14 Buyable Stocks at 52-Week Highs

By Jim Woods of InvestorPlace

Some simple trading strategies involve buying oversold stocks with great numbers -- but another great investment strategy for your retirement money is to buy stocks with strength. There's no denying the market has been swept up in a wave of selling, and over the past eight weeks we've seen the

S&P 500

descend about 11% off its April highs.

As stocks now are officially in correction territory, investors may think it's the time to go bargain-hunting. While it's true there may be many stocks on sale right now, the smart money knows that there are still many high-quality names trading at or very near their 52-week highs (at least, as of this morning's opening bell).

In fact, many stocks with the best momentum right now are very big consumer names such as food giants

General Mills

(GIS) - Get Free Report

and

Hershey

(HSY) - Get Free Report

and diversified product maker

Procter & Gamble

(PG) - Get Free Report

.

A

Bloomberg

screen of stocks with market capitalization greater than 500 million and that also trade within 5% of their 52-week highs revealed a number of high-profile stocks enjoying their biggest gains of the year. As might be expected during stressful market times, consumer goods stocks have seen quite a bit of buying during the correction.

In addition to the aforementioned consumer names, the list includes food companies

Campbell Soup

(CPB) - Get Free Report

and

Kellogg

(K) - Get Free Report

, and household product-maker

Clorox

(CLX) - Get Free Report

It included several technology and software companies, such as wireless semiconductor chip-maker

Broadcom

undefined

, and enterprise software-firms

Novell

(NOVL)

and

Sybase

(SY) - Get Free Report

. The move higher in these tech giants shows that there's bullish momentum in more than just traditional defensive plays.

Other top names making trading near new 52-week highs include automotive-retailer

Autozone

(AZO) - Get Free Report

; specialty beverage-maker

Boston Beer

(SAM) - Get Free Report

; medical device-maker

Cyberonics

(CYBX)

; discount-retailer

Dollar Tree

(DLTR) - Get Free Report

and refuse disposal and recycling firm

Waste Connection

(WCN) - Get Free Report

.

If part of your trading strategy is to buy into strength, or if you're a momentum investor looking to ride stocks trading at or near new 52-week highs, you've still got plenty of investable opportunities -- despite the wider market downturn.

Here are 14 stocks up against a new high as of Tuesday morning's open: