Top 10 Summer Stocks

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Top Summer Stock #5: Lowe's Companies

Summer is all about outdoor fun in our decked-out backyards. And Lowe's Companies (LOW) is helping to outfit those backyards with patio furniture and gas grills. The nation's second-largest home improvement chain recently posted quarterly earnings that easily bested Wall Street's forecasts, thanks in part to shoppers buying paints, plants and replacement parts in the first quarter. It also raised its full-year profit outlook.

Like much of the rest of the housing and home improvement industry, LOW has been battered by falling home prices, rising foreclosures and unemployment rates, and worsening consumer confidence. But according to ChangeWave Alliance research, we are starting to see a bottoming in the rate of decline of the economic metrics we measure. As this bottoming process continues, we are likely to see consumers purchasing more home improvement products, and that's means good news for Lowe's shareholders.

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