Optimistic investors took advantage of the extra day in February this Leap Year, pushing the Dow above 13,000 points – albeit briefly – for the first time since May 2008 and moving the closely watched index up 319.16 points, or 2.53%, for the month.

Those gains came on the heels of a robust January during which the Dow rallied up 3.4%, the best January percentage gain since 1997.

For some companies, there was a lot to love about February.

Here’s an interactive slide show highlighting the 5 best-performing Dow component stocks for February 2012.

Source: Dow Jones Indexes