Volatile markets seem to be the norm these days, as stocks gyrate through ups and downs on a daily basis. But sometimes buyout news and other short-term forces can send individual stocks soaring by 10%, 25%, even 50% -- even on the market's worst days.
For example, shares of Dendreon rose 27% a week ago last Thursday, after the FDA approved its pricey prostate cancer vaccine Provenge.
But beyond less-predictable events like that one are stocks with fundamentally compelling reasons behind a big move. The trick lies in finding those stocks. That's where Motley Fool CAPS comes in.
The story behind the story
CAPS is no crowd of lemmings. Its best-performing members' opinions do more to shape each company's rating than the picks of their poorer-performing peers. We can use the collective wisdom of more than 160,000 CAPS members to filter out the noise and find companies with strong potential.
We'll use CAPS' handy stock screening tool to quickly zero in on companies with a stock price increase of at least 15% in the past four weeks, a market cap of greater than $100 million, and a beta of less than 3. Then we can use the insight of the CAPS investment community to add some context to these market movers.
Company |
CAPS Rating
|
4-Week |
---|---|---|
Javelin Pharmaceuticals |
**** |
62.7% |
Sturm, Ruger |
**** |
23.1% |
VIVUS |
*** |
22.3% |
Power-One |
** |
66.3% |
Federal Agricultural Mortgage |
* |
31.5% |
Source: Motley Fool CAPS. Price return from April 9 through May 7.
Sturm, Ruger
While firearm peer Smith & Wesson
VIVUS
VIVUS has a lot riding on its obesity drug Qnexa, which has potentially huge profit potential due to the size (sorry) of its target market. Along with competitor Arena Pharmaceuticals
Federal Agricultural Mortgage
While Fannie Mae
And you?
What's your story? Whether you buy the tale of a stock that's soaring or souring, your own research is more important than collective opinions. But these collective opinions can make your due diligence a whole lot easier.
Add your take on these or any of the 5,400 stocks that our 160,000-plus members have covered in Motley Fool CAPS. It's totally free to be a part of the community, and the payback is more than worth it.