5 Rocket Stocks to Buy After the Greek Vote

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Well, it's over. On Sunday, Greek voters elected the New Democracy party, a group that's pro-bailout and pro-austerity. That win should give investors some comfort over one country in the eurozone. Now all eyes are turned to Spain.

Spain unseated early gains in stocks across the pond after the vote, as yields on Spanish debt reached a new record. In other words, investors aren't willing to loan money to Spain right now unless they can get more money than ever for taking on the risk. Still, the EU is finally showing some promise; last week's 100 billion euro bailout of Spanish banks was a first step toward setting the Mediterranean kingdom (and stocks) on the right path.

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Despite this morning's wishy-washy open, we're looking at five new Rocket Stock names that could find upside this week.

For the uninitiated, "Rocket Stocks" are our list of companies with short-term gain catalysts and longer-term growth potential. To find them, I run a weekly quantitative screen that seeks out stocks with a combination of analyst upgrades and positive earnings surprises to identify rising analyst expectations, a bullish signal for stocks in any market. After all, where analysts' expectations are increasing, institutional cash often follows.

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In the last 155 weeks, our weekly list of five plays has outperformed the S&P 500 by 83.12%.

With that, here's a look at this week's Rocket Stocks.

Colgate-Palmolive Company

First up is Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL), the $48 billion consumer products firm. The company manufactures and sells everything from toothpaste and detergent to shampoo, deodorant and even pet food. 2012 has been a strong year for CL, with shares up 9% on the year following a steady climb above the $100 mark. This stock should be able to keep its relative strength strong in the second half of the year.

Colgate-Palmolive's scale is a major advantage. The firm owns around 45% of the global oral care business, an operation that's the firm's crown jewel, and a major inroad into international markets that have historically made up a smaller part of sales. Oral care boasts stickier customers (store brands aren't as easily interchangeable for brand names in this area), and it generates hefty margins.

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That doesn't mean that investors should ignore the other parts of Colgate's business. The firm's entrenched in grocery store shelves, and should continue to churn out strong performance from its personal and house care brands, particularly in the U.S.

Colgate is the quintessential blue chip. By that, I mean that the firm has a strong balance sheet, ample cash flows and a history of returning cash to shareholders in the form of dividends. With a yield that currently weighs in at 2.44%, income investors could do worse than CL right now, especially given the firm's upward price trajectory.

Colgate shows up on a recent list of 8 Stocks to Help Keep the Bear Market at Bay.

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