International Paper Co (IP)

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Get Ready for the Bounce
By Rich Smith
February 2, 2009 | Comments (0)

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"Don't catch a falling knife," as the old saw commands. (Pardon my mixing a cutlery metaphor.) The idea of buying a former superstar stock at a discount price certainly has its attractions, but you've got to make sure you catch the haft -- not the blade. That's where Motley Fool CAPS comes in.

Today, we once again stand beneath Mr. Market's silverware drawer, measuring which knives have fallen the farthest. Then we'll call on CAPS to ask which of these stocks -- if any -- Foolish investors believe are ready for a rebound. Let's meet today's list of contenders, drawn from the latest "52-Week Lows" list at WSJ.com:

Company
52-Week High
Recent Price
CAPS Rating

(5 max):

Novartis (NYSE: NVS)
$61.30
$41.26
*****

FedEx (NYSE: FDX)
$99.46
$50.94
***

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS)
$75.08
$42.49
***

International Paper (NYSE: IP)
$33.77
$9.12
***

Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF)
$63.50
$15.84
*


Companies are selected from the "New Highs & Lows" list published on WSJ.com on the Saturday following close of trading last week. 52-week high and recent price provided by Yahoo! Finance. CAPS ratings from Motley Fool CAPS.


Knives and knaves
If there's one good thing about a broad-based market sell-off, it's that you find a lot of terrific companies getting the ol' baby 'n' bathwater treatment, tossed out on their rosy little bums as if they were bums of another sort. You just know that some of these babies will bounce right back once the suds subside.

And what a batch of bargains we've got this week! FedEx and UPS? International Paper? Capital One? Thanks to our once-in-a-century sell-off, some of the biggest brands on the planet are going for fire-sale prices. While investors seem hesitant to take Mr. Market up on some of these bargains -- and downright terrified to see what's in Capital One's wallet -- there's one stock on today's list that they think offers a cure for what ails your portfolio. Are they right?