5 Top Stocks at Half Price

You love buying your shirts when they go on sale. And who can resist a buy-one-get-one-free offer? So when our stocks go on sale, why do we bemoan their low prices?

Smart investors like Warren Buffett or Marty Whitman love it when their stocks are suddenly selling at bargain-basement prices. For them, these companies become no-brainer buys.

The investors in the Motley Fool CAPS community also like a bargain, apparently. Below, you'll find five companies whose shares are selling at least 50% below their 52-week highs, but which still earn high honors from our investor-intelligence database. Consider it a BOGO sale on stocks.

Naturally, we want you to look a bit closer at these stocks before buying. You can get low-priced appliances in the dent-and-ding section of your home-remodeling superstore, but their quality might not be so good. Same thing here: Make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with the company before you plug it into your portfolio.

Take two, they're small
Chinese jewelry seller Fuqi International says accounting errors caused it to underestimate its cost of sales -- consisting primarily of raw material costs, such as gold, platinum, and diamonds. Thus, it needs to restate profits for the first nine months of 2009. It appears the problem lies with its original design manufacturing contracts, where customers for its jewelry provide the raw materials used in the manufacture of the designs. ODM revenues soared almost 500% last quarter, allowing its cost of sales to grow at a slower rate.

Some CAPS members think now may be a good time to get in, including drborst:

The accounting issue has confirmed Mr Market's fears about investing in China. I'm gonna follow the Buffett advice and get greedy on this one. I expect this will drop a bit more before rebounding slowly

Last summer, I marked Fuqi to underperform the market following a big run-up in its price. I still think online diamond seller Blue Nile (Nasdaq: NILE) is a better bet, but even after that company's recent tumble, I'm not ready to change my view just yet. Fuqi's ODM contracts were a new item last quarter, and they may prove to be a path to larger woes. Head over to the Fuqi International CAPS page and tell us whether you think this company is all bling or bunk.

A golden opportunity?
Accounting issues underpin the financial crisis in Greece, too. While such challenges bring with them opportunities, the reverberations are far beyond companies such as National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG). Gold investors, for example, saw prices drop last week, as the strength of the dollar soared on news that Greece may have to tap the International Monetary Fund.

Investors in DRDGOLD have been plagued by other problems, including the closing of its East Rand Proprietary Mines and the placement of its Blyvoor mine under judicial management. South African gold production also fell 6% last year, and miners like Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) didn't provide an attractive profile for investors.

Yet DRDGOLD still enjoys high investor support, with 89% of the nearly 200 CAPS members who've rated it believing it will outperform the market. With Blyvoor posting a quarterly profit, and South Africa's judicial managers set to report on the status of the mine within the next month, DRDGOLD could be poised to grow again.

The beat goes on
Wireless heart-monitoring device maker CardioNet began its tailspin last summer, when Highmark Medicare Service said it would cut Medicare reimbursements by 33%. That doomsday scenario led CardioNet's stock to a dramatic, heart-stopping drop. But as analysts have since found, insurers haven't cut payments to CardioNet as deeply as expected. That means the company will probably earn more money than it anticipated. This past December, CAPS All-Star TSIF suggested the device maker would find a way to make money beyond the forecasts:

Cardionet has had an incease in patients and without the 33% trim from Medicare would probably be one of this years winners. Cash on hand is strong and debt pretty much nonexistant. I believe that Cardionet will find a way to grow, either organically or in one fell swoop with a decent premium from a buyout.

Interestingly, companies as diverse as telecom provider Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) are investing in the potential inherent in remote, wireless monitoring. That could make CardioNet's own take on the technology attractive for a potential buyer.

Have half a mind
It pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page.

Sign up today for the completely free service, and tell us whether these stocks are twice as good at half the price.