"Don't catch a falling knife." Thus commandeth the old saw (to mix a cutlery metaphor).

But if people weren't tempted to catch cutlery in the first place, there'd be no need for this little bit of investing wisdom, would there? The idea of buying a former highflier at a discount price certainly has its attractions. The trick, of course, is to increase the odds that when you make your grab, you're catching haft, not blade. That's where we come in.

In The Motley Fool's continuing effort to keep your investing dollars safe, today we once again assume our position beneath Mr. Market's silverware drawer. As the knives plummet, we'll measure who's fallen farthest. Then we'll head over to Motley Fool CAPS and ask which of these stocks Foolish investors think are ready to rebound to new highs -- if any.

With that said, let's meet today's list of contenders, drawn from the latest "52-Week Lows" list at Nasdaq.com:

52-Week High

Currently Fetching

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Time Warner Cable  (NYSE:TWC)

$44.00

$31.57

***

ExpressJet Holdings  (NYSE:XJT)

$9.61

$3.62

**

Korn/Ferry  (NYSE:KFY)

$27.13

$16.33

**

ValueVision Media  (NASDAQ:VVTV)

$14.12

$7.51

**
Companies are selected from the "NASDAQ 52-Week Low" list published on Nasdaq.com on the Saturday following close of trading last week. 52-week high and current pricing provided by Yahoo! Finance. CAPS ratings from Motley Fool CAPS.

Knives and knaves
Pickings are slim in today's edition of MSN's "short list," with not a single CAPS fave in the bunch. Lacking a favorite to profile, we'll do the next best thing and examine the stock that comes closest to popularity. That would be cable provider Time Warner Cable, which is 84% owned by its more famous parent company, Time Warner (NYSE:TWX). With its three CAPS stars, the best we can say about TWC is that at least investors don't seem to hate it. But what do those investors have to say about TWC? Let's find out, as we review ...

... The bull case for Time Warner Cable

  • All-Star investor albanyfx finds something to shout about: "ENTERTAINMENT ALL IN ONE CABLE TO YOUR HOME!"
  • TomFoolNC adds that TWC is "adding HD, Broadband and VOIP subscribers at a furious rate."
  • And turtlebay9 argues that "at these prices, you cannot pass this up."

Which sort of begs the question: What prices are too good to pass up? Taking a closer look at TWC's stats, what we find is a company trading for 15 times trailing earnings, but expected by most analysts to grow those earnings at nearly 21% per year over the next five years. Anyone who knows his audio-in from his video-out should be able to tell you that works out to a bargain-basement 0.7 PEG. What's more, with free cash flow roughly approximating net income, TWC's price-to-free cash flow ratio looks similarly attractive.

Compared to its rivals, TWC looks good. Running a quick check on operating margins, we find TWC outclassed by Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), but pulling down margins far superior to those achieved by Cox or Cablevision (NYSE:CVC). Put it all together and I have to admit -- I'm intrigued by this one.

Time to chime in
Of course, the aim of this column isn't just to tell you what I think about Time Warner Cable -- or even what the other CAPS players are saying. We also want to hear your thoughts on the company. If you've got an opinion, we've got a place to voice it.

Motley Fool CAPS: It's fun, it's free, and it just might make you famous.