Value investors always seek stocks that are trading below their intrinsic value. So, when you see a company whose financials suggest that its shares are a huge bargain, should you hesitate to jump right in and buy?

Of course, the bear market has caused many stock valuation measures to plummet. But lately, a huge number of stocks are trading at extremely attractive levels -- levels that imply that buyers are getting something for nothing.

Is that a symptom of just how irrational the selloff has become? Or are these apparently attractive prices actually a value trap waiting to snare unsuspecting investors?

Looking at book value
A company's book value is one of the simplest measures of a company's worth. All you need to calculate book value is a balance sheet. By taking the total value of a company's assets and subtracting out debt and other liabilities, the remaining amount should represent the equity that shareholders own in the company.

There's no shortage of stocks trading at prices below their book value per share right now. Here's just a sampling:

Stock

Price Apr. 23

Book Value

Price-to-Book Ratio

NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX)

23.37

25.31

0.92

Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW)

12.39

14.62

0.85

Alcoa (NYSE: AA)

8.90

12.71

0.70

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)

21.96

30.24

0.73

Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC)

27.13

52.71 Continued...