Three Rolling Stones For Mossy Portfolios

It's a tad ironic, really. Each day of market tepidness encourages more of the same the next day, and so on, and so on. The SPDRs (NYSE:SPY), for instance, are back where they were in late May, and for that matter, where they were last November - a frustrating lack of progress for that much time. Even worse, they seem to be settling around the $110 area. It's a nasty, self-feeding trend that will end sometime (hopefully), but in the meantime, the search for stocks that are actually moving is forcing us further and further down the market cap scale. Good news though - they are out there, and they actually deserve the progress they're making.

In no particular order, here are three small caps giving their owners a little progress at a point in time when it's hard to come by.

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Republic Airways Finally Takes Flight
To be fair, the upward momentum from Republic Airways (Nasdaq:RJET) didn't develop until a few weeks ago. However, that may actually work to its advantage.

The nice gains posted by the Claymore/NYSE Arca Airline ETF (NYSE:FAA) since the beginning of the year - peaking at 23% in April - proved to be a little more weight than these stocks could shoulder, as the fund has done well to tread water throughout June.

Republic Airways, on the other hand, didn't participate in the early rally, and as such, isn't participating in the pullback. Instead, RJET has emerged as a leader since the end of May, gaining 6%, and still climbing.

Don't misunderstand - Republic Airways' numbers have been more of a misses than hits over the last four quarters. Given the recent rise in share price though, I'm going to trust the market's optimism about its future more than I respond to the hard facts of history. Perhaps investors are connecting the dots with regional airline competitors United Airlines (Nasdaq:UAUA) and Southwest (NYSE:LUV), both of which swung to a profit in their fiscal first quarters.

No Need For Needles
It's a bit of a surprise to see Antares Pharma Inc, (AMEX:AIS) to be named on a bullish progress list, considering the medical supply and equipment group has actually underperformed the S&P500 for the better part of the year. But, results are results - AIS is up 55% year-to-date, yet still going strong.

As was the case with Republic Jet, I have to assume it's optimism about the future that's driving the progress for Antares Pharma, 'cause the past isn't much to write home about, and the addition to the Russell 3000 Index will only carry AIS for so long.

Then again, even if Antares only does half as much revenue in 2011 as expected, it would still be a huge win for shareholders. See, what remains largely obscured about this company is the forecasted top line growth from about $15 million this year to $39 million next year. Too much to be plausible? Don't rule it out - this is one of those biotech stories that may well live up to the hype.

In simplest terms, Antares makes a needleless - and approved - drug delivery device that Teva Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:TEVA) will be using to distribute a human growth hormone. And, there are three other partnerships with Teva. That's not 'news' per se, but assuming this alternative injection device works out (and there's no reason to think it won't), this business could explode well beyond the four needleless or mini-needle applications currently in development.

Predictable, or Proven?

And finally, what list of survivor stocks would be complete without a strong dividend payer from the energy sector? How about an 8% yield along with an opportunity for capital appreciation?

That's what you've got with Pioneer Southwest Energy (NYSE:PSE). The icing in the cake is the reliable - albeit erratic from day to day - price progress we've been seeing from the shares themselves; they're up 12% for the year so far, while the broad market is down 5%.

The Bottom Line
As far as MLP's go, Pioneer isn't particularly special. It's small though, and being off the radar may prove more beneficial than not for the remainder of the year. For what it's worth though, Pioneer Southwest has topped EPS estimates in each if its last four quarters. So, that yield should be pretty well protected. (To learn more, see Market Cap, Equal Weight And Fundamental Indexing.)

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