"Don't catch a falling knife." Thus commandeth the old saw (to mix a cutlery metaphor).

But if people weren't tempted to catch cutlery in the first place, there'd be no need for this little bit of investing wisdom, would there? The idea of buying a former highflier at a discount price certainly has its attractions. The trick, of course, is to increase the odds that when you make your grab, you're catching haft, not blade. That's where we come in.

In The Motley Fool's continuing effort to keep your investing dollars safe, today we once again assume our position beneath Mr. Market's silverware drawer. As the knives plummet, we'll measure who's fallen farthest. Then we'll head over to Motley Fool CAPS, and ask which of these stocks Foolish investors think are ready to rebound to new highs -- if any.

With that said, let's meet today's list of contenders, drawn from the latest "52-Week Lows" list at Nasdaq.com:

52-Week High

Currently Fetching

CAPS Rating

Actions Semiconductor  (NASDAQ:ACTS)

$12.24

$5.90

****

Amerigroup (NYSE:AGP)

$39.44

$25.74

**

NeuroMetrix  (NASDAQ:NURO)

$36.57

$8.62

**

Bassett Furniture  (NASDAQ:BSET)

$18.80

$13.57

*

Furniture Brands  (NYSE:FBN)

$23.98

$14.50

*

P.A.M. Transportation (NASDAQ:PTSI)

$ 31.50

$17.78

Not rated
Companies are selected from the "NASDAQ 52-Week Low" list published on Nasdaq.com on the Saturday following close of trading last week. 52-week high and current pricing provided by Yahoo! Finance. CAPS ratings from Motley Fool CAPS.

Ready to bounce?
With a four-star rating, and 232 CAPS endorsements (including 79 out of 80 All-Stars polled), CAPS players believe this China-based fabless semiconductor maker has a lot of action ahead of it. Let's see what investors are saying about Actions:

  • evanell introduces us to the company: "A profitable $8 Chinese semiconductor company specializing in non-ipod MP3 player chips. (Not everybody on this planet can afford an iPod.) Stock seems under pressure due to patent litigation with the money-losing [SigmaTel (NASDAQ:SGTL)]."
  • obiwankenobe1250 points out that Action's Chinese market is "still in early adoption phase" and that the company has "sound fundamentals. Particularly attractive are its position as #1 in ROE, and profit and operating margins. An unstable Chinese currency? Not while it's tied to the dollar. Oh, and did I mention anything about it being held by some pretty smart institutions and mutual funds?"
  • The Fool's own TMFKopp adds that although this is "a risky stock ... given that they're almost totally dependent on VARs for their sales and they are working in a very competitive industry ... the price should provide limited down side. ACTS has been growing like crazy and as of FYE 2005 had nearly a 50% operating margin. "

Time to chime in
Did I mention that the stock carries a P/E of less than 7, and that the half-dozen analysts tracking Actions expect it to grow its "E" by 19% per year over the next five years? Well, it does, and they do. The only questions remaining are: Is Actions this cheap for a reason? And does that cheapness perhaps overstate the risks to its business?

Take a look and tell us what you think. And while you're at it, if you happen to know something about the other stocks mentioned in today's column -- and as-yet-unstarred P.A.M. Transportation in particular -- we'd love to hear your comments on those as well.

Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any company named above. You can find him on CAPS, publicly pontificating under the handle TMFDitty, where he's currently ranked No. 1581 out of nearly 29,000 raters. Amerigroup is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick. The Fool has a disclosure policy.