Shares of the average S&P 500 company have fallen more than 12% in four weeks. Crude oil's price has fallen closer to 20% during that stretch, so it's no surprise that firms that earn their profits from the stuff are among the index's biggest losers. Fewer than one in 10 index members has produced a share price gain over the past four weeks. Only a handful of these are up more than a smidgen. Below are listed the index's three biggest gainers during the four weeks ended Monday. They rose by double-digit percentages while the broad market fell by the same.

Momentum stocks, even odds-defying ones like these, are best avoided during market declines. However, if the current correction proves brief and the stock market resumes its ascent, these shares might be among the first to attract active traders looking to funnel money into what's working. As always, for long-term investors, valuation matters most, and not all of these stocks seem cheap.

Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel is smaller than rivals Verizon and AT&T, and the firm has operated at a loss for years. A year ago, the company was attracting only 12% of new cellular plan accounts, down from 25% at its peak, according to Morningstar Equity Research. Now it's back up to 18%, but signs of a full-fledged turnaround are still scarce. There are some bright points. The company's purchase last year of Virgin Mobile gives it a top brand in no-contract wireless service, which customers are defecting to from traditional plans, and Sprint's nationwide network gives it a competitive advantage over the innumerable smaller no-contract firms. Sprint remains cash flow positive for now. Its assets are valuable, if underutilized. The stock received a rating upgrade from Deutsche Bank to "buy" from "hold" in early May. It's possible that recent interest in the shares also has to do with posts to Apple fan sites like MacRumors.com speculating that Sprint will soon service the iPhone, echoing similar rumors about Verizon. All that said, the company owes more than its stock market value, and its sales are forecast to decline slightly this year and next.

Akamai Technologies

The Internet stock bubble popped more than a decade ago, yet shares of Akamai Technologies sell for 28 times this year's forecast profit. That's about double the broad U.S. stock market's historic price/earnings ratio. The company's EdgePlatform optimizes Internet routes and copies content to increase the speed and reliability of customer web sites. Financial performance has been strong of late, with earnings topping Wall Street forecasts over the past three quarters and sales expected to increase by 16% this year and 14% next year. A push toward "cloud computing," whereby programs are run through web sites rather than locally on user machines, bodes well for demand for Akamai's services. It's difficult to justify the stock's price using the company's current income or even its near-term growth forecasts. The recent run-up might be merely another of the fast but temporary moves for which the stock has become known. Shortly after Akamai's late-1999 stock market debut, its share price rocketed to more than $300 -- and then plunged to pocket change by autumn 2002. Shares topped $50 in 2006 and sank below $10 in 2008. Now they're close to $40.

Pactiv

Pactiv shares lost 3% Tuesday on reports that the maker of plastic cups, egg cartons and trash bags isn't as close to a buyout deal as previously thought. Stockholders have nonetheless made good money in recent weeks. Earlier this month The Wall Street Journal reported that private-equity firm Apollo Global Management was in talks with Pactiv over a potential takeover, citing "people familiar with the situation." In a follow-up story, the Journal reported that paper and packaging firms Georgia Pacific and New Zealand's Rank Group had joined the bidding. Tuesday, the New York Post reported that although Apollo is interested, it's still deciding whether to make an offer, according to "sources close to the situation." Deal or no deal, shares seem reasonably priced at less than 13 times earnings.