Chipotle stuffs the shorts again

In case you missed it: Chipotle Mexican Grill again served up a hearty plate of huge growth yesterday. Moving CMG up from A- to A, with a side dish of caution due to the forecast of increasing food costs. But this Co, no question about it, is kicking tail and then roasting it, too. Organic tail, that is.

Chipotle Dishes Out Another Big Quarter: Net Up 72%, Sales 36%, Beating Views

By the chart: A- shopping list

Now that Big Ben has essentially told the markets, "You made your bed, go sleep in it," volatility is here to stay.

The good is that strong companies will still maneuver through the muck and reach new territory in the market. Weak companies? Investors will have less of a pain threshold for those little puppies who need boatloads of free cash to stay alive. Rough world.

Looking at the charts, here's how I view my A- picks on the shopping list. A bargain is a bargain is a bargain. No sense overpaying for great stocks when they always come back to a decent price. I don't think we'll see AAPL at $128 again soon, but I think it's a buy here. This list may help you (or not), but it will serve as a reminder to myself to avoid chasing a runner! It happened last week when I added more Nintendo at $62. Whoops.

AAPL 135
Middle of simple and exponential moving averages. Pupule says: Strong buy.

AMZN 79
At top of moving averages. Low volume today. Big fight between longs and shorts. Pupule says: Wait.

BIDU 199
Near top of moving averages. Below-average volume lately. Though I wanted to see BIDU come back down to 175, that looks out of the cards. Pupule says: Buy.

CEO 112
At bottom of moving averages. Soft upside volume, but the funamentals and the new deal in southeast China are positive. Pupule says: Strong buy.
[Note to self: If CEO trades at the same P/E as PetroChina (PTR), its PPS would be 124.]

CMG 108
Floating above moving averages. Pupule says: Wait.

CROX 57
Slightly above moving averages. Pupule says: Wait.

FWLT 106
At bottom of moving averages. Earnings next week. Pupule says: Strong buy.
[Note: FWLT traded at 111 in extended hours. Not so strong a buy at that level, but still in range.]

GOOG 516
No longer below moving averages with the nice gains in the past two sessions because of the wireless advertising (cellphone) dimension. Not as cheap as last week. Pupule says: Buy.

GRMN 100
Floating above moving averages. Pupule says: Wait.

NTDOY.PK 58
Just above moving averages, but this stock is so hot that it rarely trades within. I might get more here. Pupule says: Wait.

RIMM 222
At top of moving averages. Tough call here. Pupule says: Wait.

UA 64
Floating above moving averages. Pupule says: Wait.

Pupule Paul is long AAPL, BIDU, CROX, NTDOY.PK and UA.

Pupule Promotions: CEO, CMG

I've never been to China, but I've been in Taiwan. Never been to Chipotle Mexican Grill, but I do like Chipotle sauce.

So why am I promoting CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) from B+ to A- on my list of stocks? It's love. CNOOC inked another new contract, this time to bring natural gas out of Indonesia to the thriving region of Southeast China.

Growth begets growth, and CNOOC is executing so well and still trading at only 11 times earnings. A steal, especially at $112, where it is trading at the low side of its moving averages.

Chipotle Mexican Grill not only routed earnings estimates, but raised guidance. Other A- picks like Crocs and Under Armor did the same beforehand. CMG is the fastest growing restaurant in America worth buying. When I first saw the stock, it was at $86, and eventually tumbled to $77 on cost issues.

So much for issues. At $108, CMG longs are happy with their smokin' hot stock.

The good news for both stocks is that there's much more upside ahead. China will continue to grow — last quarter was 11.9% growth in the economy. CMG could still expand with success nationwide. The Co knows how to manage and execute efficiently.

They earned the A-.

Smoking hot: Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chiptole may be spicy hot, but my taste buds say it's a slightly sweet, subtle combination of smoky happiness.

Yeah, my nephew took a bite of a chipotle snack wrap from McDonald's the other day and went straight to the kitchen faucet to cool his mouth off. To me, the wrap wasn't spicy at all, just smoky. With the exception of a bunch of "OK" Mexican restaurants on Oahu, that's as close as we get to anything chipotle here.

What's really en fuego is the stock of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Back in early Q2, I heard about CMG and did some digging. The fundamentals were outstanding and I rated the stock a B+. Then came the issue about avocado and cheese costs, and the stock plummeted from $86 — which is where I liked the smoky Chipotle as a B+ pick — to $79. Ai caramba.

The cost issue merited a demotion of CMG to B level. The week before earnings, the stock slipped to $77 and change, but climbed for three days in a row before the report was released. The Co scorched estimates and shares went from $88 to $99 in a day.

Shares are trading at $106 today, a gain of 37% from that mid-day low of $77 on July 26.

The concept of "fast" Mexican food isn't new. The fact that management worked around the rising costs and delivered a home run for investors is worth of a promotion back to B+. The execution and efficiency behind a monster like CMG, well, those are not common. Neither is a CMG in Hawaii. I'll be in line when one finally opens here.

SNDA, CMG bumped down; SNDK a growth monster

Some minor changes and a nice addition to my lists of stock picks.

Shanda Interactive down from B+ to B due to government restrictions on online game "addicts". This nut has been getting screwed for awhile now, and last week, the hammer came down. Shanda (SNDA) will still thrive, but at a slower rate, particularly with intense competition from NetEase.

Chipotle Mexican Grill also down from B+ to B due to increased costs in cheese and avocados. Nothing more.

Spartan Motors? Great company, but the stock was priced for perfect execution. That didn't happen recently, when a key contract fell by the wayside. Down from A- to B+.

SanDisk is clearly in strength now with worldwide demand for flash memory growing. SNDK is a B+ here, and very close to an A-. P/E is 74, but growth will be monstrous.

Also like Starbucks as expansion into a robust Chinese economy continues. China's economy was up 11.9% in Q2 over '06 Q2, which means more spending money and more tea at SBUX. Moved SBUX up from B- to B.