9 Stocks Shaking the Market

Some stocks are one-hit wonders, making a big splash when they first appear, then quickly fizzling into obscurity. But for other stocks, that initial big move is only a preview of even bigger gains.

Today, we've found nine stocks that made some of the biggest moves up over the past month. We'll then pair that list 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 Sept. 4 to Oct. 6.

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

A mighty temblor
An agreement with AT&T (NYSE:T) keeps expanding the possibilities for satellite phone company TerreStar. In the summer, AT&T signed a reciprocity agreement with TerreStar under which the communications giant will sell satphones to customers. But TerreStar just announced that its commercial satellite network will also hook up with AT&T's cellular network to serve as a backup system, meaning customers in the U.S. and the Caribbean will be able to use either one. The only caveat is that a phone specifically designed to operate on both networks has to be used, but the two will release just such a smartphone for corporate and government customers in the first quarter of next year, with a consumer model to follow.

While satphone operators Iridium and Globalstar have broader coverage areas than TerreStar (Iridium offers worldwide coverage, for example), TerreStar's handset has the benefit of offering smartphone capabilities, unlike those of its competitors.

CAPS member popsiclehead acknowledges that TerreStar still has some hurdles to get over.

TSTR has a huge debt, but huge potential as well. TSTR's satellite phone system will be huge on several fronts; commercial contracts and government contracts (national security).

In July, I speculated that a wireless carrier might decide that rather than paying TerreStar for its coverage, it might simply buy the company outright. AT&T, I said, was already selling the company's handsets, so why not get the coverage, too? The agreement they've just hammered out does give the carrier access to the satellite network, bringing it that much closer to the next step.

Feeling the aftershocks
CAPS All-Star UltraLong, with a perfect member rating of 100, can't understand the hoopla surrounding Sunrise Senior Living's sale of 21 adult communities to Brookdale Senior Living. The shares jumped 45% on the news but had been up as 60% during intraday trading.

Let the great fire sale begin! Can't make money on your living communities? Sell Sell Sell! Sell off the only profitable communities you have in your stock! I'm appalled how this company even has a positive book value. Didn't the triple digit eps misses over the last few quarters clue you into just how terrible management is here?

The troubled assisted living operator is undergoing a restructuring and will use the proceeds to pay down its bank line of credit. Sunrise operates almost 1,400 housing units in 11 states, and the 21 communities in the deal will add to Brookdale's portfolio of 546 communities in 35 states.

Shake, rattle, and roll
With these stocks shaking the market in the 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.