Hindsight is always best and today's list is the S&P 500 stocks that had the highest price appreciation in the last 12 months. I used Barchart to sort the S&P 500 Index stocks for the highest price performance in the last year.

Today's list includes Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), United States Steel (NYSE:X), Alcoa (NYSE:AA) and Delta Airlines (NYSE:DAL):

Southwest Airlines (LUV) 151.80%

Barchart technical indicators:

• 96% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 99 new highs and up 151.80% in the last year
• Relative Strength Index 76.48%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 31.56
• Recently traded at 32.23 with a 50 moving average of 28.52

Micron Technology (MU) 150.30%

Barchart technical indicators:

• 56% Barchart technician buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 59 new highs and up 150.30% in the last year
• Relative Strength Index 57.16%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 32.44
• Recently traded at 32.99 with a 50 day moving average of 32.41

United States Steel (X) 116.32%

Barchart technical indicators:

• 96% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 49 new highs and up 116.32% in the last year
• Relative Strength Index 77.17%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 38.06
• Recently traded at 39.03 with a 50 day moving average of 30.65

Alcoa (AA) 110.98%

Barchart technical indicators:

• 88% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 52 new highs and up 110.98%
• Relative Strength Index 61.36%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 16.44
• Recently traded at 16.71 with a 50 day moving average of 15.95

Delta Airlines (DAL) 110.15%

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 57 new highs and up 100.15% in the last year
• Relative Strength Index 61.39%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 39.63
• Recently traded at 40.16 with a 50 day moving average of 38.21