What they do.

CoStar Group operates a commercial real estate research and analysis portal and LoopNet, a commercial real estate listing service acquired a year ago.

It took regulators a year to clear the LoopNet acquisition given the combined company's market clout. But, the regulatory hurdles are firmly in the rearview mirror and CoStar is a year into the LoopNet acquisition. If early results are any indication, the company may find the deal better than initially hoped.

Commercial real estate is highly competitive and correct pricing is critical to reducing vacancy. By subscribing to CoStar's analysis tools and services, owners and brokers get insight into local markets and that insight can make a significant

While you can't buy shares in Pinterest and Twitter yet, you can in Linkedin (LNKD), Facebook (FB) and Yelp (YELP).

But, is one of these three better than the others?

Consumer adoption of Internet social media has soared over the past few years, spreading far beyond teenagers to include parents and grandparents. Since 2010, the spread of social media has swelled membership for Internet companies including Linkedin, Facebook and Yelp.

But, which of these three has seen the biggest jump in users?

Linkedin's user growth has climbed the most with monthly unique users up 142% since 2010. For comparison, Yelp and Facebook's active monthly active users have grown 74% and 119%,

Each has a strong track record of rewarding investors through August and each has catalysts which could help move them higher again this year.

Source: Seasonal Investor Database

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Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN)

I've written previously about Alexion's life changing drug Soliris. Soliris is approved for two ultra rare indications affecting just a few thousand patients. However, the drugs $400,000 a year price tag continues to fuel significant sales and profit growth. Sales should continue to climb as the drug's label is expanded. I covered this more in Expanding Use of Alexion's Specialty Drug Soliris Offers Upside, but the drug has potential to gain approval for hemolytic uremic syndrome ("HUS") in the next year or two following approval for the rarer atypical-HUS last year.

For a decade, I've been helping professional money managers keep their watch lists fresh. And this month there are 5 large caps worthy of earning a spot on your radar.

According to the Seasonal Investor database, each of these stocks has a solid track record of posting gains for investors through August. Each also offers catalysts which support upside.

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Apple Computer (AAPL)

The market's favorite son has fell out of favor this past year as margins compressed and earnings stalled. As a result, you've likely removed the stock from your list in fear of buying too soon. But, summer is typically a good time to embrace Apple shares following the Worldwide Developer's Conference and ahead of the fall

The banking industry has been riding a wave of fee revenue tied to record low interest rates.

The mortgage fee money spigot may shrink to a trickle from a flood this summer as home buyers ratchet down mortgage demand hoping for rates to fall again.

However, if mortgage demand drops and bank fee revenue falls, bankers will fill the gap by easing underwriting standards to take advantage of wider spreads between the Fed funds rate and mortgages.

Those easing

But do those heady returns mark a top and if not, which stocks should you buy?

In April, I wrote why you may want to fade the broader healthcare ETF (XLV) this summer. But, according to data from the Seasonal Investor database, you don't have to avoid every healthcare industry. Instead, you may find solid returns by narrowing your focus to drug stocks.

Since launching in 2006, the S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has a solid track record of rewarding investors through summer. Why? Because the busy conference season provides lots of industry updates for analysts to digest and shaky summer months tend to reward news driven stories such as drug pipeline announcements rather than earnings.

Drug stocks' summertime strength becomes more compelling

What Is Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension?

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is high blood pressure in the arteries of our lungs. These arteries shrink, limiting blood flow and forcing the heart to work harder. Simply put, over time PAH weakens and enlarges the heart, causes shortness of breath and fainting. Sadly, the average patient lives only five to seven years following diagnosis. And, since there is no cure for PAH, the disease is chronic and has significant unmet need.

In Steps United Therapeutics

The company offers three drugs for the treatment of PAH. Their first drug and top seller is Remodulin, which was acquired from GlaxoSmithkline (GSK) in 1997. In Q1, Remodulin generated $114.7 million in sales, up 3.7% from last year. Remodulin is

Those regulations, along with truck operators, appetite for more fuel efficient fleets, have forced Cummins to bump up research and development spending.

