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.

1 Month % change from Nov. 17 to Dec. 17.

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
It doesn't seems to be a catalyst worthy of setting in motion the sharp rise in its stock price, but Adeona Pharmaceuticals has been climbing steadily ever since it acquired access to clinical data supporting a zinc-based therapy for the prevention of infections in the elderly.

The data suggests two-thirds of patients treated with an oral zinc therapy reported a reduction in the incidence of infection. The key might be the clinical trial results due out this March on its lead drug candidate Zinthionein, a compound made of zinc and cysteine, an amino acid with antioxidant properties. Assuming the results are positive, Adeona is circulating term sheets to possible marketing partners.

Yet it also appears Adeona is benefiting from investor enthusiasm for the sector generally as a number of biotechs surged since the start of the New Year. Zalicus (Nasdaq: ZLCS) is 36% higher, but has risen some 66% over the past month. Arena Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARNA) is up 25% since trading started in January. Adeona's shares are 26% higher since the new year began.

The biotech is flying under the radar of most of the CAPS community, with less than two dozen members rating it. Of those that have, though, 82% see it beating the market. Let us know on the Adeona Pharmaceuticals CAPS page whether this stock will get infectious with the broader investing public.

Drill, baby, drill!
Oil explorer Hyperdynamics continues to push back against the notion it's a fly-by-night operation. Not only has investment management firm BlackRock taken a 12% stake in the company, but it's entered into an agreement with a project manager that will handle its exploration drilling project off the coast of the Republic of Guinea (where it owns three-quarters of a 9,600-square-mile concession) but has signed a nonbinding letter of intent with a large independent oil and gas company for a farmout of a portion of its interest in the concession.

Additionally, the settlement of an outstanding lawsuit from 2001 means the company can focus without distraction its efforts on the drilling program expected to begin later this year.

While highly rated CAPS All-Star TMFUltraLong reiterates his contention there's nothing new under the sun for Hyperdynamics, richinaustin says 2011 will be the breakout year for the oil explorer: "I have been on this stock for years I think finally it might break out. I have been accumulating and dollar-cost averaging for 3+Years."

You can follow along with Hyperdynamics promise by adding the stock to your watchlist and having all the Foolish news and analysis gathered together for you in one place.

A rare opportunity
Do we really need to explain why Molycorp has shot higher? The market has gone ga-ga over rare earth metals as China's export restrictions put a crimp on supply of minerals in very high demand. The whole sector is soaring as Rare Element Resources (NYSE: REE) jumped almost 50% higher, while even names with only the most tangential relationship to the sector are rising too. Investors wanting in on the next hot stock bid up shares of China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources (NYSE: SHZ) despite it not even mining any rare earth metals.

Molycorp has the potential to reap the rewards of the China situation, though it will likely come down the road. The U.S. is moving to encourage domestic mining efforts as a means of untethering our reliance upon foreign sources of these key minerals.

Yet it came public just as the Chinese crisis unfolded, meaning it may have gotten well ahead of itself. That could explain its low one-star CAPS rating and why well more than half of the members rating the miner think it will underperform the market. pf00 says there's a disconnect between Molycorp's stock price and reality at the moment.

Party is over for this newer stock. Huge run-up in price since IPO, yet company has not yet really produced much of anything yet. Run-up in price seems to be based on scarcity of rare-earths and China's statements that China will not export much of what it has. China could change it's mind and further pummel this stock. MCP itself is probably going to be a profitable company, but the stock price now is out of whack with reality.

Be sure to add it into the Fool's free portfolio tracker, then head over to the Molycorp CAPS page and deposit your thoughts on its prospects.

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.