Zacks.com featured expert Kevin Matras highlights: Amedisys, Greenbrier Cos., Mercury General, Scholastic Corp. and Super Micro Computer

CHICAGO, Aug. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Stocks in this week's article include: Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED – Free Report), Greenbrier Cos. (NYSE: GBX – Free Report), Mercury General (NYSE: MCY – Free Report), Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHL – Free Report) and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI – Free Report). Getting into one of the top Zacks Ranked Industries will increase your odds of success by 2 to 1.

Screen of the Week written by Kevin Matras of Zacks Investment Research:

We've all heard the old adage that 50% of a stock's price movement can be attributed to the group that it's in.

In fact, studies have shown that just getting into an average stock in a strong industry is likely to outperform a great stock in a poor industry.

Of course, this does not mean that you can just pick any stock in a top group and expect to make money. But, it does underscore the importance of sticking with the best industries.

If your last losing stock was in a poorly performing industry, the odds of success were against you the entire time.

But identifying the best stocks in the best industries is easy to do. And the Zacks Industry Rank is the ideal way to do that so you can put the odds of success in your favor on your very next trade.

Remember, a top Zacks Industry Rank means more stocks within that group are receiving upward earnings estimate revisions. That means something positive is happening to that group. Not just that stock, but for the bulk of those stocks within that industry's business.

If it has a poor Industry Rank, that means more companies within that industry are receiving downward earnings estimate revisions. In other words, conditions are tough for that industry's business right now, causing the analysts following that group to lower their estimates.

Simply put, your most profitable stocks will be those with upward earnings estimate revisions in the industries enjoying the same.

Learn all about this strategy in the complete

Screen of the Week article by visiting Zacks.com at:

http://www.zacks.com/commentary/33790/

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

About Screen of the Week

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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