There is a recession still going on. A few State governments are close to bankruptcy. The US Federal government is still in dire straits. Many other nations are also going through severe financial issues of their own. Do not tell that to the following companies. All of these giants have posted significant gains over the past year. Most of them close to or above the 100% gain mark. None of these are small penny stocks either. These are major companies with high valuation.
CCMO: Clear Channel Media seems to be everywhere. In quite a few major markets Clear Channel owns every single radio station. This mega giant of radio has created a few heavy cost cutting initiatives as well as leveraging their radio, “power” into a 222% increase in value, which is actually a decent decline from their peak valuation over the year which was over 325% at one point.
Las Vegas Sands: People gamble in a down economy. This could be part of the reason for Las Vegas Sands 204% resurgence. Even more than that reason are incredible returns from casinos in Singapore and Macao.
US Airways: With all the costs being pushed on to the common man, one would think that the airlines were still struggling to get by. With stock prices at least, that is not true. Most Airlines posted Double digit gains for the year in stock prices. A couple of them fairly modest profits that were BARELY two digits. US Airways however posted a staggering 126% profit for 2010.
Liberty Media: A big part of Liberty Medias key to success came from acquiring 40% of Sirius XM in exchange for $530 million and saving them from bankruptcy. Since that point The Sirius XM stock has been climbing and so has Liberty Medias resulting in a 159% increase in stock value.
Dillards: After coming off of a few down years Dillards surged back with nearly a 100% increase in stock value. Dillard’s cut costs, closed stores and restructured to come about this resurge in stock prices, but they did it and have now announced they have returned by leading the pack for gainers this year.
Value Stores: This gain makes a lot of sense. In a down economy people want to save money wherever they can. Because of this fancy boutique stores are out. Stres that have a lot of value per dollar of sale have all done well. Many of these store did not post Shocking returns but all were solid increases. All of these stores ranked between a very solid 20% increase to a great 40% increase. Considering current returns on savings accounts, these numbers are simply awesome: Big Lots, Macy’s, Supervalu, Family Dollar stores.
Western Refining Oil: This major oil company cut costs at the same time that it had a large increase in profits due to increased need for oil. Leading to a staggering 126% return on stock.
TRW Automotive: TRW is a company that is related to the automotive industry. As the automotive industry has done well, so has TRW. Since they make safety related items for the automotive industry and there has been not only a rise in the amount of cars sold but a rise in the amount of car manufacturers who want their products they have done quite well in 2011, with a 119% return.