When a stock hits a fresh low, it can either signal a dirt cheap dream stock or a dreadful stock to avoid. Separating the wheat from the chaff is difficult, but finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices is a great way to accumulate a fortune over the long run.

With that in mind, we'll use the aggregate intelligence of the 115,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to see what the community is saying about stocks hitting 52-week lows today. The community's approval (signified by four- and five-star ratings) could indicate that further research is in order.

Here are three such stocks:

Company

Today's Intraday Price

Industry

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Fools Saying Outperform

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX)

$7.95

Printed Circuit Boards

4 Stars

364 of 383

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD)

$26.49

Independent Oil & Gas

5 Stars

569 of 580

Fronteer Development Group, Inc. (USA) (AMEX:FRG)

$2.12

Industrial Metals & Minerals

2 Stars

273 of 349

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of Sept. 10, 2008.

Top-rated printed circuit boards companies:

  • Raven Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAVN): Stock price is 4% higher than last year.
  • Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS): Stock price is 1% lower than last year.

Top-rated independent oil & gas companies:

  • Brigham Exploration Company (NASDAQ:BEXP): Stock price is 106% higher than last year.
  • VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY): Stock price is 73% higher than last year.

Join us on CAPS to learn more about these and countless other interesting stock ideas.