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 the 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
You probably haven't heard China Sky One Medical mentioned in the same breath as "monster stock" lately, but with the stock down 80% over the past year, the thinking may be that all of the bad news has been priced into it, and at its current depressed levels, it offers an outsized risk-reward discount.

The traditional Chinese medicine maker has been operating under a cloud of suspicion for some time, resulting from an SEC inquiry into its operations, the loss of distributors, and the sudden resignation of its CFO. It's not the only Chinese reverse takeover (RTO) to stand accused of financial shenanigans, with a growing list of companies joining the roster. If investors want to invest in traditional Chinese medicine, there are other players in the space that lack the stigma of fraud allegations.

American Oriental Bioengineering (NYSE: AOB) has certainly confused a lot of investors, with slapdash acquisitions, questionable preferred stock offerings, and getting involved in pricey real estate deals, but no fraud allegations. Tongjitang Chinese Medicines (NYSE: TCM) is also trying to create brands from thousand-year-old traditions.

CAPS member Speculatormaster admits there's still risk involved in betting Sky One will turn around, but at its current valuation, it's one that could have a big payoff:

Seem oversold is out of favor, and have good fundamentals, soon or later EPS will get better also. The company also is making good moves that must see the results and benefit in the long term. Any way I think is a risky investment and out of favor, so is one more reason to think can down until the trend make a change.

Head over to the China Sky One Medical CAPS page and tell us whether you think such thoughts are just pie in the sky ruminations.

Cheap by any measure
For long-term investors, LED lighting specialist Cree might be one to watch. The sector has been suffering from an inventory glut, and with prices for a comparable bulb still inflicting sticker shock -- $50 is a lot to pay for a 100-watt bulb, regardless of how long it lasts -- earnings from industry players are disappointing the market. Cree and SemiLEDS (Nasdaq: LEDS) are laboring under the belief the immediate future won't be kind to the business. With Veeco Instruments (Nasdaq: VECO) scheduled to report results later this month, we'll find out whether it's a trend that continues.

CAPS member troym72 has a long-term outlook, believing LED lighting's future is bright:

LED is the future of the lighting industry. The only quesiton is when does LED start to move into the conusmer lighting market. When it does, CREE is going to be a leader in that technology as they are today. It could be a decade down the line, but CREE is positioned to be as large as Philips and GE if the LED market goes consumer.

Shine a light on Cree's potential by adding it to the Fool's free portfolio tracker.

A bright idea
Gold is hot, but is silver hotter? While its yellow cousin races into record territory at around $1,460 an ounce, silver is roaring ahead and closing in on $40 an ounce. Many now fear that what we're witnessing is a silver bubble with the Global X Silver Miners ETF's being up 54% over the past six months offered as evidence.

For CAPS All-Star bradford86, there are structural reasons for silver's ascent, such as a silver shortage and inflationary pressure; it's not a bubble but a natural reaction to market forces. You can add the ETF to your watchlist, then head over to the Global X Silver Miners CAPS page and tell us if you think a bubble is about to burst.

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 marvel at the range of opinions there.