Tomorrow's Monster Stocks

Famed money manager Peter Lynch called them "10-baggers," stocks that climbed to 10 times the value he paid for them. They're a rare breed, but not impossible to find. Especially when you're a friend of Fools.

If you look back over the market's best stocks, you'll find companies that have risen in value over the past decade by 3,000%, 5,000%, and even 24,000%. They're not penny stocks, but viable companies with sound business prospects -- companies that are achieving phenomenal returns every year. You only need to pick one or two monster stocks to have a winning portfolio.

Stalking the monster
So where can we find tomorrow's monster stocks today? At Motley Fool CAPS, we track the opinions of more than 70,000 investors who are working every day to help collectively identify those winners. Thousands of stocks are rated by both novice and professional analysts. The opinions of the best stock pickers are weighted more heavily in determining a stock's CAPS rating of one to the maximum five stars.

Investors at CAPS are rated as well, and we call the best of them All-Stars. We've compiled a list of these top players, who, like Peter Lynch, have already found monster stocks -- companies that have doubled, tripled, or quadrupled in price. Then we've given you some of their recent picks of stocks they consider equally promising.

Of course, this is not a list of stocks to buy -- or, for those monster stocks that the CAPS All-Stars have already found, sell -- it's a jumping-off point for doing additional research.

A slick opportunity
Call it a split personality disorder: Norwegian oil and gas producer Norsk Hydro was the world's fourth-largest aluminum maker. The Motley Fool Income Investor recommendation merged its energy division with Statoil on Oct. 1, and the combined entity, StatoilHydro (NYSE:STO), is the world's largest offshore oil producer. Meanwhile, the merger leaves Norsk Hydro with its aluminum business, and with all the consolidation under way in the industry, it's the world's third largest. Whew!

Seems no matter which end you look at, the business looks good, as industry analyst and researcher NetscribeEnergy has noted.

In the short run, the company expects oil production to be 585,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, down from 605,000 barrels a day following the shutdown of Statoil's 190,000 barrel-a-day Kvitebjoern field and production delays at the offshore Volve and Kristin sites in Norway. However, in the long run, metal prices are expected to remain at high levels, taking into account the China factor that will continue to drive aluminum industry fundamentals. While Norsk Hydro is currently generating strong cash from selling of its non-core businesses, in the long run, the company's strong moat in the core aluminum business [will make] Norsk Hydro a good investment for 2007.

Despite its chairman resigning only days after the merger amid a corruption scandal involving the Libyan government, stocks in both companies have remained very stable. Perhaps it's time for a closer look at this investment.

A chance for scary growth
Now's your chance to weigh in on Norsk Hydro or any of the other stocks these All-Stars see as achieving monster growth. Agree with their views? Tell us on CAPS. If you don't agree, let us know that too!