Through May, the S&P 500 is down 5%. The interesting news to me is that some stocks have been doing phenomenally well. They appear to be benefiting from the weak dollar and strong demand for raw materials -- like oil and coal -- in emerging markets.

It happens that I picked three of them for my newsletter -- whose average stock has risen 26% since the beginning of 2008. Here are the top three -- and how much they've risen since their first mention there:

• Walter Industries (NYSE: WLT) +124%. Walter is a coal, natural gas, and home construction and finance company that is spinning off the latter and is benefiting from rising coal prices.
• Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN) +36%. Southwest is an oil and gas explorer that was just added to the S&P 500.
• Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) +24%. Burlington runs trains and Warren Buffett owns its stock. One analyst boosted 2008 EPS estimates from $5.90 to $6.05 due to fuel surcharges and rate increases, partially offset by significantly higher unhedged fuel costs and flat-to-modestly-lower volumes.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Cypress Bioscience Inc. (NASDAQ: CYPB) option implied volatility above 200 suggests Risk into Data.
CYPB closed at $7.66. Data from CYPB's end PII Milnacipran (Fibromyalgia Syndrome: FMS) trail, is expected to be released before mid-year. CYPB June option implied volatility is above 200 according to Track Data, suggesting large price fluctuation risk.

South West Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) implied volatility suggests less Risk as SWN at record High.
SWN, an energy company focused on natural gas, closed at $44.35. SWN has a market cap of $7.5 billion with long term debt of $136 million. SWN reported 2006 annual revenue of $763 million. SWN is expected report EPS on 5/1. SWN May option implied of 38 below its 26-week average of 46 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price risks.

Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.