Hot Stocks You're Buying Now

Recs

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Welcome back to another Foolish review of the hottest stocks, as ranked by Motley Fool CAPS. We're looking at the three best-performing industries over the past 30 days, and your favorite long and short candidates in each.

You're never too old to be hip. Just ask this week's list of hotties. Coal miners such as Anglo American and Yanzhou Coal Mining (NYSE: YZC) are anything but dusty, with a 42.2% average return since early May.

Manufacturers of construction materials, meanwhile, have improved to a 33.1% average return over the past month. And industrial textile suppliers, who've appeared in this column again and again, are up 22.3% over the same period.

According to you, our Foolish readers, the best stocks in these industries to own now -- i.e., those with four or five of the maximum five stars in CAPS -- are:

Company

CAPS Stars

No. of CAPS Ratings

Percent Bulls

30-Day Price Change

Teck Cominco (NYSE: TCK)

*****

587

98.3%

(0.9)%

Cemex S.A. (NYSE: CX)

*****

3,480

97.9%

(4.2%)

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP)

*****

2,221

97.2%

(5.8)%

Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU)

*****

1,286

96.0%

18.7%

Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI)

*****

829

94.8%

15.6%

Sources: Motley Fool CAPS, Yahoo! Finance (current as of June 9).

And your favorite short candidates -- i.e., those rated with one or two stars in CAPS -- are:

Company

CAPS Stars

No. of CAPS Ratings

Percent Bears

30-Day Price Change

Albany International

*

25

56.0%

(0.1)%

Unifi

*

26

50.0%

(0.3)%

Sources: Motley Fool CAPS, Yahoo! Finance (current as of June 9).

My favorite among today's contenders is Mexican cement supplier Cemex. The stock trades for just eight times trailing earnings, well below the industry average of 13.

But that may not be the most telling measure, according to CAPS investor Bruce1967. Quoting from his pitch from January:

Over the last 5 years, book value has grown at an annual rate of about 17 percent and Value Line figures it should continue to grow at about 13 percent. If this all pans out, and you buy the shares at $25, your investment should grow at about 13 percent for the next five years. Add in a 3% annual dividend and you're looking at a pretty decent return of 15% to 16%.

Not much has changed since that post; Cemex trades for less than 1.4 times tangible book value today, according to Capital IQ.

And while the U.S. housing market is indeed suffering, it's not the same story south of the border, where local homebuilder Homex continues to thrive, as have the Mexican operations of Home Depot (NYSE: HD). I see no reason why Cemex wouldn't also continue to see gains.

Of course, that's my take. I want to know what you think. Would you buy Cemex at today's prices? Let us know what you think by signing up for CAPS today. It's 100% free to participate.

Cap off your day with related CAPS Foolishness:

“The Next Great Investment”… That’s how a top global investor describes India’s potential. On Nov. 28, The Motley Fool’s Tim Hanson returns to India to prove it. Follow along in real time and get his TOP pick first (Hanson returned from China in July with a stock that’s up 169%!). Enter email below.

Both the Global Gains and Stock Advisor services have singled out Cemex. Home Depot is an Inside Value pick. Try any of these market-beating services free for 30 days. There's no obligation to subscribe.

Fool contributor Tim Beyers, who is ranked 18,541 out of more than 105,000 participants in CAPS, didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article at the time of publication. Find Tim's portfolio here and his latest blog commentary here. The Motley Fool owns shares of Cemex. Its disclosure policy is hotter than city asphalt in the summer heat.

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11/23/2009 4:01 PM
BHP $75.05 Down +0.00 +0.00%
BHP Billiton Limit… CAPS Rating: ****
HD $27.45 Down -0.06 -0.22%
The Home Depot, In… CAPS Rating: ***
YZC $20.06 Up +0.17 +0.85%
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ACI $21.86 Down +0.00 +0.00%
Arch Coal, Inc. CAPS Rating: *****
CX $11.25 Down -0.09 -0.79%
Cemex S.A. B de C.… CAPS Rating: *****
BTU $45.25 Down +0.00 +0.00%
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