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 120,000 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 out 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 further research of extreme buying opportunities.

In search of Bigfoot
Few sectors come to mind as "recession-proof," and even then, not every stock in those sectors will perform well. Supermarkets are expected to be good performers in bad times, because people need to eat regardless of the economy. Tobacco is another supposed perennial, even if that has as much to do with its addicitive product as any other aspect of the business. Tobacco producer Altria's strength during both boom and bust cycles is one of the attractive qualities CAPS member mbkelly55 likes:

Altria has been paying solid, reliable dividends for a LONG time and, considering their business is tobacco products, will have a solid business during the hard economic times ahead. This is a great stock at any time and a super stock during an economic downturn being very defensive in nature as well. As of Friday (7 Nov 08) that dividend is over 7%-this is a wonderful time to invest in sin and get paid to wait for better times to eventually return.

While Altria may be weathering the current storm just fine, the industries that provide the feedstock for growth -- ore, metals, grains, and other commodities -- take it on the chin in tough economic times, particularly if they've previously enjoyed spectacular growth. CAPS All-Star member mnymaker thinks the Obama administration will resurrect the steel industry by investing in this country's infrastructure. That would pay off handsomely for U.S. Steel, as outlined in mnymaker's pitch from earlier this month:

President Obama will focus on stimulating the dead US economy by investing in this country's crumbling infrastructure. According to reports this will include more than roads and bridges with things such as schools, buildings, and other large scale construction projects, this will mean more orders for steel and steel related products. With a current P/E of 2.13 and a yield of 3.60% US Steel will be as good as money in the bank and a sure fire benefactor from a new administration.

A chance for scary growth
It takes more than a few All-Star picks and a quick paragraph to make buy or sell decisions. Start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. 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. And while you're there, weigh in with your own thoughts on whether you think these are tomorrow's monster stocks.