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 125,000-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

Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS)

$14.88

Software

3  Stars

1780 of 1983

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

$14.84

Electronic Equipment, Instruments and Components

3 Stars

373 of 434

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW)

$15.25

Chemicals

5 Stars

1655 of 1749

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of Dec. 29, 2008.

Top-rated software companies:

  • TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSYS): Stock price is 133% higher than last year.
  • NAVTEQ Corp (NYSE:NVT): Stock price is 72% higher than last year.

Top-rated electronic equipment, instruments and components companies:

  • Cogent, Inc. (NASDAQ:COGT): Stock price is 14% higher than last year.
  • SAIC, Inc. (NYSE:SAI): Stock price is 4% lower than last year.

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