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• Surprising stocks top best of 2008 list

  Posted Jun 26 2008, 01:18 AM by Jon Markman
  Rating:
  Filed under: investing, Merrill Lynch, Investment Banking, Motorola, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bros, Valero, economy, Jon Markman
  Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

  

  It’s easy to imagine that the 25 best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index this year are all oil and gas producers, and the 25 worst-performing stocks are all banks and brokers. Yet as we near the halfway mark in 2008, it turns out that there are quite a few surprises in the mix of best and worst.

  For instance, the No. 1 stock in the benchmark index this year isn’t an oil producer, but a coal miner, Massey Energy.  It’s up 155% so far, rising to $89 from $35 as coal prices have soared in the wake of booming demand in China and India. The No. 2 stock is actually a discount retailer, Big Lots. It’s up 100%, from $15 to $30, as investors speculate it will get a big share of tax-rebate money from low-income Americans.

  Most of the rest of the next best 15 gainers   Read More...

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• Let's talk Valero

  Posted Nov 21 2007, 03:33 PM by Matt Koppenheffer
  Rating:
  Filed under: CAPS, oil, Valero
  Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

  With Valero up almost 26% over the past 12 months versus the paltry sub-3% return of the S&P 500, it seems as good a time as any to question whether the stock can continue to deliver market-beating returns.

  Though refiners like Valero don't directly profit from higher oil prices, rising prices do tend to boost the crack spread that refiners do profit from. And though oil fell back from the highs that it touched earlier in the day, it is still breathing down the neck of $100 per barrel.
  
  On The Motley Fool's CAPS service, Valero has managed to score a perfect five-star rating from an aggregate 2,740 investor ratings (2,640 bulls versus just 100 bears). Though other refiners such as Delek and Alon share similarly high ratings, Valero blows both out of the water in terms of the total number of players bullish on the stock.   Read More...

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