Knockin' Down Threes

The three-point shot can be a game-changer. If a team gets hot behind the arc, watch out. The points will start adding up fast.

The power of the three-pointer
This year's finalists, UCLA and Florida, are evenly matched teams. That's why their sharpshooters, Jordan Farmar and Lee Humphrey, will likely have a huge impact on the game. Just look at what they did against LSU and George Mason, respectively. An extra three-pointer for either of them could mean the difference between walking away or walking away a champion.

You want your portfolio to walk away a champion, right? Then maybe you need to add a good three-point shooter to your portfolio. And that's exactly how David Gardner's Motley Fool Rule Breakers newsletter can help.

It can make your balanced portfolio a bit more aggressive on offense. Remember, it just takes a few big winners -- stocks that could triple or more -- to raise your portfolio's performance above the market's and into the winner's circle.

Over the past three years, these high-growth stocks have tripled in value.

Mobile Mini has been changing the storage landscape since 1983. Instead of having you lug your stuff to storage, they bring the storage to you. This approach lets them serve more customers and get more from their assets than traditional land-based storage facilities.

American Medical Systems develops products and solutions to improve men's and women's pelvic health. Its devices and therapies have enhanced the lives of more than 132,000 patients so far, and that number is likely to grow as the baby boomer generation ages.

OmniVision Technologies is a semiconductor chip maker. Those are a dime a dozen, right? Not so fast. This chip maker specializes in digital image sensors. In other words, it makes digital photography possible. And as its chips become smaller and faster and develop a wider range of capabilities, digital imaging will get better and better.

Organic foods have come on strong over the past decade. After languishing in obscurity for some time, organic grocers like Whole FoodsMarket (NASDAQ:WFMI) are seeing tremendous growth. Who supplies them? United Natural Foods, that's who. And with Wal-Mart joining the fray, the trend toward organic foods appears to be solid.

You can find Rule Breakers
So how do we find these potential high-growth "Rule Breakers?" David has identified six characteristics of a Rule Breaker (and the companies I just described exhibit some of them):

1. Be a first mover in an important, emerging industry.
2. Gain a sustainable advantage.
3. Demonstrate strong past price appreciation.
4. Exhibit good management and smart backing.
5. Have strong consumer appeal.
6. Have documented proof in the financial media that the stock is actually overvalued.

Current Rule Breaker recommendation Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) exhibits these characteristics. Founded by Joshua Boger and a team of scientists from Merck (NYSE:MRK), Vertex develops small-molecule drugs (pills taken orally) to treat HIV, hepatitis C, and cancer, all of which, unfortunately, affect more and more people each day. It also has partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline and Merck for brecanavir (for HIV) and VX-680 (for cancer), respectively. These partnerships help fund research and marketing and provide streams of royalty revenues. With these and other royalty revenues and the promise of an impressive pipeline, the share price has appreciated strongly over the past few years.

The Foolish bottom line
Just because a team can shoot three-pointers doesn't mean it should rely completely on it. Case in point: Grinnell College.

Grinnell has made the headlines with its reliance on the three-point shot. It routinely scores more than 100 points. However, its overall record shows you have to have balance to win consistently. Over the past 17 years, coach David Arseneault's record is 199-186, with eight winning seasons, seven losing seasons, and two breakeven seasons.

Similarly, filling your portfolio with aggressive stocks is not the way to win. Balance is the key. That's why Rule Breakers should be a component of your portfolio -- 10% to 15% -- not the bulk of it. To see where you can slide a Rule Breaker into your starting lineup, David invites you to be his guest free for 30 days.

Fool David Meier does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned. Whole Foods is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline are Motley Fool Income Investor recommendations. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.