Individual stocks can surge 10%, 25%, or even higher in a
short period of time. And they can fall just as far, just as
quickly. For example, shares of genetic analysis instrument
maker
Affymetrix
tumbled by 18%when it posted a larger-than-expected
quarterly loss and gave a weak revenue outlook.
Big drops in share price can sometimes signal material
defects or new risks. But at other times, they're simply
pullbacks along with the larger pessimism facing the market.
Fortunately, we have
Motley Fool CAPS, a great
resource to help us understand the larger picture behind big
price drops.
Is the sky falling?
CAPS contains more than just
the crowd's opinions. Its best-performing members' votes
count more in shaping each
company's ratingthan do the picks of their
poorer-performing peers. That way, investors can
intelligently use the collective wisdom of more
than 140,000 CAPS members to make better
decisions.
We'll use CAPS' handy
stock screening
toolto quickly zero in on companies that have been
slashed by at least 20% in the past four weeks, and which
have a market cap greater than $100 million and a
betaof less than 3. If you want to run this
screen for yourself,
please do-- just keep in mind that the results will
update with the market.
Company
CAPS Rating
(out of 5)
4-Week
Price Change^
US Airways (NYSE: LCC)
*
(27.1%)
A123 Systems (Nasdaq: AONE)
**
(26.3%)
Elan (NYSE: ELN)
****
(21.1%)
Source: Motley Fool CAPS.
^ Oct. 2 through Oct. 27.
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