5 More Top Growth Stocks

Are you really a growth investor?

It's worth asking. Fast-moving tech stocks have taken a beating recently, leading to a slew of bargains for those with the guts to buy.

No surprises there. Market panics occur daily. Just ask investors who hold shares of NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA), which on Friday fell more than 7% on no news whatsoever. Sheesh.

That's why all-star investors bet on growth over the very long term. They know that:

1. Businesses that make investors billions always begin as growth stocks.
2. The best of them feature massive and identifiable competitive advantages.
3. Growth as a strategy has the capacity to deliver 20% or greater annual returns for decades at a time. 

How we do it
Of course, not all growth stocks will do. Our weekly hunt is for the next great multibagger. But unlike David Gardner and his team at Motley Fool Rule Breakers, who scour everything from financial statements to trade magazines to clinical reports in their research, we're going to rely on our Motley Fool CAPS investor-intelligence database.

Specifically, we're looking for stocks that have earned a five-star rating in CAPS and which are expected to grow their earnings by at least 20% annually over the next five years. Five-star stocks are those that the community, on the whole, believes will outperform the S&P 500.

Let's have the list
Now, with that preamble behind us, here are five more top growth stocks:

Bear in mind that this isn't a list of recommendations. Instead, I offer these stocks as candidates for further research.

NYSE Euronext would be an obvious pick in that it profits from the frenetic buying and selling that's become commonplace in global markets. Transocean, too, because record oil prices create demand for its deepwater drilling services.

Where is Baghdad Bob when we need him?
After reading today's stories of an ugly meltdown at Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), you'd think the last stock I'd recommend from this list would be Fundtech, whose global roster of financial-services customers appears to be ailing.

Perhaps. But it's also possible (likely?) that today's "mother of all meltdowns" talk by the chinwags on TV makes this the perfect time to be buying a stable, underfollowed business like Fundtech. Here's how Bill Mann put it in recommending the stock in the March issue of Global Gains:

Transaction processing companies offer plenty to get charged up about: They're integral to their clients' businesses, and they tend to have extraordinarily high switching costs. Plus, Fundtech offers much more: It's a play on (1) the need for faster international transactions; (2) regulatory changes in Europe; and (3) the potential for a growing client base. All of this comes wrapped in a cash-rich Israeli company that will either grow into a big player -- or be acquired by one.

And, best of all, its stock looks cheap. At 16 times current-year estimates and 13 times 2009 estimates, Fundtech trades for a discount to larger peers such as ACI Worldwide and its long-term expected growth rate is higher. Both are very bullish signs.

But that's my take. What's yours? Would you buy Fundtech at today's prices? Let us know by signing up for CAPS today. It's 100% free to participate.

See you back here on Wednesday with five more top growth stocks. Fool on!