5 Rocket Stocks to Buy for a March Rally

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Another month in 2013 is set to bite the dust this week, as the first trading session in March peeks its head out on Friday. We're about to find out whether the "new month, new market" mantra is going to continue to hold true in 2013.

February would be best described as a "regrouping" month. As I write, the S&P 500 gained just under 1% on the month, hosing off the overheated momentum from January's 5% climb. So are we in store for a second rally leg just as Spring springs? With stocks bouncing hard into February's final week, it looks promising.

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To take full advantage, we're zooming in on five new Rocket Stock names 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. In the last 188 weeks, our weekly list of five plays has outperformed the S&P 500 by 77.72%.

>>5 Big Stock Charts You Need to See

Without further ado, here's a look at this week's Rocket Stocks.

Procter & Gamble

First up is 176-year-old consumer product giant Procter & Gamble (PG). Procter is the prototypical blue chip -- the $210 billion firm boasts a product line that's found in homes across the globe, with powerhouse brands such as Tide, Charmin and Cover Girl under its belt. P&G also pays out a nearly 3% dividend yield at current price levels.

P&G's biggest growth story comes from abroad. The firm currently earns approximately 60% of its revenue outside of its U.S. home base, and of that, nearly half comes from emerging markets. That's attractive exposure considering the growth potential in developing markets as burgeoning middle class populations start trading up their consumer products. Despite Procter's titanic size, the firm should be able to continue to stoke growth fires in the year ahead.

Last year, cost was one of P&G's biggest considerations; the firm's ongoing initiative to cut around $10 billion from its cost of goods sold is going to be a key component of income growth in 2013 as well. While input cost inflation hasn't created the same level of anxiety of late as it did back in 2011, Procter's willingness to prioritize costs now will pay off in spades down the road.

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