After a brutal August, Wall Street got off the right foot in September. The major indexes finished up dramatically this week – with a nearly +3% gain for the Dow, and a +3.5% gain for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes. As a result some big stocks rose to new highs, including Dow components DuPont (NYSE: DD) and McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), tobacco stocks Lorillard (NYSE: LO) and Phillip Morris (NYSE: PM) and tech firms including Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS).

A rising tide lifts all boats, as they say, so there weren’t a whole lot of 52-week lows among blue chip stocks. But there were a few stocks that managed to bottom out, among them Toyota Motors (NYSE: TM).

Here’s a breakdown of the big winners and big losers this week:

52-Week Lows

First, the easy stuff – the short list of stocks making lows that actually trade a significant number of shares.

Perhaps the most noteworthy was Toyota Motors (NYSE: TM), which bottomed out Thursday at a new 52-week low of $67.56 before bouncing back significantly today. A drop of -34% in August sales did not please Wall Street. The 52-week high for TM is $91.97, set back in January when the auto industry seemed healthy and recalls had yet to plague the Japanese auto giant.

Another low of note would be Hercules Offshore (NASDAQ: HERO), which gapped down to briefly touch a 52-week low of $2.05 on Thursday as well. Something about an oil rig explosion in the Gulf sent traders running to hit the “sell” button, though how bad can a rig explosion get? Oh yeah, I guess there was that whole BP thing… The high end of the year’s trading for HERO is $7.28.

Collective Brands (NYSE: PSS), parent of Payless Shoes, gave up -9% in one day Thursday thanks to a brutal earnings miss – not a raw slide in sales, but rather a miss of analyst targets of 45 cents with a mere 32 cents a share. PSS stock has fought back today, but briefly touched a new low of $12.41 late yesterday. The top end of Collective Brands 52-week range is $26.65.

52-Week Highs

Burger King (NYSE: BKC) set a new 52 week high of $23.65 in trading today to close out the week. In case you’ve been living under a rock, BK agreed to a $3.26 billion buyout by 3G Capital this week. The low end of BKC stock’s 52 week range is $16.31 if you care, but since the stock will be going private there’s not much reason to watch prices going forward. Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM), operator of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut among others, rose on the restaurant buyout news to a new high as well. Thanks to strong volume, the new numbers for YUM are $44.38 on the high end with a 52-week low of $32.49.

On the tobacco front, Lorillard (NYSE: LO), Philip Morris (NYSE: MO) and British American Tobacco (AMEX: BTI) all pushing up past or near new 52-week highs. Competition is light, regulation is high and dividends are plush in this sector – so it appears investors looking to reduce their risk have been taking shelter in these picks. Lorillard also was among stocks increasing dividend yields this week, approving a 12.5% increase in its quarterly payout, which may have piqued interest among income investors. The 52-week ranges of the stocks are $70.24 to $82.26 for Lorrilard, $17.28 to $22.99 for Philip Morris and $56.00 to $71.86 for British American. LO got near its April high but didn’t break through, while MO and BTI set new peaks in trading today.

Dow components that broke out this week include McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) and DuPont (NYSE: DD). Dupont is at the peak of its 52-week range of $30.06 to $42.75, and likely benefited from some good press this week as many outlets doing an August wrap-up (including IP.com) pointed out DD is by far the best Dow performer year-to-date, with over +26% profits so far in 2010. Similar sentiment may have lifted McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), which is up nearly +20% year-to-date for the Dow’s #2 spot. The restaurant buyout crowd may have also had a hand in boosting McDonald’s stock volume too. MCD set a new 52-week high in early trading Friday before rolling back. The 52-week range for McDonald’s stock is $53.88 to $75.35.

Another interesting trend was the success of discounters Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) and Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR), which both set new 52-week highs in early trading today. Both of these companies have managed to beat big box behemoth Walmart (NYSE: WMT) at its own game of lowball pricing, and have succeed thanks to urban locations and higher quality stock. Get a complete take on the Walmart vs. Dollar Store war here. Favorable retail sales numbers this week encouraged investors to pick up FDO and DLTR, especially after strong earnings from both stocks recently. Family Dollar’s 52-week range is $25.52 to $44.07. Dollar Tree’s 52-week range is $29.80 to $47.50. Both stocks broke out to new highs in early trading Friday, then rolled back.

Other 52-week highs include soon-to-be married telecoms Century Link (NYSE: CTL) and Qwest (NYSE: Q). CTL stock has a 52-week range of $14.16 to $37.15, while Q stock trades in a range of $3.30 to $5.85. The December high for CTL still holds, barely, while Qwest has set a new high mark.

And in case that’s not enough, here are a few more in a list that is anything but complete:

• Citrix (NASDAQ: CTXS) hit a 52-week high of $62.86. CTXS stock has a 52-week low $34.31.
• Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) hit a 52-week high of $142.50. NFLX stock has a 52-week low of $39.27. And no, that’s not a typo – the stock is up +240% in the last year of trading.
• Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN) hit a 52-week high of $318.00. PCLN stock has a 52-week low of $149.17.
• Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) hit a 52-week high of $79.61. UNP stock has a 52-week low of $54.20.

As of this writing, Jeff Reeves did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.