Up +64,224% As the old saying goes, the way to make money during a gold rush is to be the one selling shovels. The best stock of the past 25 years – the USA's No. 4 mutual fund manager – is a prime example, managing money and dispensing investment advice during a 20-year bull market.

Up +47,913% Most people might never have heard of this maker of industrial measuring tools, but companies of all types depend on its gear, which measures just about anything, ranging from electricity to blood and air quality.

Up +38,444% This smaller rival to Franklin Resources also cashed in on the insatiable demand for money management as it offered everything from mutual funds to services for institutional investors.

Up +37,672% Skyrocketing medical costs often are the worst part of going to the doctor. This insurer has prospered as employers and consumers looking for protection from wallet-busting costs snapped up its plans.

Up +33,632% This router maker made a fortune selling fatter straws to Internet surfers sucking ever-bigger amounts of bytes by downloading music and updating their Web pages.

Up +33,436% Investors who bet the house on this slot machine ace hit jackpot. It makes one-armed bandits such as "Megabucks" and "Wheel of Fortune" and cashed in on casino and online gambling craze.

Up +30,531% Biomet's reconstructive medical devices have made breaking a knee, leg or shoulder a bit less scary. Its success also made Biomet part of another huge trend: Private-equity investors are buying it.

Up +29,266% More than 90% of computers run some sort of software from the house Bill Gates built. Pen and paper are foreign objects to cubicle dwellers nowadays thanks to its ubiquitous Windows operating system and Office software tools.