This week's list of top performers has high exposure to retail and solar; areas we have been moving into the past few weeks with greater weightings.... but more into solar than retail for the fund. This list continues to show us that "beaten down" merchandise from the past year is the market's favorite right now. At the very bottom of the entry I also posted the top returners in the $1B to $1.75B range of market capitalization since we are increasingly buying some smaller fare.
Criteria
- Market capitalization $1.75B+
- Average trading volume 100K+
- Stock price $10+
- Return this week 12%+
Some names we own, some names we have owned in the past or discussed in the blog. Longs Drugs (LDG) was an acquisition target of mine; and in a miracle of miracles (not) Bill Ackman of Pershing Capital (hedge fund) bought a huge slew of Longs in late June through July at prices of $40.47 to $45.92 - within 6 weeks of his first purchase the stock is acquired @ $71.50. Surely just by chance ;) And that makes your year right there. The 2nd name on this list is Elan (ELN) which was absolutely pummeled first from a negative result on an Alzheimer drug and then more bad results from its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri; the same thing happened a few years ago with Tysabri and Elan was similarly punished. I almost bought this for a trade since it leveled out for 2 weeks and was not heading lower, but 'almost' gets you nowhere in the stock market.
The airlines continue to mock those who believe losing $900 per flight is no better than losing $1500; same story with General Motors (GM) - I suppose people will be lining up to buy their trucks/SUVs now that gasoline has plummeted from $4.19 to $3.79 (on the way to $3.49). Along with flying to Las Vegas to gamble, and buying premium coffee along the way.
Hansen Natural (HANS) - makers of energy drink Monster and a retail investor favorite for many years - is a target of the 1021st "takeover" rumor and had a nice run. This rumor comes out every 8 weeks like clockwork. NVIDIA (NVDA) another case of a beat up stock that reported "we plan to stay in business for a few more months" and that was enough for investors to drive it up - same story on the retailers. Mechel (MTL) seems to be rallying now that Putin is busier with some other minor business (Georgia). NRG Energy (NRG) was revealed to be a new Warren Buffet holding (this is the company that filed to build new nuclear plants in the US - which should take a good decade to get through all the legal loopholes) - the lemmings jumped right in when the Buffet stake was made public. Ctrip.com (CTRP) was also an earnings play.
We had pointed out the reasons for the LDK Solar (LDK) spike (earnings) and the Sunpower (SPWR) spike (huge deal potentially with California utility) and I continue to have my eye on Embraer (ERJ) - the stock is finally poking its head over resistance - I am gunshy however because this seems to be a market to buy the carnage and sell the breakout. So I'm still debating this name we highlighted a month ago as a dirt cheap stock [Jul 8: Has Embraer Hit Bottom?] - I thought it would rally more since the airlines are so in favor and it builds planes. It has rallied from $27s to $32s since the July 8 piece. In retrospect the answer to the question in the title of my entry is a resounding "yes".
Symbol | Company Name | % Price Change 1 Week |
| LDG | Longs Drug Stores Corp | 37.2 |
| ELN | Elan Depository Receipt | 31.7 |
| MBI | MBIA Ord Shs | 30.9 |
| LDK | LDK Solar Co Ltd | 27.8 |
| UAUA | UAL Ord Shs | 27.4 |
| HANS | Hansen Natural Corp | 23.3 |
| CTRP | Ctrip.com | 17.8 |
| NVDA | NVIDIA Corp | 17.8 |
| CY | Cypress Semiconductor Corp | 16.8 |
| CREE | Cree Inc | 14.6 |
| UB | UnionBanCal Corp | 14.4 |
| WEN | Wendy's International Inc | 14.3 |
| NTES | Netease.com Inc | 14.3 |
| ONXX | Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc | 14.1 |
| HTV | Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc | 14.0 |
| DRYS | DryShips Inc | 13.4 |
| STP | Suntech Power Holdings | 13.2 |
| FOSL | Fossil Inc | 12.1 |
| EL | Estee Lauder Ord Shs Class A | 12.1 |
| MTL | Mechel ADR Rep 3 Ord Shs | 11.9 |
| DISCA | Discovery Holding Series A Ord Shs | 11.8 |
| STX | Seagate Technology | 11.7 |
| JCP | JC Penney Co Inc | 11.7 |
| PBEGF | Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd | 11.6 |
| GA | Giant Interactive Group Inc | 11.5 |
| GM | GENERAL MOTORS | 11.5 |
| CVC | Cablevision Systems Corp | 11.5 |
| ENER | Energy Conversion Devices Inc | 11.2 |
| WFR | MEMC Electronic Materials Inc | 11.2 |
| IHS | Information Handling Services Inc | 11.0 |
| GNK | Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd | 10.7 |
| PENN | Penn National Gaming Inc | 10.7 |
| ERJ | Embraer-Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica | 10.7 |
| NRG | Nrg Energy Ord Shs | 10.7 |
| TOL | Toll Brothers Inc | 10.6 |
| OTEX | OPEN TEXT CORP | 10.5 |
| KSS | Kohl's Corp | 10.5 |
| LVS | Las Vegas Sands Corp | 10.5 |
| SBUX | Starbucks Corp | 10.4 |
| LII | Lennox International Ord Shs | 10.0 |
Below are the stocks in the $1.0B to $1.75B range who returned 13%+ this week - 16 names. Solar names continue to pop up here - and lo and behold a few dry bulk shippers and energy names.
Symbol | Company Name | % Price Change 1 Week |
| SOL | Renesola ADR | 30.4 |
| EXM | Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd | 22.1 |
| IRF | International Rectifier Corp | 21.2 |
| ENS | EnerSys | 18.9 |
| PETD | Petroleum Development Corp | 17.8 |
| PDC | Pioneer Drilling Co | 15.9 |
| TEN | Tenneco Inc | 15.7 |
| GEO | Geo Group Inc | 15.3 |
| ALK | Alaska Air Group Inc | 15.2 |
| AIXG | Aixtron ADR | 14.9 |
| TSL | Trina Solar Ltd | 14.2 |
| CLWR | Clearwire Corp | 13.9 |
| WINN | Winn Dixie Stores Inc | 13.5 |
| ESC | Emeritus Corp | 13.5 |
| ASCA | Ameristar Casinos Inc | 13.5 |
| IOC | INTEROIL CORP | 13.0 |
