Tomorrow's Monster Stock?

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 by taking advantage of the market's weaknesses. These aren't penny stocks; they're viable companies with sound business prospects that are achieving phenomenal returns. Finding just one or two of these monstrously successful companies can help you establish a winning portfolio.

Stalking the monster
To find tomorrow's winners, we've enlisted the help of more than 140,000 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
Back when slugger Reggie Jackson first donned Yankee pinstripes, he famously remarked that he was "the straw that stirs the drink." You can make such comments when you're able to back them up with raw power to crush a baseball.

Investors might want to look at retailing giant Wal-Mart in the same fashion. It might not have come out and publicly said it could stir things up, but like Jackson, actions speak louder than words. The retailer is taking the game to some of its toughest opponents and challenging them to step up to the plate.

It's not just the policy of low prices every day that governs its operations, it's also offering steep discounts on some of its competitors' hottest products, including books, DVDs, and toys. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Target (NYSE:TGT) have both had to come out swinging, agreeing to match those prices.

Target is perhaps the most vulnerable, as it continues to see same-store sales slump, but not all investors see Wal-Mart as the marketplace's swizzle stick. CAPS member JohnEHibbert views it as a sign of desperation on the retailer's part that it finds it necessary to take on Amazon.

When I look at a company like Wal-Mart and I see them attempting to enter the discount online marketplace to compete with the likes of Amazon, this is a major red flag to me. This stock has gone nowhere recently, despite the fact that, we are on the "outskirts" or the worst recession in recent memory. ...Drawing in and retaining customers who have never shopped at [Wal-Mart] before the recession seems to me what they should be focusing on. The fact that they are trying to compete with Amazon in selling discount books online shows me that upper management has their priorities out of whack. Regardless of whether or not they are successful in this attempt, I doubt they will be, it will not have any impact on their bottom line.

I've already voted with real dollars on Wal-Mart's ability to hit one into the upper deck, and have played longball in CAPS as well. Join me over on the Wal-Mart CAPS page in rating it an outperform, or let us know -- even in the comments section below -- why you think this investment will strike out.

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. 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 these are tomorrow's monster stocks.