Tripling your investment dollars isn't impossible

Tripling your investment dollars in five years is a tall order. Figure your portfolio of mutual funds and stocks will need to earn an annualized 24.6 percent return. But that's not out of the question. The trick is to identify sectors that have been out of favor for years and are ripe for a surge.

What are those unloved sectors? Health care is certainly one of them. Standard & Poor's health care sector has trailed the return of S&P's 500-stock index over the past five years.

Investing in Schwab Health Care fund (symbol SWHFX; 800-435-4000) is a bet that the sector will heal itself through consolidation, restructuring and creation of new drugs and medical devices. Using a computer model to pick stocks, the managers of Schwab Health Care keep the portfolio small and nimble (just 48 holdings), and they have avoided getting bogged down in the troubles of big drug makers. The fund gained an annualized 15 percent over the past three years, outpacing the Dow Jones Health Care index by a whopping 10 percentage points a year, on average. This fund could shine if the sector gains momentum.

It's tempting to suggest a technology fund because the sector is a breeding ground of breakthrough companies, such as Google. Most tech indexes, however, are saddled with too many big plodders, such as Dell and Microsoft.

But a related area, telecom, could be in the early stages of a renaissance. The industry had a gangbuster 2006, thanks to consolidation and the emergence of innovative wireless technologies. There's no reason that growth can't continue a while longer.

One sound choice is T. Rowe Price Media & Telecom (PRMTX; 800-638-5660), which tripled since the start of 2003, mostly under former manager Rob Gensler. Robert Bartolo and Henry Ellenbogen, who took over in 2005, have kept up the pace with a 29 percent return in 2006. Their portfolio consists of a nice mix of mostly midsize cable, wireless, Internet, networking and advertising companies.

What about precious metals? Gold has already had an impressive run. But Tom Winmill, manager of Midas fund, thinks the popularity of iShares Silver Trust (SLV) could send silver prices soaring. The exchange-traded fund already holds about one-fifth of all silver bullion. If that proportion continues to rise, it could squeeze industrial users of the metal, who would be forced to bid prices up.

In the beaten-down-stock category, there's Six Flags (SIX). Shares recently traded at $6, a long way from the 1999 peak of $40. That captures the attention of George Putnam, editor of "The Turnaround Letter." Among up-and-coming companies, SuperGen (SUPG), a biotech firm, looks promising. Analyst Elemer Piros, of Rodman & Renshaw, estimates that SuperGen's shares, recently $7, could hit $24 in a year.