A 1-in-100 Investor

Presidents are often measured by what they achieve during their first 100 days in office. Schools have parties for students on the 100th day of the school year. Newly appointed executives are often expected to affect substantial change, if not realize greater shareholder value, within the first 100 days.

At Motley Fool CAPS, we keep an eye on the 100-day mark, too. Some of our best investors -- we call them All-Stars -- have achieved top player ratings after garnering a score of 100 in their first 100 days on CAPS. Analysis has shown that CAPS' top-rated stocks have enjoyed the best performance on average over the past year. Might we assume that when the best players rate the best stocks, there's a similar correlation?

One of our highest rated CAPS investor is rudolphsteiner, who sports a near-perfect 99.99 player rating. A player since March 2007, rudolphsteiner currently has 184 active picks on CAPS, out of 244 stock picks made. Achieving 80% accuracy, rudolphsteiner has also attracted 181 "groupies," CAPS players who've listed this leading investor as one of their favorites.

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

Source: Motley Fool CAPS; Current score is how many points a player is beating (lagging) the S&P500 index from the time of the call.
*Price when call was made.

Greasing the skids
We're no longer insulated from the effects of policies and decisions made half a globe away, as the price of oil particularly demonstrates. Call it speculation or demand from China. Wherever the pressures originate, a period of secular high fuel prices is upon us, and investors like top-rated CAPS All-Star twinterm1 feel that funds like United States Oil will reap the windfalls as a result:

Based on the Saudi's weak response to rising oil prices, conflict in Nigeria, the possible threat of Israel invading Iran, a weak dollar/US economy, increased global demand, the threat of outages from hurricanes, etc. I would anticipate that oil can go in only one direction: UP!!! Our country must start utilizing alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, natural gas, and coal as soon as possible. I would rather be wrong on this call, but I don't see any direction but up for oil and natural gas.

Name your profit?
With two of the biggest silver mines in the world, Coeur D'Alene Mines is moving into a new production phase. A feasibility study on its Palmarejo property in Mexico has boosted its silver reserves by 29% from last year, with production scheduled for the first half of 2009. Meanwhile, its Nevada silver and gold mines continue to produce so much free cash flow that the company will now keep them, instead of selling them off as it once considered.

Considering the widespread use of silver in a number of commonplace activities, investors like top-rated CAPS All-Star DarkToast believe that Coeur D'Alene has the opportunity to grow, if only because there are no easy alternatives to the precious metal:

When precious metals experience the next leg up, silver is going to do better than gold. CDE has legal problems, but they seem to be resolved. While above ground amount of gold climb every year, above ground amounts of silver decrease every year. Silver has a lot of useful applications, more than gold. There is silver in the keyboard I am typing this on right now. Even though silver is a precious metal, even a sharp increase in price is unlikely to affect demand because the amount used for each individual application is so small and that a suitable substitute is not available.

A 1-in-100 opportunity
Some of the best and smartest players in the CAPS investor-intelligence community have made their mark, but we haven't heard yet from you. 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. Since it's free to sign up, why not use this opportunity to take your best shot?