WINNERS – THE BEST STOCKS OF 2013

As 2013 quickly comes to a close, there are plenty of happy stock pickers. With U.S. stocks surging, it was the best year to be in stocks since the dot-com days. But for the stocks below, it was more than a just a very good year.

Whether it was an up-and-coming technology (Tesla and its electric cars), a hot new IPO (Twitter), a reborn business (Best Buy), or the preferred football of the hedge-fund boys (Herbalife), the momentum stocks in 2013 were huge winners, and they made their investors look like geniuses.

(Percentage gains are as of Friday’s closing price.)

Herbalife - Up 138%

Bill Ackman, shield your eyes.

Shares of the nutritional-supplement maker surged 138% and hit fresh record highs in 2013, soaring despite allegations by Mr. Ackman that the company operates an illegal pyramid scheme.

In December 2012, the billionaire hedge-fund manager publicly announced he made a large wager against the stock due to his longstanding objections of Herbalife’s business model. The company has vehemently denied these allegations. Herbalife, meanwhile, has reported upbeat quarterly results and earlier this month received a clean bill of health from its new auditors.

Still, Mr. Ackman isn’t backing down. Last week, he made fresh allegations of operational impropriety and promised to reveal more dirt on Herbalife in 2014. The bulls remain unfazed: “We’d like to thank Mom, Jesus, and the short sellers” for Herbalife’s recent successes, D.A. Davidson analyst Tim Ramey wrote to clients earlier this month.

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