5 All-Star Stocks on Fire

When the clock's ticking down and the game's on the line, which of your teammates do you trust to sink a winning shot? Sure, you could dish the rock to your resident superstar -- but what if he's playing ice-cold at the moment? So instead, you pass to the guy with the hot hand, the one who'll be deemed en fuego tomorrow on ESPN.

Momentum investors are looking for stocks in a similar state of sizzle. But momentum by itself will only get you so far. I prefer to find high-quality stocks that also have some positive inertia on their side. It's like kicking the ball out to your team's superstars when they do have a hot hand.

To find these league-leading winners, I cross-referenced a simple momentum screen with data from The Motley Fool's CAPS investing community. Each of the companies below is up 30% or more over the past year, now trades within 5% of its 52-week high, and has been rated highly by CAPS players.

Sources: Yahoo! Finance, CapitalIQ, and CAPS as of June 16.

At first glance, this sure looks like a high-quality group. But, as always, I highly advise taking a closer look before you throw a bounce pass in the direction of any of these stocks.

Fueling the fuego
As has been the case week after week, our list includes more than its share of plays on energy and other commodities, like Potash Corp, International Coal, and Cameron. International Coal has surged on the continued strong prices for coal, while investors have been excited about Cameron and its flow control products as oil continues to charge ahead. Potash Corp, meanwhile, has been riding the strong tide that has carried many fellow fertilizer and agriculture companies like Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) and Agrium (NYSE:AGU).

Most investors seem to think that the happy days for commodity stocks are set to continue. The expectation is that the insatiable appetites of fast-growing countries like China and India will keep demand strong and prices high for a wide range of commodities. However, as the prices for commodities and the related stocks trek ever higher, a growing number of investors are steering clear in the expectation that speculation has pushed prices higher than even robust global growth can justify.

But don't despair if you want to skip the commodities. Comic powerhouse and Stock Advisor favorite Marvel has been charging ahead and is rated five out of five stars by the CAPS community. Recently, the company has been riding the success of the self-produced Iron Man, as well as expectations that it will rake in some more green from the muscle-bound flick The Incredible Hulk.

On CAPS, players have highlighted the profit potential that stems from the company's production of its own movies. They have also noted the 5,000-strong character pool that the company can tap for future movies. CAPS player dstyes gave the stock a thumbs-up earlier this month, writing:

Spider-Man, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, The Avengers, Blade, Punisher, Nick Fury-Agent of Shield. All of these are in theaters or will be soon. The Marvel movie and merchandising machine will just keep on and on and on. These are all winning brands and people will continue to go to the movies to see them, and buy related merchandise for their kids. Marvel is going to make some serious money this summer, and for the foreseeable future as well!

So do you think any (or all!) of these companies deserve a place on your All-Star team? You can share your thoughts on them -- or check out more of what your fellow Fools have to say -- by stopping by CAPS. And while you're there, you can also take a peek at few more of the 5,700-plus other rated stocks.

I think I heard a "booyah" somewhere out there -- thanks, Stuart Scott!

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