Sometimes, a big market washout like we had on Friday, when the S&P 500 fell 10 points and the Dow was down 170 points at its worst level, can reveal an awful lot about individual stocks. It's days like these when the winners stick out like sore thumbs and reveal just how much demand there is for their shares. On Friday, there was a collection of such stocks.

All the following names have had astounding gains in the past year, and it sure looks like they are prepared to continue on that same trajectory. These stocks stuck out like a sore thumb on Friday because of significant buying interest in a terrible broad market tape. None of the moves in these names was driven by news

Looking at some of the 52-week highs from a week in the market is often indicative of its direction.

Last week Echostar (NASDAQ: DISH) was moving over $52. Its 52-week low is $33.55. The high signals a couple of critical points. The first is that strategic M&A is far from dead. There were a number of rumors and analyst reports that said AT&T (NYSE: T) would be a buyer of the satellite TV company to allow the telco to more effectively compete with cable in the television market. The other reason Echostar has been moving up is that it has been able to add HDTV channels at a more rapid rate than cable because it does not have the bandwidth constraints that cable does. Satellite TV was viewed as dying just a year ago. HDTV demand has changed that. And, while private equity buying may be moribund, a critical technology and customer base is still attractive to another corporate buyer.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) hit a 52-week high last week at $59.75, and it hit it Friday and the market collapsed. But, when investors get nervous, a big global company with a strong balance sheet becomes a haven. Coke has more than a billion in cash and little debt. Its earnings were good. And, perhaps most important, it has a worldwide customer base for inexpensive products. Not the kind of things people will cut out in a tight economy.