With all the volatility in the markets today, there's no
shortage of market seers attempting to call a bottom.
Bernanke
called a bottomnot once, but
twice. Heck, even Keanu Reeves laid out what a
world-ending market bottomlooks like.
Investors should consider buying stocks after a big
decline, when pessimism has unduly beaten good companies down
to attractive prices. That's why we here at the Fool -- and
140,000-plus investors like us -- look to the
Motley Fool
CAPScommunity to help sniff out the real opportunities
from languishing companies driven by speculation.
A real bottom, or another leg down?
Of course, there's no foolproof method for timing a
market bottom. But CAPS has a great balance of both
quantitative and qualitative resources available on 5,300
stocks, and even a nifty
stock screening
toolto help investors quickly zero in on potential
investment opportunities.
I've used the CAPS screener to filter out $100
million-plus companies that have seen their stock price
appreciate by at least 15% in the past 13 weeks even while
they remain at least 40% below their 52-week highs. These
stocks also have both a positive return on equity and
earnings per share over the past 12 months; these criteria
limit the results to companies that have a history of
delivering results regardless of stock gyrations. If you'd
like,
run this screen yourself-- just keep in mind that the
results may change as the market does.
Company
CAPS Rating
(out of 5)
13-Week
Price Change
% Below 52-week High
Satyam Computer Services
****
24.8%
62%
CardioNet (Nasdaq: BEAT)
***
18.7%
75.3%
Associated Banc-Corp (Nasdaq:
ASBC) Continued... |