about InterBank in MN. Once it is approved by the Office of Thrift, they can start applying for TARP. Once they get TARP, their financial worries are history ... The person who said that this was spun off to die, obviously didn't take into consideration that baby boomers are always looking for a company with a good name. And those baby boomers are going to need life insurance, if they don't already have it, and retirement advice. Genworth is a respectable name in those areas.

At a higher three-star rating, the community seems a bit more accepting of the company's prospects.

Shake, rattle, and roll
With these companies 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.