The Best Investing Ideas in Conglomerates

Chasing highfliers is a sucker's game. But tracking monthly trends across the market can lead to great investment ideas, as well as shed new light on stocks you already have in your portfolio.

Let's take a look at the biggest movers in Conglomerates. These stocks -- which include companies from industrial conglomerates, chemicals, electrical equipment, and machinery -- have clocked some of the biggest gains during the past six months.

Conglomerate Market Movers

Company	Industry	CAPS Rating (out of 5)	26-Week Return	Market Cap	Price / Earnings
Textron (NYSE: TXT  )	Industrial Conglomerates	***	4.7	5.68B	29.16
General Electric (NYSE: GE  )	Industrial Conglomerates	****	5.3	172.42B	NA
PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG  )	Chemicals	****	5.8	10.34B	13
Cooper Industries	Electrical Equipment	***	8.6	7.76B	91.67
Crane	Machinery	*****	9.1	1.82B	4.76

Those returns are certainly eye-catching. But do these highfliers have staying power?

Let's see what The Motley Fool CAPS community of more than 165,000 investors has to say about the best plays in the Conglomerates market.

And the next big winners are ...
The following Conglomerate stocks are of similar size in comparable industries to the ones in the previous chart. However, these are companies that CAPS members think have more promising future returns than the ones already making waves.

 CAPS Community Conglomerate Favorites

Company	Industry	CAPS Rating (out of 5)	Market Cap	Price / Earnings	Fools Saying Outperform
Keppel (Alternative to Textron)	Industrial Conglomerates	****	9.61B	29.16	88 of 89
3M (NYSE: MMM  ) (Alternative to GE)	Industrial Conglomerates	*****	56.99B	15.89	3945 of 4079
Ecolab (NYSE: ECL  ) (Alternative to PPG)	Chemicals	****	10.94B	35	188 of 211
Ametek (NYSE: AME  ) (Alternative to Cooper)	Electrical Equipment	****	4.40B	33.65	181 of 192
IDEX (NYSE: IEX  ) (Alternative to Crane)	Machinery	*****	2.46B	10.4	79 of 83

Of course, some of today's winners might continue to rack up outsize returns. But isn't it better to snag tomorrow's winners before they start running up?

Find out whether your hot stocks still have sizzle
How do your stocks compare to the CAPS community's best investment ideas? Find out in an instant by plugging your tickers into the completely free Motley Fool Stocks 360 program. You'll also get a thorough analysis of how your investments are faring against multiple peer benchmarks. Find out whether you should trade in, trade up, or sit tight by getting a quick 360-degree diagnostic right now.