Tomorrow's Monster Stock?

Stocks climbing to 10 times their original price are rare breeds -- but they're not impossible to find. Especially when you have Fools for friends.

The market's best stocks include companies that have risen dozens of times in value by taking advantage of the market's weaknesses. These aren't penny stocks; they're viable companies with sound business prospects that are achieving phenomenal returns. Finding just one or two of these monstrously successful firms can help you establish a winning portfolio.

Stalking the monster
To find tomorrow's winners, we've enlisted the help of more than 170,000 monster trackers at Motley Fool CAPS. We've compiled a list of the most successful CAPS members, dubbed All-Stars, whose picks have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled in price. Then we've plucked out some of their recent picks for stocks they find equally promising.

Score is how many percentage points that pick is beating the S&P 500.

Of course, this is not a list of stocks to buy -- or, for those monster stocks that our CAPS All-Stars have already found, sell. Just consider them starting points for your own further research of extreme buying opportunities.

In search of bigfoot
Wires may have been crossed, but investors in Anika Therapeutics are paying the price. According to the therapeutic products developer, it was supposed to have a final site inspection of its Bedford, Mass., facilities completed by the Food and Drug Administration last December so it could move its manufacturing equipment in, but since the regulatory agency didn't take a look at it, it's now going to have to operate two sites until June of this year.

MannKind (Nasdaq: MNKD) also operated under the theory that the agency was going to consider its inhaled insulin treatment without any additional testing necessary, but that's just what happened, leaving some analysts to suggest the FDA had moved the goalposts on the biotech.

Anika also hasn't received a date for an FDA advisory panel meeting about the approval of Monovisc, a joint pain therapy it's developing. Assuming there aren't any more miscommunications, Anika expects the treatment will be approved.

CAPS member depletemycapital isn't so sure and blames mismanagement by the company for a series of mistakes that have occurred over the years.

Head over to the Anika Therapeutics CAPS page to weigh in yourself.

A forest full of lumber
It's not just homebuilders looking for a recovery in the housing industry. Forest management firm Plum Creek Timber and wood and paper products giant Weyerhaueser (NYSE: WY) would like to sell more lumber, and USG (NYSE: USG) wants to ship more wallboard. Although some see signs that a change may be coming with housing starts up almost 15% in January from the month before, I wouldn't hold my breath.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story indicating the National Association of Realtors has regularly been overstating existing homes sales by as much as 20% since the precipitous decline began in 2007. The real estate industry cheerleader is examining whether it may have double-counted home sales and will issue revised numbers soon. While there's no immediate fallout from such a revision -- other than to its reputation perhaps -- it indicates the housing downturn was significantly worse than originally thought (not that anyone thought it was good to begin with) and there could be a far larger overhang that has to be worked off before bottom is actually hit.

CAPS member TheKooz isn't particularly worried about the housing market, at least not how it will affect Plum Creek Timber: "Trees continue to grow adding value as we wait for the housing market to recover. When the housing market gets back to normal, Plum Creek will have a great selection of prime lumber to offer. A decent dividend [while] we wait."

Like watching an acorn grow into a mighty oak, you can follow its progress by adding Plum Creek to the Fool's free portfolio tracker.

A glowing outlook
The future's so bright for uranium you have to wear shades. The recent past hasn't exactly been a dark time either, with Uranium Resources quadrupling over the past year and miner Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) up a more modest 44%. Yet with 441 nuclear reactors currently in operation, 63 new reactors being built, and an additional 156 ordered or planned, there's going to be a lot of demand for the volatile metal.

CAPS member ScottieSD is looking for greater uptake in nuclear power to drive growth, no doubt in sync with the 260 other members, or 91% of those rating Uranium Resources who see it outperforming the broad market averages. Add Uranium Resources to your watchlist, then head over to the Uranium Resources CAPS page and tell us if you view this as a glowing opportunity.

A chance for scary growth
It takes more than a few All-Star picks and a quick pitch to make buy or sell decisions, so start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS and find other opportunities with monster potential.