Investors hope those investments will soon pay off as operators - hungry to squeeze profits from fuel costs - replace aging equipment.

So far, R&D investments haven't translated into big bucks.

Cummins revenue has faltered against tough comparisons as the global truck market has shrunk. Sluggishness in China and Europe has resulted in lackluster medium and heavy duty truck sales, offsetting friendlier markets like Brazil.

But it's the United States that can truly move Cummins higher over the coming two years.

Despite its global reach, roughly 50% of Cummins business still comes from North America. And signs are starting to suggest

After all, when was the last time anyone asked to see your iPhone?

The company anticipates its much hyped S4 can tap consumer's appetite for something "different." If successful, early adopters of the S4 will become celebrities in coffee shops and commuter railcars worldwide.

How big a deal is it?

According to researcher Strategy Analytics, Samsung shipped 69.4 million smartphones during the first quarter, up 56% from last year. The rapid growth gave Samsung 33% of the global smartphone market.

For comparison, Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones globally, giving it control of 17.9% of the market - down from 22.8% a year ago.

While global market share has clearly favored Samsung, the story is a bit different in the United States where Apple's dominant 39% market share handily

The specialty drug market is growing faster than the non-orphan drug market.

Last year, orphan drug sales climbed 7.1% to $83 billion. And sales of drugs used to treat rare disorders and diseases may grow a compounded 7.4% annually through 2018 - roughly double the rate of the broader branded prescription market.

While the number of patients diagnosed with each disease is small, the overall population suffering from rare diseases totals some 25 million in the United States alone. As a result, 347 orphan drugs have been approved since the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 passed and last year 15 of the 43 drugs approved by the FDA were categorized as orphan drugs.

According to a 2013 study by Thomson Reuters, orphan drugs' higher price tags and better patent protections yield

The data is good news for the 1 million diagnosed patients in the U.S. and Europe and for shareholders eager to see apremilast win market share in the multibillion dollar immunology market.

Currently, there is no cure for psoriatic arthritis.

Since there isn't a cure for psoriatic arthritis, treatment is focused on controlling inflammation to manage the joint pain caused by the body's immune system attacking healthy tissues.

Typically, patients are referred to a rheumatologist who prescribes anti-inflammatory drugs such as Advil and disease modifying drugs - also referred to as DMARDs - which limit the amount of joint damage.

But, DMARDs are often slow acting and the most commonly prescribed DMARD -- Trexall, or methotrexate - may cause serious

Those returns are nicely ahead of the 14% return clocked by the broader S&P 500 index ETF (SPY). But, they only hint at returns from individual biotech stocks, including Gilead Sciences (GILD), the company best known for its HIV drugs.

Gilead's shares have jumped 43% this year as investor enthusiasm has grown for its hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir -- a drug Gilead obtained in its $11.2 billion acquisition of Pharmasset in January 2012.

The excitement surrounding sofosbuvir is tied to oral dosing and a shorter treatment schedule.

In April, strong data from Phase 3 trials prompted Gilead to file sofosbuvir as a treatment to be used in combination with ribavirin for genotype 2 and 3 HCV patients. The filing also seeks

The commodity markets have relied on seasonality for decades. But, increasingly, investors are recognizing certain cycles make particular sectors, industries and stocks attractive.

10 large caps have gained in 9 of the past 10 3 month periods ending July, including three utilities.

For example, recognizing utility stocks tend to trade higher ahead of summer peak electricity demand can help investors spot ideas more quickly.

Centerpoint Energy (CNP), P P L Corporation (PPL) and Transcanada Corp (TRP) have returned a median 5.8%, 9.79% and 4.74% during the period, respectively.

Utilities are typically strong performers in the shoulder months between the busy winter season and the peak summer demand season, with the S&P utilities ETF

Both companies have been enjoying rapid display and subscription revenue growth -- a trend which continued in the first quarter, according to Trulia.

A slate of bank settlements over Fannie Mae mortgages in January and February, including by home loan giant Bank of America (BAC), reflect the banking industries growing enthusiasm over home loans. The action has cleared the way to normalized lending markets, which should help ease standards and drive loan volumes.

