A 1-in-100 Investor

The first 100 days in office set the tone for a new president, and likewise, Motley Fool CAPS keeps an eye as well on how investors do in their first 100 days. Some of our best -- we call them All-Stars -- have achieved scores of 100 on stock selections in their first 100 days on CAPS. Since data shows that the best stocks to buy and sell have earned top ratings, might we also assume that when the best players rate the best stocks, there's a correlation?

One of our highest-rated CAPS members is litost, who sports a nearly perfect 99.94 member rating. A member since June 2007, litost currently has 52 active picks on CAPS out of more than 300 stock picks made. Achieving 80% accuracy, litost has also attracted 57 "groupies," CAPS players who've listed this leading investor as one of their favorites.

Here are a few of this top member's most recent stock selections and how they were rated.

Source: Motley Fool CAPS; *Price when call was made. Current score is how many points a member is beating (lagging) the S&P 500 index from the time of the call.

Just because one member thinks some stocks will do well (or not), that doesn't mean you should go out and buy them. These are just suggestions for further research. Speaking of which, let's look at what other CAPS members are saying about some of these stocks and see whether they agree with this top player's assessment.

PotashCorp
Overlay a price chart of potash with the stock market, and you can easily understand why investors think the 50%-plus drop in PotashCorp's stock makes it an attractive valuation prospect. Where market indexes have plummeted, potash prices have remained at record levels.

The labor unrest at this may be contributing in part to the elevated price levels, but as CAPS member GoNuke points out, the demand for food is what's pushing the fertilizer higher.

Hunger isn't going away and the main drivers of demand for more food are economies that are still growing. With a forward [price-to-earnings ratio] of about 4 and almost no debt Potash is going to rebound. Remember: it is in Canada where the financial system didn't melt down so it faces no credit problems. The Canadian dollar has fallen as far as it is likely to relative to the U.S. dollar.

Wynn Resorts
Meanwhile, conventional thinking has always been that even in tough economic times, gambling will survive. And we're not just talking about the corner bodega that might keep drawing in the locals for their "scratchies." No, big-time casinos in depressed markets that cost a bundle to fly to are standing that wisdom on its head. For the big rollers, there are more opportunities than ever, and more exotic locales to choose from.

It's the excess of competition that has investors debating whether Wynn Resorts will outperform the market. CAPS member akok gave three reasons in early July why this company would underperform:

1. Rising fuel prices will make it increasingly more expensive to travel to Las Vegas. ...
2. Increasing competition from in-state gambling facilities. ...
3. Huge overcapacity -- the building boom in Las Vegas in the past few years has resulted in a tremendous overcapacity.

Conversely, lylejudy told us in March that Wynn is benefiting from gambling locales outside Las Vegas: "Wynn Resorts is enjoying a robust [return on investment] from [its] Macau operations. With the expansion in Las Vegas with encore towers and suites and the expansion in Macau I think Wynn is positioned to start [its] climb again."

A 1-in-100 opportunity
Some of the best and smartest members in the CAPS investor-intelligence community have made their mark, but it pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made -- all from a stock's CAPS page.

As hockey great Wayne Gretzky once noted, "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." At Motley Fool CAPS, every investor's opinion counts and since it's free to sign up, why not use this opportunity to take your best shot?

In the coming weeks, Fool co-founder David Gardner and his Motley Fool Pro team will invest $1 million in a portfolio designed to help you make money in any market. The service, which just launched, will rely heavily on proprietary CAPS "community intelligence" data to establish long and short positions in a broad range of securities, including common stocks, publicly traded put and call options, and exchange-traded funds. To learn more about Motley Fool Pro and to receive a private invitation to join, simply enter your email address in the box below.