Monday PowerRatings Upgrades: HRL, LH, PER

The huge closing rally Friday has carried through to Monday morning. Bolstered by strong economic signals of a pending recovery, stocks have taken off to the upside today.

Both Consumer Spending and Overseas Manufacturing are clearly showing improvement in the underlying economic conditions. Despite this positive news, its important to keep in mind, that even in the best of conditions, markets never go straight up. There are always pockets of stocks that outperform and others that lag regardless of market conditions.

Long term investors need proven tools. We have conducted studies and testing during the past 13 years to determine exactly what it is that distinguishes these winners from the herd of mediocre and downright loser stocks. The result of this extensive research into the inner nature of equities has been simplified into our PowerRatings ranking system. This system rates stocks on a scale from one to ten based on the likelihood of them being higher one year forward. Stocks that have earned a 10 rating have a 81% chance of trading higher one year from now.

Those with a 9 rating have proven to have a 79.1% chance of being higher a year later, and so on down the scale. Building a portfolio of top rated stocks and avoiding those volatile and risky ones on the bottom of the rating scale has proven to be a successful method across most market conditions.

Let's take a closer look at several stocks earning upgrades this week:

Hormel Foods (HRL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - This giant meat products food company was just upgraded from a 6 to a 7 Long Term PowerRatings. They just reported positive fiscal second quarter results with Diluted EPS up 5%, Segment Operating Profit up 2%, even dollar sales, and slightly down volume of 2%. Technically, a strong uptrend has been in effect since April 27th. Shares are trading above both the 50 and 200-day SMA's, resistance at $35.00/share was recently broken.

Laboratory Corp of America (LH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - Another upgrade from a 6 to a 7 Long Term PowerRatings. This medical diagnostic and testing company had strong results in the first quarter of 2009. Net Earnings, EPS and Revenues showed improvement. CEO David King reiterated 2009 focus of obtaining new customers, maintaining price and controlling costs. He is upbeat about the future prospects of the company. Technically, shares have dropped off a mid May high but have found support at the 50-day SMA now at $61.28/share.

Perot Systems (PER | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - Begun by former Presidential candidate Ross Perot, this firm was just upgraded from a 5 to a 6 Long Term PowerRatings. The company is a worldwide provider of information technology and business solutions headquartered in Plano, Texas. Revenue was down 9% in the first quarter but EPS improved by 4%. The CEO stated that 2009 was started with several strong new contract wins thus he provided positive guidance for the rest of the year. Shares have been channeling between $14.00 and $13.50/share on the chart and just popped above the 200-day SMA at $13.77/share.

Learn what you need to know as an active investor looking to invest in companies with a history of financial strength and a track record for growth. Click the link above or call us at 888-484-8220 extension 1 to get your copy of the "5 Secrets to Successful Stock Investing" today!

David Goodboy is Vice President of Business Development for a New York City based multi-strategy fund.