By Jonas Elmerraji
Updated at 3:28 p.m. EDT on July 6, 2009

As we approach the second week in July, the markets have done a good job of matching the summer heat by keeping investors sweating.

During last week’s shortened four days of trading, the S&P 500 lost 3.32% of its value, bringing the total loss to 4.65% in the last month. But with the market losing ground, now’s a great time to take advantage of low-priced rocket stocks. These beaten-down stocks have both potential short-term growth catalysts and long-term investment potential.

By the looks of things today, that trend might be continuing into this week, with stock futures sliding further down before the market opened on Monday morning.

First on this week’s list is Equifax (EFX). If you’ve ever checked your credit report, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with this company, one of only three providers of consumer credit scores. Last week, shares tumbled close to 3%, adding to the 24% shares have fallen in the last 12 months. But smart investors should be snapping up this company for a few good reasons.

First and foremost is Equifax’s foothold in an industry with limited competition. With only three credit score vendors out there today, those checking up on their financial fitness are likely to turn to this company. And as consumer lending begins to pick back up, the frequency with which Americans check their credit scores should increase too, pushing up Equifax’s sales along the way.

Those sales have been growing at an impressive tick. Despite weaker results in Equifax’s latest quarter, the company has grown its top line by 34% over the course of the last three years, and analysts expect modest growth this year as well. With financial sector sentiment already priced into this company, buying Equifax on weakness looks good right now.

Recently, shares were gaining 26 cents, or 1%, at $25.68 after being slightly down in the day.

TiVo (TIVO) has been riding a legal rollercoaster ride of late and getting a bad rap. While the company fell to a loss on soft sales volume in the last two quarters, it has managed to beat analyst expectations over and over again and maintains a strong, debt-free balance sheet in addition to its hefty vault of DVR intellectual property.

Don’t expect this dog to be down and out for long. Investors have been reactionary for some time with TiVo, and those who stayed in for the long haul haven’t been disappointed by this stock.

On Monday morning, TiVo was down 11 cents, or 1.2%, at $8.98.

The name of insurer American Financial Group (AFG) might sound the warning bells for investors who are still wary of financials, but this company put its money where its mouth is last quarter, growing profit by 37% and reaffirming strong guidance for its 2009 fiscal year.

Those announcements were only the latest bits of good news for this best-in-breed insurance stock, despite a 2008 that left many insurers reeling over losses, AFG has remained profitable, even going so far as to double its net margins to 10.91% last quarter. That’s largely because AFG investments weren’t hit nearly as hard as those of many competitors (AIG (AIG) anyone?).

In 2009, this company hopes to grow through some of its most recent acquisitions. And with reasonable financials and a decent dividend flow, there’s no reason this company this company should be trading so cheaply.

AFG was adding 45 cents, or 2.1%, to $21.45 on Monday afternoon.

Stericyle (SRCL) finished last week down, but only barely. The company, which manages and disposes of regulated medical waste, operates in an industry that’s largely recession-resistant. That’s proved itself over the course of the last year. While the S&P 500 has tumbled almost 30% over the course of the last 12 months, Stericycle is actually up about 0.4%.

Stericylce has a bright future ahead of it. With a burgeoning baby-boomer population racking up ever-increasing medical costs, it's sure to boost the volume of medical waste -- and Stericycle’s business along with it.

Recently, Stericycle was down 12 cents at $50.10 in Monday afternoon trading.

For more ideas, including Philip Morris (PM) and Citigroup (C), check out the Rocket Stock Portfolio.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in any stocks mentioned.