A look at 52-week highs and lows

A look at 52-week highs and lows often gives some clue about market sentiment for the week ahead.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG): Safe, safe, safe. The high in these shares at $74.60 was hit at the end of the week. The 52-week low was just above $60. But if consumer spending stays even marginally good, P&G is considered rock solid, especially with financial, tech, and automotive all showing signs of dips into the end of the year. The company also has a yield of almost 2%, operating income of over $2 billion a quarter, and $4.6 billion of cash on its balance sheet.

Pepsico (NYSE: PEP): Another big anchor for any storm hit a 52-week high of $77.18, up from a low for the period of $61.46. It's another bet on low-priced consumer spending being OK in the U.S. and global product diversification. People buy Pepsi everywhere. PEP is another 2% yield stock with operating income running over $2 billion a quarter. It's hard to see this one getting knocked down unless the market looks like the 1930s.

Disney (NYSE: DIS): The entertainment company made a 52-week low early in the week, falling to $30.68 from a period high of $36.79. There are probably two factors hurting the shares. The Hollywood writers' strike could harm production of some important content that the company needs to make revenue targets. And the theme park business, which involves consumer travel and big spending, will probably take a bath in a slow economy.

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD): PC and server component prices are still getting squeezed as results from companies like Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) slowed. And the market hates debt now. AMD has over $5.1 billion in the stuff in a rocky credit market. Its negative operating income is not going to keep its customers from pounding it for better pricing.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.