A 1-in-100 Investor

Just as the first 100 days in office set the tone for any new president, Motley Fool CAPS keeps an eye as well on how its investors do in their first 100 days. Some of our best CAPS members -- we call them All-Stars -- have achieved scores of 100 on their stock selections in their first 100 days on the service. And since the data shows that the best stocks to buy and sell have earned top ratings in CAPS, might we also assume that when the best players rate the best stocks, there's a correlation?

One of our highest-rated CAPS members is turbotrager, who sports a nearly perfect 99.98 member rating. A member since September 2006, turbotrager currently has 199 active picks on CAPS, out of more than 1,000 total stock picks made. Achieving 84% accuracy, turbotrager has also attracted 276 "groupies," CAPS players who've listed this leading investor as one of their favorites.

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

Source: Motley Fool CAPS; *price when call was made. Current score is how many points a player is beating (lagging) the S&P 500 index from the time of the call.

Let's look at what other CAPS members are saying about some of these stocks and whether they agree with this top player's assessment.

Chesapeake Energy
With natural-gas prices having plunged more than 50% since the end of June, the largest natural-gas producer, Chesapeake Energy, said it was slashing its capital budget by 17% through 2010, although the cuts in its drawdowns aren't as drastic as they might first appear. Most of the cuts are coming in more marginal areas, meaning the greater production efficiency at continuing wells may offset any declines. CAPS All-Star DemonDoug loves when solid, cash-producing companies like Chesapeake are beaten down from market panics.

Now this is what I like to see. Blood on the streets!!! It's a hurricane of bloodied companies that are solid money makers blowing past their 52 week lows, and I'm bullish when the market gets that bearish when the fundamentals are still sound.

Sigma Designs
Digital broadcasts are coming, like it or not. Early next year, the rollout will happen nationwide, and the analog TV signal will be no more. Although there were some bugs in the system during a test rollout, it's an inexorable force that can't be stopped. It's all good for Sigma Designs, which manufactures system-on-chip (SoC) processors for cable, IPTV, and ultra-wideband venues. So regardless of where you're sourcing -- or going to source -- your hi-def video, Sigma is sure to be there processing it.

CAPS member tulipomania figures the multichannel coverage Sigma Designs offers makes it a rebound candidate, since it otherwise has a clean balance sheet to protect it.

Lots of growth technology (Blu-Ray, IPTV, HD) at a good price. Good margins, good returns, lots of cash, no debt. If I'm correct, they almost doubled the number of shares through dilution last year, which couldn't have helped share price. Let's hope that stops. Insiders are now buying a bit and overall there is high insider ownership and fairly low institutional ownership. All in all I think it has been punished a little too unfairly.

A 1-in-100 opportunity
Some of the best and smartest members in the CAPS investor-intelligence community have made their mark, but it pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made -- all from a stock's CAPS page.

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 and since it's free to sign up, why not use this opportunity to take your best shot?

On Oct. 7, 2008, Fool Co-Founder David Gardner and his Motley Fool Pro team will invest $1 million in a portfolio designed to help you make money in any market. In the coming weeks, the team, relying heavily on proprietary CAPS "community intelligence" data, will establish long and short positions in a broad range of securities, including common stocks, publicly traded put and call options, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). To learn more about Motley Fool Pro and to receive a private invitation to join, simply enter your email address in the box below.