5 Best Stock Ideas Of November

After a strong 8.3 percent gain in the month of October, the S&P 500 traded mostly flat throughout the month of November. After a mid-month dip as low as 2019, the S&P closed out the month at around the 2080 level.

The month brought some huge stock moves in both directions, as Q3 earnings reports and news of M&A deals poured in throughout November. Here’s a list of the five best-performing S&P 500 stocks in the past month.

5. Norfolk Southern Corp. NSC
The number five top performer saw a huge November price spike not on earnings news, but on buyout news. Norfolk Southern’s stock jumped 11 percent on November 9 after reports surfaced that Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) CP was raising funds in an effort to acquire Norfolk. Norfolk Southern closed out November up 18.0 percent on the month.

4. Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc PCL
On November 9, Plum Creek’s stock jumped 12 percent following news of a $8.4 billion buyout by Weyerhaeuser Co WY. Plum Creek finished November up 25.6 percent on the month.

3. Illumina, Inc. ILMN
Illumina marked a grand arrival to the S&P 500 by finishing the month as one of the index’s top performers. When it was announced on November 13 that Illumina would be joining the S&P 500, the company’s shares surged 7.9 percent. Illumina finished November up 26.2 percent.

2. Qorvo Inc QRVO
Qorvo is the biggest earnings mover on this month’s list. Qorvo jumped 12 percent when the company beat Q3 earnings expectations and announced a new $1 billion share repurchase program. Qorvo finished the month of November up 32.5 percent.

1. Airgas, Inc. ARG
On November 17, Airgas announced a $13.4 billion merger with Air Liquide at a buyout price nearly 50 percent higher than Airgas’s one-month average share price. The stock ultimately climbed 42.7 percent in November.

Year-to-date, however, digital video giant Netflix, Inc. NFLX remains the top performer in the S&P 500, gaining 152.7 percent so far in 2015.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.