The correct answer is      (C) Middleby (MIDD)

Middleby manufactures pizza ovens, stoves, fryers and other commercial cooking equipment. It does business with hotels and convenience stores, but the firm's core customer base is fast-food and casual dining chains. There are no less than 750 different companies vying for a piece of this business, but Middleby sells more than most of them combined.

Middleby enjoys the No. 1 position across 20 different product lines and controls roughly 30% of the domestic market. Thanks in part to a massive base of 850,000 establishments in constant need of equipment upgrades, the commercial cooking-equipment industry hasn't seen a single annual sales decline in the past 30 years. And many foreign markets are even more attractive. For example, Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) is introducing a new KFC restaurant to China every day and ultimately plans to have 20,000 fast-food outlets in operation there -- all of which will need an array of cooking equipment.

Fortunately, all this has been reflected in Middleby's astronomical growth rates. Since 2001, sales have jumped more than six-fold and profits have been climbing at a torrid +80% compounded annual pace. More importantly, shareholders have earned a flame-kissed +1,700% gain over the same time.

As you can see, good things happen to companies that find ways to capture market share. And these aren't just isolated examples. Even in a relatively small industry, an increase of 1 or 2 points of market share can mean tens of millions more to the bottom line. And, of course, market share leaders generally enjoy economies of scale, bargaining power over suppliers and other important perks.

With all this in mind, StreetAuthority editor Nathan Slaughter has scrubbed the market for companies that been dealt great hands and are fighting for big stakes. In the latest issue of Half-Priced Stocks, Nathan offers a hand-picked short list of companies that are expanding their turf and have favorable industry fundamentals at their back. He also provides in-depth profiles two of his favorites, both of which sport double-digit price-appreciation potential. To learn the names of these stocks, and to learn more about Half-Priced Stocks, please visit this link.