When a stock hits a fresh high, it can signal that it 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.

Higher and higher
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 (as signified by four- and five-star ratings) could be a sign that further research is in order.

Here are three such stocks:

 

Today’s High

Industry

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Fools Saying Outperform

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC)

$70.68

Transportation

*****

692 of 712

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM)

$130.32

Computer Hardware

***

2321 of 2638

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

$133.59

Retail

***

203 of 247

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of July 23, 2008.

Five-Star Transportation Companies
Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO): Up 58.9% in the past year.
Trinity Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TRN): Stock price is 19% cheaper than a year ago.

Five-Star Retail Companies
CVS Caremark Corp (NYSE:CVS): Up 9.4% in the past year.
Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG): Stock price is 23.7% cheaper than a year ago.

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