BALTIMORE ( Stockpickr) -- Markets are firing on all cylinders again, now that the disastrous scenario of a government default is off the table and federal employees are back at work. There's a lot of runway for stocks to spool up their engines in the final months of 2013. >>5 Stocks Poised for Breakouts This year's rally has probably been the most-hated ascent for stocks in most investors' memories. But anyone who avoided equities has gotten punished with colossal underperformance. After all, the S&P 500 is up more than 22% since the calendar flipped over to January. Last week alone, the S&P cranked out 2.42% gains. So as even the most skeptical market participants begin to grudgingly chase performance in 2013's final quarter, the big indices should get a nice tailwind to end the year. To make the most of it, we're turning to a new set of Rocket Stocks worth buying 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 219 weeks, our weekly list of five plays has outperformed the S&P 500 by 89.6%. >>5 Big Stocks to Trade for Big Gains Without further ado, here's a look at this week's Rocket Stocks.
