Should You Buy These Stocks Now?

Some stocks simply have such great potential that "everyone" knows they're a good buy today. Yeah, right.

If we knew in advance that LabCorp would return more than 1,600% over the past decade, we'd have mortgaged our house on it -- and yours, too! It's easy after the fact to see which companies have been winning investments. But we need to know beforehand which stocks will grow tens of thousands of percent in value over the years. That's where Motley Fool CAPS comes in.

The more than 81,000 professional and novice investors in CAPS rarely agree on a stock's prospects. Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Satyam Computer (NYSE: SAY) is a well-respected, top-rated stock, for instance, but only 814 of the 823 CAPS players to rate it believe it will outperform the market. So when you come across a stock that "everyone" on CAPS thinks will outperform, you've got something special. Here are a handful of those "obvious" investments.

As always, none of the companies on this list should be considered formal recommendations -- just starting points for further research. We've simply used CAPS to narrow down your workload.

A safe haven
A Swiss bank account has always had the reputation of being safe and secure. The country's official position of neutrality has enabled it to avoid the costly ravages of wars. Yet CAPS players are looking farther north to find what they believe will be a safe haven for investors.

Sweden's economy has generally been insulated from the crises of the world, with inflation and unemployment at their lowest levels in about 15 years. Yet the government recently announced that problems in the U.S. housing markets will begin to take a toll on Sweden's economic growth. Despite a move toward more market-based approaches -- it began privatizing a number of industries last year -- Sweden is ready to open the spending spigot to stave off a decline.

Among the top holdings of the iShares MSCI Sweden exchange-traded fund are cell-phone operator Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERIC), Nordea Bank, and retailer H&M. Investing primarily in the industrial materials and financial services sectors, the fund got hurt when Ericcson -- which at one point accounted for 25% of its holdings -- posted sharp losses last fall. Ericcson now makes up less than 11% of the portfolio.

Top-rated CAPS All-Star SGSwede likes the ETF, considering the economic trends at work in the country.

Sweden has always put economic balance, 'the middle way', as their most important issue for the last hundred years or so. Despite the fact they've had their bouts with high unemployment rates, and extremely high taxes due to the social welfare state of the country, they are solid, and the economy is booming ...

The high influx of refugees and immigrants is putting strain on the welfare system, but it is also bringing cheap labor. I think they'll be okay, and grow around it.

Probably the most important thing is that they are slowly privatizing what was once a monarchy and a socialist state. As this economy becomes more and more private, we'll get ready to see an explosive economic boom.

Go Sweden!

Let's hear from you
What's your take on these or other "obvious" winning investments? Is this a slick chance to oil up your portfolio with the next "buy now" stock?  If you want to add your 2 cents, sign up to join the Motley Fool CAPS community, which is 100% free.