3 Stocks Hitting Low Notes

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 120,000-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
Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL  )	$1.61	Silver		621 of 644
Coldwater Creek, Inc. (Nasdaq: CWTR  )	$1.88	Specialty Retail, Other		474 of 540
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT  )	$8.79	Publishing - Newspapers		104 of 274

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

Top-rated silver companies:

• Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (Nasdaq: PAAS  ) : Stock price is 63% lower than last year.
• Silver Standard Resources, Inc. (USA) (Nasdaq: SSRI  ) : Stock price is 76% lower than last year.

Top-rated specialty retail, other companies:

• PetMed Express, Inc. (Nasdaq: PETS  ) : Stock price is 44% higher than last year.
• Tractor Supply Company (Nasdaq: TSCO  ) : Stock price is 2% higher than last year.

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