Bullish investors can take some sort of relief in January's losses. After all, the market is still trading markedly higher than it was when it truly bottomed out last March. Dogs and darlings alike have taken off since then.
Unfortunately, not every stock has gone along for the ride. The market's list of stocks establishing new highs last week is noticeably longer than the roll call of names hitting 52-week lows, but you may be surprised by some of the laggards.
Let's go over a few of the stocks hitting fresh 52-week lows last week.
|
Company
|
52-Week High
|
52-Week Low
|
|
BigBand Networks (Nasdaq: BBND)
|
$7.18
|
$2.96
|
|
GigaMedia (Nasdaq: GIGM)
|
$7.73
|
$2.72
|
|
Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME)
|
$13.00
|
$8.43
|
|
Jackson Hewitt
|
$14.16
|
$2.68
|
|
Tata Communications (NYSE: TCL)
|
$27.46
|
$13.11
|
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
A diverse group of companies are being sent off to the land of forgotten stocks.
With some of these companies, investors could have seen trouble coming. BigBand Networks was losing ground even during last summer's rally. There were plenty of skeptical Fools when Shanda Interactive (Nasdaq: SNDA) chose to take its Shanda Games arm public last year. Tax-prep specialist Jackson Hewitt got hammered last week when it revealed that it hadn't secured financing for its refund anticipation loans.
Last week wasn't necessarily the bottom, either. GigaMedia and Shanda Games went on to hit 52-week lows this morning.
Bottom-feeders with a sense of adventure may see this differently. They may be donning their bibs for a shot to get some of these stocks -- many of them former Wall Street darlings -- at rock-bottom prices.
As long as the vultures understand that a 52-week low isn't the floor until sentiment and fundamentals improve, there may be a value gem or two in the mix.
I'm particularly fond of Shanda Games. Analysts see the operator of popular online games in China earning $0.92 a share this year, 18% higher than its 2009 profit target. Shanda operates in a risky market at a risky time, but it's hard to resist that kind of growth, and at a price that's less than 10 times forward earnings.
So -- OK -- I guess I'm a bottom-feeder, too. It's still not a place for the impatient.
Which of these five stocks do you think will bounce back the fastest? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
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