Tomorrow's Monster Stock?

Stocks climbing to 10 times their original price are rare breeds -- but they're not impossible to find. Especially when you have Fools for friends.

The market's best stocks include companies that have risen dozens of times in value by taking advantage of the market's weaknesses. These aren't penny stocks; they're viable companies with sound business prospects that are achieving phenomenal returns. Finding just one or two of these monstrously successful firms can help you establish a winning portfolio.

Stalking the monster
To find tomorrow's winners, we've enlisted the help of the more than 145,000 monster trackers at Motley Fool CAPS. We've compiled a list of the most successful CAPS members, dubbed All-Stars, whose picks have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled in price. Then we've plucked out some of their recent picks for stocks they find equally promising.

Of course, this is not a list of stocks to buy -- or, for those monster stocks that our CAPS All-Stars have already found, sell. Just consider them starting points for your own further research of extreme buying opportunities.

In search of Bigfoot
The housing market's woes have taken a toll on one segment that doesn't readily come to mind when considering the industry's problems: senior-living facilities. Sunrise Senior Living operates more than 400 senior-living communities with 43,000 units in the U.S. and abroad, but, like luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), it's finding buyers hard to come by.

Revenue from comparable communities (equivalent to same-store sales) fell more than 2% in the latest quarter for Sunrise as occupancy rates dropped 380 basis points to 86.7%. It continues to exit a number of properties as it restructures operations, and Sunrise's shares actually enjoyed a late surge last year when it announced it was selling a handful of communities to rival Brookdale Senior Living.

But Sunrise remains in default on $412 million of its long-term debt, and while it has no borrowing capacity as a result, it has been working with lenders to restructure its agreements. Of course, such troubles create a vicious circle of negativity that keeps people hesitant about moving into its communities. Steeper declines in occupancy rates may be in its future.

Yet as it works to find improvements to its financial situation, the market has responded kindly, boosting the value of its shares by 22% over the past month. Some investors aren't so sure its momentum can be maintained, though. Highly rated CAPS All-Star TSIF thinks that by shedding communities, it is either not getting top dollar for them or is bleeding future revenue from the company. In either case there seem to be few catalysts for growth.

While at this stage in the economic cycle it has been proven that few lenders want to push a company into bankruptcy, even if they can renegotiate, where is the stockholder return? Investors are often game on a company that was once a $40 equity in the sub $3 range, since many have proven that bankruptcy is unlikely, but I fail to see where the long term potential is. 

Although the senior-care facility operator has seen its CAPS prospects fall to a lowly two-star rating, 86% of the members who have rated it believe it can still outperform the market. Take up residence on the Sunrise Senior Living CAPS page and tell us whether you think it is in the sunset of its glory years.

A chance for scary growth
It takes more than a few All-Star picks and a quick paragraph to make buy or sell decisions, so start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. You can 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. And while you're there, weigh in with your own thoughts on whether you think these are tomorrow's monster stocks.