Rocket Stocks for the Week

By Jonas Elmerraji

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- In the last two months, the S&P 500 has jumped 14.3%, leaving investors scrambling to pick up whatever gains they could. But if you've been following our weekly Rocket Stocks list, you've had the chance to do even better.

In fact, in the past seven weeks, our lists have returned 19.5%, a full 5.2-point outperformance.

Last week's five Rocket Stocks were no exception. The previous five trading sessions marked a week of meager gains for the S&P 500. But while the broad index of the 500 stocks gained just 0.27%, our biggest gainer, American International Group(AIG Quote), shot up 52.91% in just five days.

The beleaguered insurer made its moves on news that former, longtime CEO Hank Greenberg was rekindling his relationship with the company. Greenberg, who was one of the principal forces that formed AIG into the world's largest insurer, will take on a role advising current CEO Robert Benmosche.

At a distant second last week was ITT Education(ESI Quote), which gained 1.57%. As the company expands its reach on the education market, investors should be keen on continuing this stock's run.

Apple(AAPL Quote) and Conagra Foods(CAG Quote) also made it into positive territory last week, gaining 0.49% and 0.3%, respectively.

Only one stock, Vale(VALE Quote), finished lower last week. Despite analyst upgrades and corporate expansion announcements, the company wasn't able to break a bearish streak and closed down 2.24%.

Now on to this week's Rocket Stocks.

First up on this week's list is electronic payment company VeriFone Holdings(PAY Quote). While the company, which is up 126% year-to-date, may not be a household name, chances are you used its credit-card readers the last time you were at the grocery store, or their card-acceptance software on your last online purchase.