The Best Stocks Right Now

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For the third straight month, oil and gas company Unit Corp. is the favorite stock among the nearly 29,000 rated investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing-intelligence community.

It's been a good year for Unit Corp. Since first making the top-10 list in January, Unit's stock price is up 25% and it received a nod from the folks at Motley Fool Stock Advisor in March.

While Motley Fool Hidden Gems choice Mueller Water has maintained its position as the second-favorite stock on CAPS, we do find some new faces on this week's list:

Company	Market Cap (in millions)
Unit Corp.	$2,635
Mueller Water	$1,815
OMNI Energy Services (Nasdaq: OMNI)	$177
Leucadia National (NYSE: LUK)	$7,316
Huaneng Power International (NYSE: HNP)	$13,605
Helix Energy Solutions (NYSE: HLX)	$3,358
Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ)	$34,340
AAR (NYSE: AIR)	$1,231
Universal Stainless & Alloy Products	$299
Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI)	$3,712

Data provided by Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.

As always, none of the companies on this list should be considered formal recommendations, but rather starting points for further research.

Neither a road nor an island
Chicago Bridge & Iron caught my attention this month, partly because its name is somewhat misleading. The company was indeed founded in Chicago in 1889 as a bridge and iron specialist, but it quickly turned its focus to designing and engineering liquid storage systems -- for oil, gas, water, and so on -- and has continued that focus for nearly a century. Today, it's headquartered in the Netherlands.

As you might imagine, there's a growing demand for its services around the world. In fact, CBI has grown its revenue at nearly 25% per annum over the past five years. Moreover, the company carries zero long-term debt and holds $683 million in cash on its balance sheet. All things considered, CAPS investors are right to have high expectations for this stock. It appears well positioned for market-beating growth.  

Do you want to see what CAPS investors are saying about your stocks? Want to voice your own opinion? You can get started by joining the CAPS community, which is 100% free. Just head here to get started.

Todd Wenning wonders whether they serve deep-dish pizza in Holland. He does not own shares of any company mentioned. The Fool has a disclosure policy.