Tomorrow's Monster Stocks

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 over the past decade. These aren't penny stocks; they're viable companies with sound business prospects, achieving phenomenal returns every year. 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'll enlist the more than 115,000 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 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 research of extreme buying opportunities.

In search of Bigfoot
The recently popped bubble that accounted for the run-up in agricultural stocks still has a few detractors who suggest, as CAPS All-Star mpapile does, that "the bigger the bubble, the harder the fall." On the other hand, investors like CAPS member louie1louie see the longer-term trends giving PotashCorp a significant leg up on the competition and presenting a big buying opportunity for investors:

Take all this information along with the prospects for a fairly drastic reduction in 2009 earnings and I say that POT at $95.00 remains a buying opportunity. Notice that the company has vigorously commenced buying back its own common stock, with the realization that it's franchise has incredible growth potential, long term...and that it will retain its huge fundamental advantages over any and all competition for years hence.

When compared to the likes of Fluor (NYSE:FLR) or Jacobs Engineering (NYSE:JEC), the construction and engineering firm of McDermott International plays second fiddle to no one. It's larger rivals may grab more headlines, but for investors looking for attractive companies that remain reasonably priced, McDermott not only trades at lower multiples to both trailing and next year's earnings, but it sports wider margins -- net, operating, or gross -- than either.

CAPS member Whatsgoingdown believes its international presence will continue to help McDermott forge growth. "This stock will turnaround as it is the best player to work to fix offshore hurricane damage as well as work all over the world - they have been consistently winning new contracts."

It's the growth in worldwide economies that has CAPS member BMWDriver56 believing heavy-mining equipment manufacturer Joy Global will turn its stock around:

I truly believe the global growth in demand for energy and raw materials is going to drive the world economies for years to come. JOYG is a leader in the heavy equipment field, is buying back up to 20% of their stock and has a great balance sheet. Got to love it.

A chance for scary growth
It pays to start your research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS and, while there, weigh in with your own thoughts on whether you think these are tomorrow's monster stocks. 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. There's more to find than you think.

On Oct. 7, 2008, Fool co-founder David Gardner and his Motley Fool Pro team will invest $1 million in a portfolio designed to help you make money in any market. In the coming weeks, the team, relying heavily on proprietary CAPS "community intelligence" data, will establish long and short positions in a broad range of securities, including common stocks, publicly traded put and call options, and exchange-traded funds. To learn more about Motley Fool Pro and to receive a private invitation to join, simply enter your email address in the box below.