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 115,000-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

Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp (NYSE:CDE)

$1.62

Silver

4 Stars

1180 of 1239

Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (NASDAQ:AXAS)

$2.97

Independent Oil and Gas

4 Stars

650 of 671

Banco Santander Central Hispano SA (ADR) (NYSE:STD)

$16.04

Foreign Money Center Banks

4 Stars

343 of 357

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of Sept. 5, 2008.

Top-rated silver companies:

  • Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW): Stock price is 22% lower than last year.
  • Silver Standard Resources, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI): Stock price is 43% lower than last year.

Top-rated independent oil and gas companies:

  • Brigham Exploration Company (NASDAQ:BEXP): Stock price is 121% higher than last year.
  • VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY): Stock price is 88% higher than last year.

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