A 1-in-100 Investor

The first 100 days in office sets the tone for any new president. Similarly, Motley Fool CAPS keeps an eye on how well investors do in their first 100 days. Some of our best members -- we call them All-Stars -- have achieved scores of 100 on stock selections in their first 100 days on CAPS. In this column, we're looking at members who made some of their best selections early on and then seeing which stocks they think will be best next.

One of our highest-rated members is becon800, who sports a 99.69 member rating. Since joining CAPS in July 2008, this member has made 814 picks, with 214 active picks now. With 72% accuracy, becon800 has attracted 40 "groupies," CAPS members who've listed this investor as one of their favorites.

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

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

Let's take a look at what other CAPS members are saying about a few of these stocks and whether they agree with this member's assessment.

Degree of risk
I've written that priceline.com might be facing a more difficult set of circumstances, so it might not repeat the stellar performance it has offered during this recession. Fewer airline tickets, rising room rates, and inflated sales expectations might conspire to limit its upside. The online booking agent is richly priced at 30 times free cash flow, particularly with analysts forecasting long-term growth of less than 20% annually.

Don't have any reservations about heading over to priceline.com's CAPS page to tell us what you think about the company.

All aboard
Is Warren Buffett's bet on Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE:BNI) good news for Patriot Coal? It seems that an argument could be made that the Oracle's acquisition is a bullish sign for the coal industry.

The fate of Burlington Northern and coal are inextricably bound together. The railroad shipped 604,000 carloads of coal in the third quarter, representing about a quarter of all its revenues. While the slowdown reduced the volume shipped compared with last year, Burlington Northern's 2008 coal operations amounted to 10% of the country's electrical needs. Even in the face of possible cap-and-trade regulations that might hurt the economy, Buffett's bid seems mighty bullish.

Last month, CAPS member lonewulf47638 found Patriot Coal's valuation to be attractive, considering the country's need for coal.

very low P/E and most energy is from coal. Sales growth and earnings are up.

Mapping out an opportunity
Policy leaders in Washington may also affect Intuitive Surgical. Like insurers, medical device makers are looking at Obamacare to see where the dollars will go. Who gets reimbursed and for how much likely will play a role in any decision hospitals make about purchasing equipment.

CAPS member Schumpeter80 writes that the outcome of the debate might not hurt Intuitive Surgical.

Great company, great product. The only looming issue is how they will be [affected] by health care reform. And it is not [necessarily] negative given the potential [efficiencies] produced by their product in the medical marketplace.

A 1-in-100 opportunity
Some of the best 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. It's free to sign up, so why not use this opportunity to take your best shot?