TSC's Power Stock Rankings: April 15

During the week of April 7, TheStreet.com readers searched for these 10 stocks more than any others. Research associate Patrick Schultz makes the buy, sell or hold call on them below, in the order of their popularity.

1. Apple: Don't chase Apple this week as the deluge of quarterly earnings reports begins. It won't be pretty. But, you might ask, what do earnings reports from other companies have to do with Apple? The answer is a lesson in market mechanics. I like AAPL a lot, but does that mean to always buy aggressively? Absolutely not. Both traders and investors always need to be cognizant that no one stock is ever more powerful than the whole market. I fear there could be some ugly reports this week that will dominate sentiment. Yes, even the mighty Apple is not immune from the whims of the market. -- HOLD

2. Visa: Just like clockwork, here come the bullish initiation reports from the brokers that brought Visa public. I would sell into any broker-induced pop. As I have said for the past two weeks, I prefer MasterCard(MA Quote) to Visa. It is a cheaper play on the transactions business. -- SELL

3. General Electric (GE Quote): There's no way to sugarcoat it. Last week's report from GE was a shocker for many reasons. First, GE rarely misses its guidance to the Street -- and the company missed badly here. Second, GE is viewed as a microcosm of the health of the American economy. So it's a simple game of connect the dots. If GE is doing poorly, what does that say about our economy? Ouch. -- HOLD

4. Schering Plough (SGP Quote): Schering made a nice recovery toward the end of last week from the brutal drubbing it had taken over the past few months. What to do now? Tough call, as the palpable negative sentiment will overhang SGP shares in the short term. However, SGP is very interesting on a longer-term basis. It has one of the strongest pipelines in the industry, which is not being reflected in the current quote, as the stock is trading solely on Vyotorin news. I would buy on any pullback below $16, but don't expect any shoot-the-lights-out performance from this stock anytime soon. -- BUY

5. Goldman Sachs: The trading in Goldman Sachs this week will be dominated by the earnings reports from its peers, JPMorgan(JPM Quote), Citigroup(C Quote) and even Piper Jaffray(PJC Quote). Yes, GS is best of breed among the reporting companies, but that does not mean its shares can't go down. Wait until price is in the $150s, if you must consider buying. -- HOLD