10 stocks crack open stealth rally

All have gained 30% or more since the market’s sell-off ended Aug. 25

If you haven’t been paying attention, you’ve missed a powerful rally on Wall Street. It has been one of the best kept secrets that’s making some investors big money.

There are 10 stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500, including energy firm Cameron International, computer memory maker SanDisk and brewer Molson Coors that have soared by massive amounts since the broad market hit rock bottom this year.

All of these stocks have gained 30% or more since the market’s sell-off this year ended Aug. 25, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ. Not bad for less than two months.

Big stock gains like these are a reminder of just how quickly the market can turn on the upside — when sellers get exhausted — and people aren’t paying attention. The S&P 500 itself is up an impressive 8.8% from its bottom this year, despite a lack of fanfare. In case you forgot, investors suffered through a rough July and August when the S&P 500 dropped a brutal 12% — putting it into a widely watched correction.

The market still hasn’t fully recovered yet. The S&P 500 is still down 4.6% from its July 20 alltime high. But the repair process is about halfway complete — which is a welcome change as investors digest third-quarter earnings season in full force next week.

Buyout bait is usually a good source of big jumps, and that was the case with the biggest gainer from this stealth rally. In August, oil services giant Schlumberger announced it was buying Cameron International for $16.6 billion. That buyout bid has pushed Cameron shares up 54% from the bottom.

You might have missed this rally — but someone scored big.