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 like a bargain, apparently. 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 community. Consider it a buy-one-get-one-free 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 here. Make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with these companies before you plug any of them into your portfolio.

Take two, they're small
Is it a smart investment in the future, or a gamble that might cause the company to go bust? Natural gas producer SandRidge Energy halved its capital budget to $500,000 in December as it sought to conserve cash in a depressed environment. Similar to Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), it cut the number of rigs it planned to operate from 47 in 2008 to just 12 this year. However, after selling off some assets and initiating a private placement, SandRidge increased those capital spending plans to $700,000, citing an ability to boost 2009 production. One analyst thinks the benefits of those new wells won't be realized until well into next year, making the move a risky one.

CAPS member appst1cap argues that an investment in SandRidge Energy is no gamble -- in fact, it's got little downside, and healthy participation from management. Insiders made some large stock purchases last September, albeit at significantly higher prices, suggesting that they think the stock is worth a lot more:

Massive insider buying at prices much higher than today's closing (12/31-$6.15).

This is another great secret like Linn Energy and their fortunate hedge positions. Buying [SandRidge Energy] isn't a gamble at this level... gambling is when the odds aren't in your favor. [Sandridge Energy] is a trade I'm definitely willing to speculate on because I see very limited downside.

A holding company worth holding
Often compared to a miniature Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A), Leucadia National does exhibit many of the same characteristics as its more well-known cousin, using value-oriented investment strategies to sniff out troubled or out-of-favor stocks. Also like Berkshire, its shares have taken a beating, falling 70% from their highs. (Warren Buffett is down "only" 40% at Berkshire.)

Top-rated CAPS All-Star member ValueMrk thinks that forced liquidations present an extreme buying opportunity for the superinvestors running Leucadia -- and for anyone interested in the company itself. Perhaps when the market panic runs its course, the cream of the investing world will once again rise to the top:

Leucadia = undervalued! Want to become a business owner in a holding company that even gives Berkshire Hathaway a run for its money at not even a fraction of the cost. Founders are value investors who purchase businesses based on same principles as Warren Buffett. Purchase great businesses at or below underlying value, seek-out opportunity that is undervalued due to a hick-up. One might ask how a great company could be selling at such a bargin. This is becuase of forced liquidations!

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.