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 110,000-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

Amphenol Corp (NYSE:APH)

$23.81

Diversified Electronics

4 Stars

258 of 265

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

$24.57

Gold

3 Stars

239 of 268

Drew Industries, Inc. (NYSE:DW)

$10.43

General Building Materials

4 Stars

432 of 471

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of Oct. 23, 2008.

Top-Rated diversified electronics companies:

  • Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB): Stock price is 28% lower than last year.
  • Kyocera Corp (ADR) (NYSE:KYO): Stock price is 31% lower than last year.

Top-Rated gold companies:

  • Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM): Stock price is 49% lower than last year.
  • Kinross Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:KGC): Stock price is 54% lower than last year.

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