Hitting fresh highs can signal either that a stock is on its way to greatness or that it has run its course. Even with the risk of the latter, searching for these outperformers can reveal companies that are doing something right, much to their investors' delight.

I'm a poet and did not know it
With that in mind, we'll use the aggregate intelligence of the 110,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to find stocks hitting 52-week highs today. The community's approval (signaled via ratings of four or five stars) could be a sign that further research is in order.

Here are three such stocks:

 

Today's High

Industry

CAPS Rating

Fools Saying Outperform

CAPS Research

Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD)

$66.12

Beverages

****

1,734 of 1,886

Research

Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR)

$83.72

Oil & Gas

****

556 of 585

Research

Goldcorp (NYSE:GG)

$49.22

Gold

****

737 of 759

Research

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of July 11, 2008.

Other Four- & Five-Star Beverages Companies

  • Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) -- stock price is virtually unchanged from a year ago.
  • Diageo (NYSE:DEO) -- stock price is 13% cheaper than a year ago.

Other Four- & Five-Star Oil & Gas Companies

  • Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) -- stock price is up more than 75% in past year. 
  • Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) -- stock price is up 9% in past year.

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