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Top Rocket Stocks for Earnings Week of Nov. 5

James Altucher

Each week at Stockpickr.com, we search for stocks that are in their worst throes of agony, with the thought that they can be ridden higher on a snapback. On any given day there are at least 1,000-2,000 stocks that finish the day in the green no matter how the market does. It's our job to find out which stocks are most likely to do that. We compile them in the Rocket Stocks for the Week on Stockpickr.com.

But before we look at this week's picks, let's quickly review how last week's Rocket Stock picks performed.

• Boeing(BA Quote), which announced a $7 billion stock-buyback on Monday, ended the week 2% higher.
• ConocoPhillips(COP Quote) ended the week down a slight 0.5%, but with oil sky-high I'd still want to own this name.
• Longtop Financial Technologies(LFT Quote): This Chinese speculative stock has great growth but did not work out this week, ending down 9.6%.
• Merck(MRK Quote): Trading up near its 52-week high, this stock for the most part held up well throughout the week, but ended down 2.8%.
• Celgene(CELG Quote): Ended the week down 3.6%. However, it's still a great stock to own if things get bad.
• Lundin Mining(LMC Quote): Up as much as 4.6% this week, but ended down 4.7%.
• Nastech Pharmaceutical(NSTK Quote): Had horrible earnings and much lower research expenses, but it ended the week flat.
• FreightCar America(RAIL Quote): This pick worked great! It climbed more than 10% and ended the week up 4.3%.
• U.S. Steel(X Quote): This was a horrible pick. I thought the steelmaker was going to blow away earnings, but clearly that did not happen. The stock ended some 9% down.
• Cabot(CBT Quote): This stock, SAC Capital's second-largest holding, was up 4% during Thursday's selloff. The stock ended the week up 1.3%.
• Yamana Gold(AUY Quote): Moved nearly 3% higher to hit $15 before pulling back, ending the week at $14.98.

Now let's take a look at the potential Rocket Stocks for this week.

First up is Citigroup(C Quote), which fired CEO Chuck Prince over the weekend. This financial stock fell 7% on Thursday to a new 52-week low as CIBC World Markets analyst Meredith Whitney speculated that Citigroup might need to cut its dividend to raise capital.

While it is very clear that things are bad at Citigroup, I find it highly unlikely that the company would allow such a thing. Without the dividend, Citi shares have lagged inflation over the past several years.

With Citigroup shares at a 52-week low, it would not shock me to see a snapback rally to over $40. And now that Charles Prince has been deposed as CEO, that could prove a strong catalyst.

I believe Citigroup's dividend is here to stay, for now. Also, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Eddie Lampert averaging down in Citi.

Weekly Catalyst: An oversold financial stock poised for a snapback.

I also like Cisco(CSCO Quote) as an earnings play. The technology company is scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday, Nov. 7. Cisco really has been the face of this rally for the past 4,000 points. Can you imagine that the stock was totally hated and trading around $18 a share this time last year?

What makes Cisco an interesting play here, besides its upcoming earnings report, is that the company just announced a massive $5 billion stock-buyback plan even with its shares at a 52-week high. What a vote of confidence! Cisco also bought a stake in the VMware(VMW Quote) IPO, making Cisco an attractive longer-term investment.

Weekly Catalyst: With demand for network routers at an all-time high, Cisco is an earnings trade. It just announced a massive $5 billion buyback near its 52-week high and took a 2% stake in the VMware IPO. It was also called a "growth" stock by Goldman Sachs as it trades at 16 times earnings and has 14% growth.

Also worth looking at this week is Ralph Lauren(RL Quote), which Jim Cramer recently called one of his top retail stocks.

Down massively from its 52-week high, Ralph Lauren's stock is a play on the high-end consumer and the fact that the retailer is transforming its business model from being a niche-based clothing company to a worldwide fashion empire that includes home goods. The company reports quarterly results on Wednesday.

Another earnings play this week is Dynegy(DYN Quote), which is slated to report on Thursday. Dynegy offers a great play on the warmer-than-normal weather we've had this fall. Dynegy engages in the production and sale of electric energy, capacity and ancillary services in the U.S.

This week's portfolio also looks at Nymex Holdings(NMX Quote), Nividia(NVDA Quote) and Intel(INTC Quote). Which stock should are buyable here? And if more people tend to get married when the economy blows up, that should be good for The Knot(KNOT Quote), right?

For more stocks and the analyses behind each, check out the Rocket Stocks for the Week of Nov. 5-9 at Stockpickr.com.

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 every midday to see what stocks are making the biggest moves and why.
• Always check the Biggest Percentage 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.

• Ditto for the 52-week-low list. You must check the above two lists every day if you hope to find volatile stocks.
• Biotech Short Squeezes: Dendreon(DNDN Quote) and others can often be found in this category.
• Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume: These are potential breakout stocks.
• Stockpickr's System Trades of the Day: These are trades triggering that day in various backtested trading systems we've developed.
• Stocks With Unusual Option Activity: Perhaps someone knows something?
• Latest Activist Situations: These are beaten-down stocks that hedge funds are accumulating shares of and demanding change in. Believe me, these hedge funds piggyback each other. And once they start rocking the boat, things happen quickly. This should be on your must-view list.

One final place to frequent is the Answers section on Stockpickr, where ideas such as those presented in this article are thrown around daily.