by Dheer Kothari

Created on: October 29, 2009   Last Updated: July 06, 2010

Top five investments of the past decade

It is well known that stocks are, by far, one of the best assets to own for above average returns. Stocks, apart from real estate and some scarce and non-renewable resources, have generated high returns if retained for five to 10 years. For the purpose of this article, the prices of stocks as on June 30, 2000 were taken into consideration as the base price. The cumulative returns till July 2, 2010 threw up these five names with mind boggling returns!

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Company Symbol 10 yr Cumulative gain(*)

Potash Corp POT 5482%

Suncor Energy SU 1900.58%

Southwestern Energy SWN 4733.54%

FLIR Systems FLIR 3524.38%

Range Resources RRC 1797.92%

*Returns since June 30, 2000

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Potash Corp (NYSE:POT) - It is the world's largest fertilizer company by capacity in potash, phosphate feed ingredients for animal nutrition and purified industrial phosphoric acid. Besides, it has the third largest capacity in phosphate and nitrogen. Its 52-week high and low is $128.42 and $80.85 respectively. Its share closed at $85.41 on July 2, 2010.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) - It is Canada's leading integrated energy company. It is engaged in oilsands development and upgrading, oil and gas production, petroleum refining and product marketing under the Petro-Canada brand. Its 52-week high and low is $39.62 and $25.51 respectively. Suncor closed at $29.21 on July 2, 2010.

Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN) - It is an integrated company engaged in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas within the USA. Its 52-week high and low is $52.82 and $34.25 respectively. Its price on July 2, 2010 was $37.75.

FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR)- The company is engaged in the design, manufacture and marketing of thermal imaging systems. Its 52-week high and low is $33.35 and $20.36 respectively. Its price on July 2, 2010 was $29.43.

Range Resources (NYSE: RRC)- It is a company engaged in the exploration, development and acquisition of oil and gas properties mainly in the Southwestern, Appalachian and Gulf Coast regions of the United States. Its 52-week high and low is $60.13 and $35.48 respectively. Its price on July 2, 2010 was $39.65.

An article of this nature is merely illustrative and by no means comprehensive. If you delve deeper you are, in all likelihood, sure to find more winners. The stocks which have done well in the past ten years have some important attributes which stand out if you care to notice. These are cash-rich companies with strong cash flows year after year. These are companies innovating in their areas of operation to stay ahead of competition. Last but not the least, they are well governed and have a sustainable growth model.

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