I finally got around to checking out this new Motley Fool offering called CAPS. They're billing it as sort of a mashup of stock picking and the "wisdom of crowds" type of thing that sites like Digg offer. The theory is that the crowd will predict the best gainers/losers, and their wisdom could help you to find new companies you don't know about.

It's a pretty slick interface, but overall I think a description I read calling it like Fantasy Football for individual investors is closer to the mark. I can't imagine really using it to learn about new investments, but there's nothing that gets the blood pumping more than a game in which you try to show you're smarter than others.

In that respect CAPS is pure evil, because I could see myself suddenly wasting a lot of time trying to beat the Faceless mass of people out there who are aso picking. For example, today I was ranked 2227 out of 9712 players playing. That's not good enough! I'm not even sure what that means, but I'm angry!

Here are my picks along with how I rank. I only picked seven companies, almost all in the oil industry or related to it. That's where I see the big opportunity over the next year. Companies I chose: Baker Hughes International, Halliburton, Grant Prideco, Pride International, (a lot of pride going around) Todco, National Oilwell Varco, Schlumberger and Be Aerospace.

I made all my picks via a rigorous stock screening process that I won't share with you just in case I beat the market by 25% and find I have the secret to untold riches.

Go check out CAPS if you like to pick stocks, especially if you like to pick stocks without having to put your money where your mouth is.