Motley Fool Guesstimates

• The perils of forecasting don't stop professional and amateur investors from attempting to find future gems. The Motley Fool list of 2011 top contenders for highest earnings is based on the previous five years of earnings with a minimum of 10 percent annual growth and the potential for continued minimal 10 percent annual growth over the next five years. The list includes five shoe and apparel companies. Joe's Jeans manufactures denim jeans and related clothing and accessory items; Crocs, Inc. and Skechers USA produce casual footwear, and Under Armour and Lululemon make athletic apparel. Central European Distribution is a spirits company, and WMS Industries manufactures machines for the gaming industry. Rounding out the list are Peet's Coffee & Tea and Monro Muffler Brake and Service.
  
  

The Nasdaq 100

• The Nasdaq 100 compiles a list of companies poised to be earnings winners over the next three- to five-year period based on analysts' estimates. These companies on the May 2011 list are expected to double their earnings in five years, averaging 14.4 percent annual growth. The companies include Silver Standard Resources, Inc., a silver-producing company; Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation, a silver and gold mining company; Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., a car rental firm; and Manitowoc Company, a manufacturer of construction equipment and food service equipment. China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd. manufactures wind turbines. USA Truck, Inc. is a commercial transportation trucking company. Las Vegas Sands Corporation owns and operates hotels, most of which are casinos. Northgate Minerals Corporation and Aurizon Mines Limited are Canadian mining companies. Lloyds TSB Group PLC is a banking firm based in England.
  
  

Top Dividend-Paying Stocks

• The highest-earning stocks are usually small-growth companies that don't pay dividends: All cash is plowed back into the company to fund future growth. Investors often prefer companies with solid earnings that also pay dividends. The average yield of the S&P dividend-paying stocks is 2.3 percent; 386 companies in the S&P 500 pay dividends, as of 2011. Among the top-paying dividend stocks as of 2011 are Frontier Communications Corporation, with a dividend yield of 9.4 percent, and Windstream Corporation, with a 7.9 percent dividend yield. CenturyLink's yield is 7.2 percent; Reynolds American yields 6.2 percent; Altria Group's yield is 6.1 percent; and FirstEnergy Corporation and Pitney Bowes each yield 5.9 percent. AT&T has raised its dividend every year since 1984 and has a current yield of 5.49 percent.
  
  

Promising Long-Term Growth Winners

• Nasdaq publishes lists that categorize companies. The top 10 companies on the long-term growth and earnings winners list as of May 20, 2011, included Tesoro Corporation, which operates petroleum refineries; Nucor Corporation, a steel manufacturer; and Allegheny Technologies, Inc., a specialty metals producer. Textron is a diversified manufacturing company, with products that include Cessna jets. EOG Resources is a natural gas exploration and production company; Range Resources Corporation is also in the natural gas and oil exploration and production business. The Washington Post Company, Wynn Resorts Ltd., Southwest Airlines and salesforce.com complete the top 10.