Ask cheapskate value investors to buy a stock that's achieved a new 52-week high and you'll get one of two responses:

  1. Hysterical laughter.
  2. Sudden nausea.

Pity them, Fool.

How many times has Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) touched a new 52-week high on its way to Monday's close of $700.73? Never assume that "rocket stocks" -- high-growth stocks that are also realizing heavy price appreciation -- are too expensive. What looks like a cliff could really be base camp on a climb toward the summit of Everest.

Rocket stocks, not rocket science
Each weekday in this column, we'll enlist the more than 78,000 pro and amateur stock pickers in our Motley Fool CAPS community to find stocks that are still climbing. We'll start with The Wall Street Journal's 52-week high lists. But we'll focus our search on stocks expected to boost net income by at least 15% a year for the next five years, and whose CAPS ratings have at least two of the maximum five stars.

Here's what we've turned up today:

Company

Closing Price

CAPS Rating
(5 max)

5-Year Growth Estimate

52-Week
Range

Yingli Green Energy (NYSE:YGE)

$40.09

****

56.7%

$10.48-$40.10

Suntech Power (NYSE:STP)

$87.20

****

44.5%

$31.41-$88.65

BE Aerospace (NASDAQ:BEAV)

$53.72

*****

29.0%

$25.21-$54.09

optionsXpress (NASDAQ:OXPS)

$33.31

*****

21.0%

$20.78-$33.47

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR)

$82.82

*****

17.8%

$45.45-$83.15

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! Finance, Motley Fool CAPS.

Our mostly small-cap list features some promising (though speculative) stocks. Yet these tiny titans can create astounding returns if they're bought before the market discovers them.

Let the sun shine
I marvel at aircraft interiors specialist BE Aerospace, which was one of the first growth stocks I found via CAPS. It's been a huge winner since.

With returns on capital reaching for the heavens, I believe it still can be:

Return on Capital

Trailing 12 Months

2006

2005

2004

Return on capital

10.9%

7.8%

5.4%

4.5%

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.

I attribute those gains both to excellent management and intense global demand for executive jets, a trend that has given lift to Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) and its peers. For example, roughly $3 billion of the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer's $17.2 billion backlog is from executive jet orders.

Perhaps Wall Street is looking at the same data? Some of the best pros in the business have recently rated the stock to outperform, including Bank of America Securities and AmTech Research.

But that's the Street. What would you do? Would you buy BE Aerospace at today's prices? Let us know by signing up for CAPS now. It's 100% free to participate.

I'll be back tomorrow with more rocket stocks.

For every post you make to CAPS or any Foolish discussion board in the month of December, The Motley Fool will donate $0.02 to charity. So give us your 2 cents and we'll pay it forward!