Whether it's the corporate lunchroom, your cubicle, or the local watering hole after work, there are regular places we gather to discuss news, sports, or -- if you're like us -- stocks. At Motley Fool CAPS, we gather around the virtual water cooler daily to rate stocks and delve into their merits as investments.

In our 140,000-strong CAPS community, members give the thumbs-up or thumbs-down to about 5,300 stocks, earning points by seeking out the businesses they think will outperform the market. We'll take a look at some of the stocks and funds in CAPS that are talked about the most and whether members think they'll continue their winning ways.

Stock

CAPS Rating
(out of 5)

Number of Calls

% Outperform Calls

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC)

****

1,388

96%

DuPont (NYSE:DD)

****

1,408

93%

Navios Maritime (NYSE:NM)

*****

1,415

98%

OYO Geospace (NASDAQ:OYOG)

*****

1,350

98%

Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE:VWO)

*****

1,370

98%

A tall drink of water
You've heard of the lipstick indicator; well, welcome to the sunscreen indicator. According to some thinking, sales of sunscreen drop just before a recession and pick up again before a recovery.

As some shore towns try to recover from a weak summer swim season, DuPont is looking for recovery in its titanium oxide business -- a prime ingredient in sunscreen. (It's also in tattoo inks and food dyes.)

Specialty chemicals maker Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) must be looking for a bull market, too. It's putting to good use the proceeds of the legal settlement it received after a merger fell through by buying the titanium oxide business of a rival. That will make it the second-largest manufacturer of the pigment, behind DuPont.

CAPS member Smittyh finds DuPont "a strong company, fair moat, and great dividend waiting for the market to turn around."

At its current price, though, DuPont seems to trade at fair value. Shares have climbed 75% over the past six months, putting it at a forward P/E multiple of 15, a level that Goldman Sachs suggests is in line with its historical averages. Compared with Huntsman, whose shares have tripled over the same time and trade at more than 90 times estimated earnings -- or Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) at 21 times future earnings -- you might get the sense that DuPont could go higher still.

Getting swamped
One sector showing signs of a recovery is dry bulk shipping, and Navios Maritime has been a standout. videoone1 says Navios will be "well-positioned for the turnaround."

Yet there has been a setback. Earnings fell 72% for the shipper in the second quarter, as average time charter rates fell 44%. It didn't help that Navios also experienced significantly lower short-term vessel activity.

No worries, though. CAPS member JASYD examines Navios' hefty backlog and can wait it out.

Family owned Greek shipping company with high insider ownership percentage almost guarantees consistent dividend payout. At current dividend rate you are making near a 10% return on investment during the first year of ownership if the stock and dividend rate remain at its current level. The stock has been beaten down along with many other dry-bulk shipping companies but Navios sports a backlog of leased vessels well into 2010.

Gather 'round
The CAPS community is like trying to take a sip from a fire hose. With so many good opinions about companies, why not grab a pointy paper cup from the dispenser and join us at 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.

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