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 130,000-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

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENER)

$13.80

Electrical Equipment

3 Stars

975 of 1053

Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV)

$2.10

Capital Markets

4 Stars

927 of 961

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of March 17, 2009

Top-Rated electrical equipment companies:

  • Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC): Stock price is -11% lower than last year.
  • REGAL-BELOIT Corp (NYSE:RBC): Stock price is -17% lower than last year.

Top-Rated capital markets companies:

  • Vanguard Health Care ETF (NYSE:VHT): Stock price is -20% lower than last year.
  • Central Fund of Canada Limited (USA) (AMEX:CEF): Stock price is -22% lower than last year.

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