Tomorrow's Monster Stocks?

Stocks climbing to 10 times their original price are rare -- 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 prospects, achieving phenomenal returns every year. Finding just one or two of these monstrously successful companies can help you establish a winning portfolio.

Stalking the monster
To try to find tomorrow's big winners, we'll enlist the more than 130,000 members of Motley Fool CAPS. Our list of the most successful CAPS members, dubbed All-Stars, includes those whose picks have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled in price. 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 -- to sell. Just consider them starting points for your own research of extreme buying opportunities.

In search of Bigfoot
The collapse of energy prices has caused a chain reaction in many smaller oil and natural gas companies. Delta Petroleum has been burning through cash, and it seems that only its recent 172.5 million-share offering has kept it running. In its most recent quarterly report, Delta said auditors had doubt about its ability to remain a "going concern." Delta needed to get its financial house in order quickly because it wasn't meeting some terms in loan agreements. Hence the share offering.

Tapping the equity markets staved off the worst, but at what price to shareholders? Their ownership interests were sliced razor thin as the number of shares outstanding almost tripled. Shares, which once traded as high as $28 each in the past year, are now priced at around $1.70. Of course, that's almost double the price they were back in early March.

CAPS All-Star 97E3LPL says Delta is in dire straits and that it might become a penny stock again:

Things do seem dire for these guys, but they are clearly putting forth extraordinary effort to meet the challenges. Although i fear a drop to pennies is possible, [my humble opinion] is that oil will rebound soon and these guys will float upward along with everyone else in oil.

Others believe it will bounce back. Kirk Kerkorian bought $80 million worth of Delta's new shares through his Tracinda investment vehicle. Kerkorian hasn't always been right in picking eventual turnaround plays. He famously withdrew his huge bets on Ford and GM after failing to bring meaningful change, but his new commitment to Delta certainly suggests that he sees potential there.

A chance for scary growth
It takes more than a few All-Star picks and a quick paragraph to make buy or sell decisions, so start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. 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.