Rocket Stocks for the Week

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By Jonas Elmerraji

BALTIMORE (TheStreet) -- After a week's hiatus, Rocket Stocks are back and ready to take on earnings season. The week of Oct. 9 (Stockpickr's last round of Rocket Stocks picks) ended on a high note, with stocks closing at their highest levels yet for 2009. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each closed at a one-year high that Friday, as two stocks gained for every one that fell. All told, the week was the best since July. Fast forward to this week, and the market's looking like it could reset some of those records.

We're smack-dab in the middle of third-quarter earnings season, and with that comes investor excitement as companies announce whether they're going to impress or disappoint investors during the last round of financials before the holidays. This week, some of the biggest names on Wall Street announce their numbers, and those are exactly the companies we're focusing on for this week's Rocket Stocks list.

First, though, let's take a look at how Oct. 9's Rocket Stocks fared.

Our best performer was Ruby Tuesday(RT Quote), the casual restaurant chain that impressed investors with its own solid earnings numbers on Oct. 7. With consumer confidence creeping back up, Americans have been more likely to eat out in the last quarter, and casual dining restaurants such as Ruby Tuesday are among the best-positioned to profit as a result. Shares gained 7.73% for the week.

Our other strong performers for the week included American Express(AXP Quote), which returned 7.54%; Yum! Brands(YUM Quote), which returned 5.58%; and S&P 500 inductee First Solar(FSLR Quote), which gained 4.46%. PepsiCo(PEP Quote) was our only pick from the week of Oct. 9 to underperform the S&P, ringing in at a loss of 0.51%.