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 be a sign that further research is in order.

Here are three such stocks:

Company

Today’s Low

Industry

CAPS Rating

Fools Saying Outperform

Research

Healthways (NASDAQ:HWAY)

$26.27

Health services

*****

394 of 407

Research

AU Optronics   (NYSE:AUO)

$13.11

Computer hardware

*****

408 of 424

Research

SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK)

$16.74

Electronics

****

1507 of 1611

Research

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

Other five-star health services companies:

  • Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) -- stock is 20.8% cheaper than last year.
  • St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) -- stock price is 0.5% cheaper than last year.

Other five-star computer hardware companies:

  • Xyratex (NASDAQ:XRTX) -- stock price is 32.8% cheaper than last year.
  • Logitech International SA (USA) (NASDAQ:LOGI) -- stock price is 11.7% cheaper than last year.

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