5 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 gains.

Today, we've listed five stocks that made some of the biggest moves up over the past 30 days, and we'll pair them 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 Feb. 19 to March 22.

As the markets whipsaw to changes in consumer sentiment, there will be weeks like this one when we see gains that are exceptionally ahead of the pace of the movers and shakers of previous weeks. Let's see why the CAPS community thinks some of these companies might continue to outperform the market.

A mighty temblor
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That seems to be the spirit behind Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, which overcame two rejections of its insomnia drug Silenor to finally win Food and Drug Administration approval. Now the goal is to begin marketing the sleep aid, and already Somaxon has plans to sell 4 million shares to help finance the effort.

Management has to stay on its toes. According to IMS Health, insomnia was a $2 billion market in 2009, and Silenor will be going up against Ambien from sanofi-aventis (NYSE: SNY) and King Pharmaceuticals' Sonata. The various formulations of Ambien generated $806 million for Sanofi last year, while Sonata sales fell to $4 million from $31 million the previous year (and down from almost $79 million the year before that) because of generics entering the market.

As CAPS member drmanand notes, there's plenty of room for Somaxon to steal share from the major players.

It has lot of potential .There is very big market for sleeping pills. There is potential for big pharma to take over this company.

Still feeling the aftershocks
It was only last December when Zale looked like it was faltering, but a management shakeup and a surprising second-quarter profit breathed new life into the jewelry retailer.

Yet one of Zale's largest shareholders has dumped almost all of its stock, perhaps believing that all those gains came from sources that had little to do with its operations. The company earned $12 million in its second quarter from a tax benefit and cut $40 million by closing stores and cutting administrative expenses. Same-store sales were still down 11%, and management is asking its vendors to buy back their merchandise for cash in exchange for future orders. Not exactly a diamond in the rough here, as Zale even makes Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) look like a better buy in comparison.

CAPS member uclayoda87 says the pop in the stock is a good opportunity to bet against Zale because it's unlikely to repeat its profitable performance.

The rapid short-term rise in this stock has given its investors some hope, but long-term profits may be difficult to achieve when real unemployment continues to rise.

I'm inclined to agree, and have marked Zale to underperform the market. Head over to the Zale CAPS page and let us know what you think.

Nerves of steel
Being a regional banker in Florida is no doubt difficult these days, even if, like BankAtlantic Bancorp, you never engaged in risky subprime mortgages. Yet the real estate implosion in the state has led to a big drop in the stock, so the company had a 1-for-5 reverse split two years ago to maintain its stock price. Even after its recent run up, BankAtlantic's stock barely treads water, making the company fodder for rumors about possible takeovers.

Indeed, regional banks in general are looking like buyout candidates these days, and that is said to be behind the rise in shares of BankAtlantic, Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV), and Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB).

Maybe that's why CAPS members ever so slightly lean in favor of BankAtlantic outperforming the market. Just over 51% of those rating the regional bank see it beating the broader averages; add your thoughts on the BankAtlantic Bancorp CAPS page.

Shake, rattle, and roll
With these stocks shaking the market recently, it pays to start your 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.