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The Top 10 Rocket Stocks for This Week

James Altucher

This week we take a look at a few tech and a few energy companies that have potential catalysts to rocket higher this week. The catalysts this coming week are almost all earnings-related, but at the end of this column I look at a few of the portfolios that I use to help uncover the 10 stocks for this week.

For the entire list of stocks on this week's list as well as the analysis for each pick, check out the Top 10 Rocket Stocks for the Week at Stockpickr.

Also, for the fun of it, check out the video for TheStreet.com TV that Jim Cramer and I recently recorded about the hate mail I got over an earlier rocket stock pick, Dendreon(DNDN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

Let's take a look at this week's list. First up is Texas Instruments(TXN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), which reports earnings on Monday, July 23.

The Dallas-based company has two divisions, semiconductors and education technology. But the semi division is the one we most care about as it brings in the bulk -- 90% -- of the revenue and profits.

Tech is the place to be right now and unlike Intel(INTC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Texas Instruments has not really ramped into earnings seasons. Although Intel did report good numbers, many people (including Jim Cramer) feel that it ran up too much before earnings.

Texas Instruments is in a bull market because semiconductors are in a cyclical uptrend; this should affect earnings in a positive way. The company also makes a lot of secondary, or college, education applications, and with more than 100 million people in secondary school, this should provided a boost in earnings. Last quarter, Texas Instruments announced a massive buyback; look for the company to increase that.

Weekly Catalyst: A play on the strong Intel quarter and the cyclicality of the semiconductors sector. Look for a big buyback to be announced and a raise in guidance as well. It wouldn't surprise me to see a bump higher because of the launch of the iPhone. Nobody knows for sure if it is supplying the power management chip, but it's a possibility.

Next up is EMC(EMC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), which reports earnings on Tuesday.

The Massachusetts-based data storage company is on a tear right now with the highly anticipated spin off of VMware, which offers companies a bundle of information infrastructure products on which many of them operate.

Analysts and the market in general are going to be forced to value VMware once it comes public in late August. Most analyses shows that VMware is worth roughly $10 billion, which goes directly to EMC's market cap because EMC will still own 90% of the company.

EMC has performed well the past few days in a rocky tape, with signs of heavy buying. The growth figures on VMware are outstanding. Also, VMware cuts companies' technology-related energy bills by 40%, and with the Senate recently passing the pro-renewable energy bill, VMware will likely benefit. EMC has just started the "road-trip" of VMware to the major investment banks and they'll certainly want in.

Weekly Catalyst: EMC has been a rocket stock before and has treated investors well. With earnings set to come out and investors looking to get into tech, EMC offers a great play. After getting two downgrades last week, which had zero effect on the stock, EMC is ready to ramp into earnings and the spin off of VMware.

Finally, let's take a look at Amazon(AMZN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), which reports Tuesday afternoon. The Seattle-based Internet retailer is one of Cramer's four horsemen of tech horsemen. Cramer featured Amazon in a July 13 RealMoney blog post called "Ride On, Hated Tech Horseman Amazon":

Amazon is a stock that trades on the quarter. That's because the mammoth short -- 46 million shares on a 300 million basis -- lays on it all the time.

There's no doubt this is one expensive stock, the most expensive of all the four horsemen on a growth basis. So why stick with it? ... Because I don't think people understand the leverage of this model. Amazon has spent and spent and spent. Now it doesn't need to spend much anymore. The infrastructure is in place. This company has huge, huge, huge gearing; it can at last make money off the billions in cash flow.

That's why I think this move is for real. That's why I think it can rack up another 10 points before people even realize how much money this company can make.

I reiterate my buy, even as it remains the most hated of the four horsemen.

Weekly Catalyst: A massive short position could propel this one higher. With earnings out it may be a good idea to look at the August $80 calls. Also, although Amazon has admitted it won't make a dime off of the latest Harry Potter book because it's applying such discounts to the new release, I believe there will be some ancillary effect as many purchasers of a Harry Potter book could also purchase other products.

Altogether I take a look at 10 stocks that I believe could be the rocket stocks of the week. For the other stocks on this week's list and my analysis for each, check out the Rocket Stocks for the Week portfolio. I plan to provide an update on these picks midweek.

To find the snapbacks and potential breakouts on a regular basis, check out these Stockpickr portfolios, which I use in my own research each week:

• Today's Hot List: This daily list is a must-view at midday each day to see what stocks are making the biggest moves and why.
• Always check the Biggest % Losers, a list of stocks that lost big the day before, because they can snap back hard.

  When you check this list on Stockpickr, you can see which stocks are owned by the quality hedge funds and mutual funds. Pay attention to those. They will be buying at the lower prices, so you should be also.

• Biotech Short Squeezes. Dendreon and others can often be found in this category.
• Top Insider Purchases and Buybacks.
• 52-Week Lows List: As with the list above, you must check this portfolio every day if you hope to find volatile stocks.
• Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume: These are stocks with the potential to break out.
• System Trades of the Day: These are trades triggering that day in various backtested trading systems we've developed at Stockpickr.
• Stocks With Unusual Options Activity: Unusual activity in these stocks the day before suggests that someone perhaps knows something.
• Latest Activist Situations: These are beaten-down stocks that hedge funds are accumulating shares of and demanding change for. Believe me, these hedge funds piggyback each other. And once they start rocking the boat, things happen quickly. This should be on the must-view list.