Hunger Games index tracks stocks most likely to benefit from movie's success

Just in time for Friday's much-hyped premier of “The Hunger Games,” investors might be able to make a few bucks by investing in some of the companies expected to see big benefits from the young-adult thriller. According to KapitallWire.com, a news and research affiliate of the online brokerage Kapitall Inc., there are at least six stocks that are likely to benefit from a solid showing by the movie. Kapitall's Hunger Games Index includes bookseller Amazon.com Inc. Ticker:(AMZN), toymaker Hasbro Inc. Ticker:(HAS), theater operator IMAX Corp. Ticker:(IMAX), producer Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Ticker:(LGF), toymaker Mattel Inc. Ticker:(MAT), and publisher Scholastic Corp. Ticker:(SCHL). So far, the hottest stock in the index Lions Gate, the studio releasing “The Hunger Games” trilogy. The stock is up more than 88% from the start of the year, which compares to an 11.5% gain by the S&P 500 over the same period. IMAX shares are up 43.4%, Scholastic is up 25.2%, Mattel is up 21.2%, Hasbro is up 13%, and Amazon.com is up 10.8%. On an equal-weighted basis, the hypothetical index would have gained 33.6% from the start of the year, and the movie isn't even out yet. “The overall hype and the target audience is similar to what we saw with the Harry Potter movies,” KapitallWire editor Rebecca Lipman said. Shares of Scholastic were “similarly boosted by sales of Harry Potter books when they were first published, and saw higher sales that coincided with new movie releases.” “The Hunger Games” is based on a novel by Suzanne Collins published in hardcover in September 2008 with an initial printing of 200,000 copies. It has since been translated into 26 different languages and production rights have been sold in 38 countries. The second book in the series, “Catching Fire,” was published in September 2009, and the third book, “Mockingjay,” was published in August 2010.