My Fav 52-Week Highs

Today the New High list is growing as stocks tack on a 1% gain. Below is a list of some of my favorite stocks hitting highs that are either positions for PFG clients (will disclose) or stocks that are on the PFG WishList.

• Tennant Company ($TNC) - Manufactures cleaning solutions worldwide. PEG ratio of 0.99 and seeing an increase in volume on the breakout.
• Grupo Aeroportuario del Surest ($ASR) - Operates 9 airports in Southern Mexico, including Cancun. Stock breaking out of consolidation and volume has been extremely bullish. A little expensive at 2.2 PEG ratio. Pays 3.6% dividend.
• Alamo Group ($ALG) - Makes agriculture and industrial maintenance equipment. Hot sector, great chart, and a PEG ratio of 1.0 and 0.8% dividend.

Stocks for the Hunger Games Rally

The Hunger Games debuted to great success this weekend and it appears the series of books will continue to be a household name for the next few years. A number of stocks attribute a large portion of their recent success to the Hunger Games anticipation and the movie did not disappoint.

Lions Gate Entertainment ($LGF) - The film company looks to have its first blockbuster franchise with Hunger Games. Based on the opening weekend $LGF will have two more big winners in the future.

Mattel ($MAT) - Releasing a "Hunger Games" Barbie will only add to the stock that is trading at an all-time high. Merchandise for an ongoing blockbuster series can pay huge for $MAT owners.

Scholastic ($SCHL) - The publisher of the Hunger Games books will continue to see increased buying as the popularity of the series spreads.

Carmike Cinemas ($CKEC) & Regal Entertainment ($RGC) - Two movie theater companies that will see increased attendance due to the success of the Hunger Games movies.

Market Surges on Stress Tests

With an hour left in trading the news that JPMorgan Chase ($JPM) has passed the stress test and plans to hike its dividend and buy back shares sent the market soaring. Since that time we have found out all but 4 of the banks passed the stress tests. This sent the SPDR Financial ETF ($XLF) up 3.8% today to the best level since July 2011.

The news sent $JPM higher by 7% for the session. I am smiling as I type this as $JPM is one of the firms bigger positions. It is nice to see patience pay off and the gains begin to pile up. I expect this strength to carry over into tomorrow and could be enough to help the market continue its current bull market. The S&P 500 is now up 11% for the year.

With that being said, I do have a bit of caution for investors that are only now deciding it is time to get back into stocks. I do not want to say you are too late, but the reward-to-risk situation is not as attractive as it was three months ago. We have been doing some buying and selling since the year began to position for this rally. My prediction for the S&P 500 was in the 1500 to 1550 range for the mid-year high. Today the index closed at 1395, that leaves another 9% on the upside at the mid-range of the prediction.

The support for the index is about 5% below the current price and therefore the reward-to-risk is 9-to-5, not the ideal setup for getting back into the market. A pullback to the low to mid 1300's would be much more attractive for new money. We will continue to pick individual stocks/ETFs that offer better setups and could participate in a rally to 1550.

I will share one such ETF with you. The iShares Realty Majors Index ETF ($ICF) invests in a basket of REITs and broke out of a consolidation pattern today. There is strong support at the $74-$75 area and it closed today at $76.06. The dividend yield is 2.8%.

Market Recap - FOMC Fuels Rally, Gold Surges

A nearly 1% rally for the S&P 500 has the index at the best level since late July 2011 and investor optimism is starting to override the fears in Europe. The move today has the index only 3% from a new 3-year high - hard to believe with all the black clouds hanging over the market. But as I have said many times in the past, there will always be black clouds, but not all of them will bring rain!

INTERESTING STORIES

• Apple ($AAPL) reports blockbuster earnings and rallies today on the news. The stock was up 6% to a new all-time high and is now the largest company in the US by market cap. And more amazing is that it could see another $150 on the upside before it is fairly valued.

• FOMC Meeting - Bernanke and his cohorts announced that interest rates will remain near historic lows into 2014 and that gave equities a boost. May are calling this the next round of quantitative easing or QE 2.5. Either way, low rates are good for corporations and stock valuations.

• Gold - Gold surged as the US Dollar fell after the FOMC news. More easing will lower the value of the Dollar and PowerShares US Dollar Index Bullish ETF ($UUP) fell by 0.45% today to the lowest level in over a month. This fall sent gold ($GLD) to the best level in over one month. {$GLD remains Penn Financial Groups largest holding.}

• New Highs - HOLDRS Biotech ETF ($BBH), Digital Realty Trust ($DLR), FEI Company ($FEIC), Pool Corp ($POOL), Weis Market ($WMK)