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

ExxonMobil Corp (NYSE:XOM)

$72.82

Major Integrated Oil & Gas

4 Stars

5077 of 5516

Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:YZC)

$11.22

Industrial Metals & Minerals

3  Stars

468 of 502

Oshkosh Truck Corp (NYSE:OSK)

$12.11

Trucks & Other Vehicles

4 Stars

599 of 643

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of Sept. 16, 2008.

Top-rated major integrated oil & gas companies:

  • Petrobras Energia Participaciones SA ADR (NYSE:PZE): Stock price is 1% higher than last year.
  • Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX): Stock price is 11% lower than last year.

Top-rated industrial metals & minerals companies:

  • International Coal Group, Inc. (NYSE:ICO): Stock price is 64% higher than last year.
  • Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI): Stock price is 10% higher than last year.

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