Small cap investors were betting on the future, as they scanned many sectors for bargains after Monday's market beating. Tuesday's best stocks came from such diverse areas as gambling and apparel to technology and old-line media, with investors eyeing the positive potential impact of the day's events on their favorites.

Overall investors saw some upbeat signs Tuesday in stocks, after a report on U.S. retail sales in May turned out not being as bad as expected. The news helped to temporarily push the debt woes of European nations, including Greece, off the front burner.

The Russell 2000 index finished 1.85 percent higher, while the Standard & Poor's Small Cap 600 rose 2.14 percent, as both outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose 1.03 percent, and the S&P 500, ending 1.26 percent higher.

Tuesday's Top Performing Small Cap Stocks (Data provided by Capital IQ)

Tiicker	Company Name	Closing Price	%Change
Nasdaq: NYNY	Empire Resorts	$0.595	31.5%
NYSE: MEG	Media General	$3.95	17.6%
Nasdaq: JOEZ	Joe's Jeans	$0.76	15.2%
Nasdaq: SYNM	Snytroleum	$1.92	15.0%
Nasdaq: HTCH	Hutchinson Technologies	$2.35	13.5%

Empire Resorts (Nasdaq: NYNY): The casino developer's shares shot up after the Bureau of Indian Affairs rescinded a Bush-era directive limiting where off-reservation tribal developments could take place. It's likely to resurrect a casino deal with the St. Regis Mohawks at a shuttered Monticello, N.Y., racetrack. 

Media General (NYSE: MEG): The owner of newspapers and TV stations mostly in the Southeast shot up. Investors were speculating MEG might unlock shareholder value with a divestiture like the one announced by McGraw-Hill Cos. of its broadcasting unit.

Joe's Jeans (Nasdaq: JOEZ): The maker of casual wear rebounded following a June 10 announcement that it had received a delisting notice from Nasdaq.

Syntroleum (Nasdaq: SYNM): The producer of synthetic jet fuel out of chicken fat rose after a Dow Jones story talked up biofuel's potential to cut costs in the aviation industry.   

Hutchinson Technology (Nasdaq: HTCH): The supplier of key disk drive parts and other products raised its outlook for the current quarter ending June 26, saying it's on target to ship 10 percent more drive assemblies than the 102.3 million of the previous quarter.