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 120,000-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 two such stocks:

Company

Today’s Intraday Price

Industry

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Fools Saying Outperform

ProShares UltraShort Lehman 20+Year Treasury (NYSE:TBT)

$41.05

Funds

5 Stars

260 of 269

Satyam Computer (ADR) (NYSE:SAY)

$5.39

IT Services

5 Stars

1007 of 1026

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

Top-rated funds:

  • CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (NYSE:FXY): Stock price is 25% higher than last year.
  • POWERSHS DB MULTI SECT COMM (NYSE:DGL): Stock price is 3% higher than last year.

Top-rated IT services companies:

  • NCI, INC. (NASDAQ:NCIT): Stock price is 37% higher than last year.
  • ManTech International Corp (NASDAQ:MANT): Stock price is 19% higher than last year.

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