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 cry about 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 who populate the Motley Fool CAPS community also appear to like a bargain. Below, you'll find five stocks whose shares are selling at least 50% below their 52-week highs, but which still earn top 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
As many financial institutions are doing, CapitalSource is changing its business model so it can capture a fistful of the billions the Treasury Department is handing out. The journey began when it acquired a mortgage lender during the summer, and recently it received FDIC approval to convert to a commercial bank in California. The last leg of the journey will be to become a bank holding company, just like American Express (NYSE:AXP) did, where it will be able to build a broad deposit base. CAPS member GenerationWHY figures it’s a strategic move that will pay dividends in the future:

CapitalSource has maintained a strong balance sheet despite tough economic conditions that see many companies of the same industry falter. With its change of status to a bank, despite REIT tax benefits, is a strategic move that will benefit the company greatly in the future. [CapitalSource] also returned a profit before one time losses/gains of about 30 cents. Although short of analyst estimates polled by Thomson/FirstCall, it is still strong earnings in these conditions.

This company may also be a good target for an acquisition when the market begins recovery. A long position on this company for the next 2-4 years should see great returns.

The global decline in the chemicals business has put the merger of Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) and Hexion to the test, and even giant Dow Chemical is feeling the pressure. Its planned joint venture with Kuwait Petroleum is getting repriced lower by almost $2 billion because of it.

CAPS member BernsDesign thinks that may be history, though, because with the decline in oil prices -- a key component of many chemical formulations -- Dow should be able to power ahead:

This cyclical stock has great momentum. A solid dividend payer it will have performance that is inverse to energy prices as it relies on fossil fuels to make it's products. I would counter this with a big oil company (both DOW and big oil have been beaten up as I write this, so I have purchased both!).

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.