By Robert Martorana

June 22, 2007 8:50 AM ET

Stocks rose modestly on Thursday after a volatile session, as bond yields stabilized and oil prices fell 22 cents to $68.64. The market looks set for a weak opening on Friday as problems continue at Bear Stearns Corp. (BSC). Bear Stearns is getting hit with losses at two of its hedge funds that invested in mortgage securities, and they are under rising pressure due to a meltdown in subprime lending. This is hurting the entire brokerage group, as I discussed on Thursday.

One interesting trend is that higher food costs are hurting Starbucks, Sonic, and J.M. Smucker. The stocks of both Starbucks and Sonic fell sharply Thursday, while J.M. Smucker shares rose as the company profited from problems at rival vendors of peanut butter.

Each day we highlight stocks that are making big moves, and we focus on companies with attractive PowerRatings (for Investors). Historic results show that stocks with high PowerRatings have outperformed the market averages...