The Russell 2000 index is a collection of roughly 2,000 stocks that represents the performance of small-cap stocks. While the index has lost 12% in the month of November, its bottom 10 companies have seen their stock prices fall even further. Since companies may be delisted from the major exchanges from time to time, our 10 biggest Russell 2000 losers are currently trading on either the NYSE or Nasdaq exchanges and also have market caps of at least $200 million as of Nov. 28, 2008.

Of course, a stock's price can drop for reasons both significant (e.g., the emergence of a more powerful competitor) and insignificant (e.g., tax selling). Hence, a large drop in stock price could offer a unique buying opportunity, but it could also present a value trap.

That's why we've paired the 10 biggest Russell 2000 losers for the month of November with the intelligence of our 120,000-member-strong Motley Fool CAPS community. Each company's CAPS rating should offer some insight into how our community views the company. As always, though, you should conduct your own fundamental research.

For the month of November, here are the Russell 2000's 10 biggest market losers.

Company

Return in November

Year-to-Date Return

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Additional CAPS Research

1. KV Pharmaceuticals

(73.1%)

(84.0%)

*****

KV-A

2. VeriFone Holdings (NYSE:PAY)

(63.8%)

(82.3%)

***

PAY

3. Ferro Corp

(58.5%)

(69.0%)

*

FOE

4. Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE:GET)

(57.1%)

(77.3%)

*

GET

5. Arbitron (NYSE:ARB)

(56.9%)

(66.3%)

**

ARB

6. Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE)

(56.6%)

(83.7%)

****

EGLE

7. Live Nation (NYSE:LYV)

(56.5%)

(66.3%)

**

LYV

8. Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK)

(56.3%)

(83.4%)

****

GNK

9. Phoenix Companies

(56.0%)

(76.0%)

**

PNX

10. ION Geophysical (NYSE:IO)

(54.3%)

(81.0%)

*****

IO

Source: Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

Curious to see which other companies saw their share prices get a haircut? Check out the biggest Dow losers, Nasdaq losers, and S&P 500 losers or join us on CAPS to further your research into the companies mentioned above.