3 Daybaggers That Went Spiffy-Pop

If you name it, they will come.

Earlier this year, Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner put out a challenge to the Rule Breakers community of growth-stock seekers.

"Have you ever seen a stock's share price rise more in a single day than you paid for it originally?" he asked, just before challenging subscribers to drum up a name to describe the process.

In other words, if you buy a stock at $5 and it deliciously creeps up to $30 over the next couple of years, you would certainly have done well. Then let's say the company pulls off a blowout quarter, sending the stock up $7 to $37. It may seem like an ordinary day to most investors, but you made your initial investment back -- and then some -- in a single trading day. David couldn't find a term to describe the feat (lexicographer Noah Webster can be so near-sighted sometimes), so he empowered the community to fill in the gap in the vernacular.

Soon, 256 entries had poured in. David narrowed it down to four finalists: "froghop," "Fooldruple," "daybagger," and "spiffy-pop." Two months ago, he settled on the final two as the defined victors. He was enamored with the term "daybagger," but felt that "spiffy-pop" provided the most descriptive term when you needed it in verb form.

An epidemic is born
Daybaggers were never supposed to be common occurrences. Maybe not Halley's Comet rare, but probably closer to hitting for the cycle in baseball -- that rare feat when a ballplayer hits a single, double, triple, and homer in the same game.

Well, don't look now, but it's been raining daybaggers in Fooldom.

The refreshing showers kicked in just two days after David officially introduced the new market jargon. aQuantive (NASDAQ:AQNT), the online advertising specialist that Tim Beyers had recommended to Rule Breakers subscribers six months earlier when it was trading at $25.14 per share, took off after agreeing to be acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) at $66.50 a share. The stock spiffy-popped, its share price surging $27.92 higher in a single day.

Things settled down after that. Daybaggers are special. They aren't supposed to be as common as Barry Bonds hecklers, Rahodeb postings, or David Caruso shades-adjusting one-liners on CSI: Miami.

Then again, sometimes it's hard to stop the rain.

It was another torrential downpour when Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) saw its stock soar $48.51 higher last Friday. The company that's revolutionizing operating rooms everywhere with its da Vinci surgical robotics had a monster second quarter. David originally recommended the shares to Rule Breakers subscribers two years ago at $44.17 a share. Doctor, I think the patient just spiffy-popped!

Beyond the Breakers
Just because a new piece of slang arose from the Rule Breakers camp doesn't mean that other newsletters can't get in on the fun. Motley Fool Stock Advisor birthed a daybagger on Wednesday when Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) blew analysts away with its second-quarter report. The share price raced $16.93 higher for the day, well above the $15.31 price that made it an appealing pick for David nearly five years ago.

So, what are the chances that a daybagger may be sitting in your portfolio right now? A lot better than you think. If you're buying the right stocks and can afford to be patient, you may just be sitting pretty as you wait to pose for that magical, spiffy-pop moment.

You don't need to load up on low-priced stocks to make it happen. All three daybaggers were recommended when they were trading well into the double digits. A fast-growing stock that leaves a wake of stock splits may seem like a natural, but it's rarely that easy.

Marvel (NYSE:MVL) has a cost basis of $3.47 for Stock Advisor subscribers. Surprisingly, it has never spiffy-popped off that springboard, although the stock has gained more than 600% since it was recommended. Quality Systems (NASDAQ:QSII) has been nearly a seven-bagger since Tom Gardner first singled it out in the spring of 2003. It, too, has never been a daybagger.

That's a testament to the rarity of these spiffy-pop sightings. Two in the past week alone? Don't get spoiled now, Fool, but it's perfectly fine to strap on those galoshes and dance in the rain. I'll meet you in the puddle of the next deluge, whenever it comes. BYOP (Bring Your Own Poncho).

Intuitive Surgical and aQuantive are selections in the Rule Breakers growth-stock newsletter service. Amazon.com, Marvel, and Quality Systems are Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations. Microsoft is an Inside Value pick. Find out why with free 30-day subscription offers to any or all of the newsletters.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has never left a cake out in the rain. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a very spiffy disclosure policy.