BusinessWeek has an annal Tech’s Hottest Growth Companies list. Fifty corporations make the cut. The initial list is probably generated by computer and then reviewed by humans, but how some firms make the list is a great mystery.

Take Sprint/Nextel. A negative 14% return to investors over the last year. A profit drop of 27%. At $19.50, the stock trades near the lower end of its 52-week price range.

Opps.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.