Both Zillow and Trulia make the bulk of their money selling subscription services to real estate agents.

Historically, the real estate market has proven hyper competitive with individual agents willing to embrace services to win clients. The rise in home sales has improved agents outlook, increasing their willingness

In the process, EPL made a big bet new technologies and a resurrection of Gulf activity would prove a winning combination for production and earnings growth.

EPL's shift from natural gas to oil has paid off.

Since 2009, the company's oil production has grown to 82% of overall production, up from 36%.

In 2013, EPL expects oil production to grow another 71%, bringing the company's oil production to 18,000 barrels a day, up from 5,370 barrels a day in 2009 - a compounded 35% annual growth rate.

The success has come from both bolts on acquisitions and innovation.

Over the past two years, acquisitions and innovation have tripled EPL's reserves. Using deepwater techniques on EPL's Central Gulf assets has produced an impressive

However, as retail has become a bigger percentage of the company's sales mix, the segment's lower margins have dragged corporate profit margins lower - a dynamic I highlighted back in February.

The challenge of decelerating earnings growth lies more in the nature of thin retail margins than Apple's merchandising prowess.

Apple's stores are wildly successful at generating sales growth and much less successful in creating profit growth.

The retail segment has set benchmarks for sales per square foot and per employee and Apple fans will be quick to point out stores continue to generate impressive foot traffic.

As a result, retail sales hit an all-time high of $6.4 billion in the important calendar Q4, increasing 5% and producing operating income of $1.6 billion. However, the $1.6 billion in operating income was $300 million less

Last week, I wrote how completions data suggested home builders such as D.R. Horton (DHI) and KB Home (KBH) would post strong Q1 results.

At Ryland, those completions helped closings climb 60.4% in the quarter, driving revenue up 73.6% year-over-year.

New orders for Ryland homes increased 54.4%, with the value of new orders increasing 75.3%, as tight housing inventory supported price increases. Average selling prices were up 8.2% to $277k.

This order and pricing strength brought Ryland's unit backlog 57.2% higher. The value of the company's backlog increased an impressive 75.1%.

More important, those higher unit completions were leveraged against recessionary cost cuts to boost gross margin to 19.4% from 17.5% a year ago. Selling,

Returns across the broader homebuilder basket (XHB) have been volatile so far this year.

The XHB posted robust excess returns in January and again in March. However, it trailed in February and is trailing again in April.

Those who have held on through the good and bad this year have been rewarded with a 12.3% return, ahead of the S&P 500's (SPY) 11.4% return. Meritage shareholders have enjoyed a 28% return.

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Meritage's bullish run and positive earnings report reinforces the housing data strength I outlined last week in Housing Stocks Can Still Go Higher.

In particular, Meritage's 39% growth in home units closed reflects the strong housing completions numbers

This year, the S&P Healthcare ETF (XLV) has gained 19.8% through April 19th, handily outpacing the 9.7% return for the S&P 500 (SPY). And, in the month of April the XLV is an impressive 4.3% ahead of the SPY.

The strength suggests investors have digested the risk of reform and are increasingly comfortable with its impact. For investors who have remained on the sidelines, a bigger question is whether the group can sustain its heady returns.

Currently, the sector trails only utilities in E.B. Capital Markets, LLC weekly sector ranking.

This ranking averages scores across 400 large cap stocks to gain insight into sector and industry shifts.

Each company's score is based on earnings growth, earnings beats, valuation, short interest, insider

The defensive shift is reflected in data compiled at my firm, E.B. Capital Markets, LLC.

Our team screens more than 1800 stocks weekly, including 400 large-cap stocks, to help identify market, sector and industry trends early.

As part of that process, each large-cap stock is given a weekly score based on earnings growth, earnings beats, valuation, short interest, insider buying, seasonality and money flow.

This week, utilities remain the top-scoring large-cap sector.

Those individual stock scores are averaged by industry and sector, with utilities claiming the top sector spot since April 2.

Utilities strength and the weakness in technology (XLK) reflects investor appetite for Treasury-beating dividend yields and stable