If I could only lead my readers to more home runs as I did in my article about the "Great Donut Debate". Alas, home runs are the exception.

At the time I didn't know one of the two companies, Krispy Kreme, would skyrocket in the two days following the article's publication. All I knew is the company would report earnings last Thursday and that I had done a good deal of research about it.

Now I'm sharing some research I and some of my colleagues have done on another company, one of the leading providers of mining equipment for the extraction of coal, copper, iron ore, oil sands and other minerals in the world.

Investors are rotating from defensive, dividend paying stocks to cyclical names as the market continues to move higher and the economy improves, two analysts told CNBC on Thursday.

"I think that we've seen the pattern start six weeks ago. It's been all cyclicals," said Scott Wren, senior equity analyst at Wells Fargo. "That was after a good run from the defensives. I think that's over. I think the pattern for the next 18-24 months is going to be very cyclical for the market."

Health Management Associates rallied hard in the first quarter, and the bulls came back to the hospital operator on Friday.

OptionMonster's monitoring programs detected the purchase of almost 4,500 June 14 calls in volume far above the strike's previous open interest of just 22 contracts. Premiums rose from $0.50 to $0.80, which shows the strong buying interest.

These calls lock in the price where shares can be purchased, so they can generate significant leverage if the stock rallies. Their cheap entry price also helps investors manage risk.

Guess? shares surged more than 9 percent Friday following better-than-expected profit despite a significant decline from the year before.

Investors cheered the fashion apparel and accessories company's ability to manage their profitability despite significantly slower sales in the May 4-ending quarter. For the latest Guess stock price click here.

Option activity has been heavy in Ford Motor, and yesterday traders adjusted some winning bets to position for even more gains.

Earlier in the week, OptionMonster's tracking programs detected buying in the Weekly 15.50 calls that expire at the end of today's session for $0.08 through $0.11. The stock traded near $16 yesterday, and the options had risen to the $0.30 to $0.40 range.

This time, investors sold those contracts and bought the June 16 calls for $0.22 and $0.26. That let them take in a small credit, while keeping them on track for more gains with the new options if the stock keeps driving higher.

The book industry, rattled by the surge in e-book sales through online retailers, is poised for consolidation, said Brian Napack, a former Macmillan president and senior advisor at Providence Equity Partners.

"We're in a major battle right now for the future of the industry," Napack said Wednesday at BookExpo America, the industry's annual convention held at the Javits Center in New York. "It will be very difficult for the existing major players to stand alone in the face of growing scale because they are competing for the same authors and competing for the same distribution channels. There are only so many big companies in this business."

Financials are the most undervalued group in the market and Fed tapering will eventually be a boon for the sector, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.

After the recent IPO of Philadelphia area firm Customers Bancorp, Cramer said that because Chairman and CEO Jay Sidhu is running the company "the smartest people in banking want to be bankers again." Sidhu is a veteran of the industry and is best known for building Boston-based Sovereign Bank to be one of the 20 largest banks in the country before its sale to the Santander Group.

Customers Bank, is a community-based bank with $3.5 billion in assets and 14 offices across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, a much smaller company for Sidhu.

"That group is the most undervalued group in the market," Cramer said of the banking sector.

Facebook shares have not made a lot of friends lately. The shares have dropped 8 percent in a week, and the stock is down almost 30 percent from its January high. So has the stock simply gotten too cheap not to buy?

Scott Kessler thinks so. He covers Facebook for S&P Capital IQ, and on Wednesday afternoon, he upgraded Facebook to "buy" from "hold," slapping a $33 price target on the stock.

BMO Capital Markets and Jefferies also have upgraded Facebook, respectively, to "outperform" and "buy."

"The bottom line is that the fundamentals are pretty darn strong, and we think the valuation has gotten pretty attractive as the stock has declined," Kessler told CNBC.com in a telephone interview.

(Read More: Nasdaq Hit With $10 Million Fine for Facebook IPO)

Kessler believes that Facebook will benefit from several innovations that the market hasn't yet been given an opportunity to understand. "Facebook has acquired Instagram, launched Gifts, launched Graph Search, and launched Home," he noted. "All of those were pretty significant, but when the company was asked or was presented with the opportunity, they indicated that they don't have significant plans to look to monetize those four properties or offerings."

However, Kessler is willing to give Facebook some time. "When it comes to these newer properties and offerings, our view is that it's OK if the company takes time to build them and refine them and get them to critical mass."

In addition, Facebook's strong balance sheet gives the company "a lot of financial flexibility," Kessler said. "They can look at acquisitions, and they can look at substantial investments. Some of their competitors cannot do that."

But Kessler says the stock's drop is "the key."

"The stock is trading at a pretty high multiple," Kessler admitted, "but Facebook trades on par with their peers, in terms of 2013 price-to-earnings ratio, and it also has a comparable growth rate. We think that they should be trading at a premium to peers, given its significant global brand, reach and market position. In addition, they are just starting the process of monetizing a number of different areas."

On the other hand, Mike Khouw of DASH Financial thinks that paradoxically, Facebook's slide could further burden the stock.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber was strong again yesterday, and traders continue to position for upside later in the year.

OptionMonster's tracking systems detected the purchase of almost 8,500 October 18 calls against previous open interest of just 226 contracts. The largest block fetched $0.45.

Owning calls locks in the price where shares can be purchased in the tire maker. They could provide major leverage in a rally because of their cheap entry price. For instance, a 30 percent move in the stock price would translate into a profit of more than 300 percent.

It could well be no one will win the console wars, a conclusion that should scare investors in both Sony and Microsoft.

My source on this is my college-age son John, a long-time gamer who has been regaling us at dinner for a year on the machinations of the gaming industry. He has graduated from pure gaming to watching others play games on "Let's Play" and reading the industry's blogs.