Often taking a look at 52-week low gives a hint as to which sectors are in trouble. But, it also may provide investors a look at shares that could come back under the right circumstances. Bottom fishing sometimes pay dividends.
McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI): The Wall Street Journal did a major story on McClatchy last week. Its shares are down over 70%, but the company CEO insists that when weak parts of the economy in Florida and California make a comeback, newspapers will recover, too. There may be some wisdom to the observation, but probably not for McClatchy. Most of the company's newspapers are in median-sized markets and that makes it harder for the firm to have a major presence in the internet ad business. Companies like The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) and Gannett Inc. (NYSE: GCI) with their large internet operations like USAToday.com have a much better chance of offsetting falling print revenue with online sales.
Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK): This tech company finds itself in the wrong place at the wrong time. At just over $33, its shares are down by almost half this year. The company is one of the world's largest producers of flash memory chips and the prices for the products are crashing. The turnaround at the company may come when prices for these chips become more stable because demand is moving up. Sandisk products are a big part of what goes into cell phones, digital cameras, and multimedia players. A bottom on flash prices should bring shares back.
Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT): Supplying infrastructure to the world's big telecom and cable companies used to look like a sexy business. But, Nortel shares are off to $15.20 from a 52-week high of $31.79. Rival Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is doing no better. The build-out of systems like 3G and WiMax is going slower than planned and mergers of big telecom companies have taken some customers out of the picture. The market may begin to improve, but companies with more advanced tech, like Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), are likely to benefit.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.










