Of all insight I've heard over these few crazy months, the most telling came from an investor who appeared on CNBC last fall and, being entirely serious, advised, "There're only two positions to be in right now: cash, and fetal."

I get it. Even with the recent rally, it's ugly out there. Many companies that overleveraged their balance sheets are permanently impaired and may never fully rebound. AIG (NYSE: AIG) comes to mind. We had an unprecedented boom; now we're slowly trying to call out of an unprecedented bust. That's how markets work.

Even so,  history tells us time and time again that market panics and forced sell-offs indiscriminately throw the good out with the bad. The "sell-now-ask-questions-later" mood of global investors is providing bargain-hunting investors with the sort of  opportunities we haven't seen in decades.    Use that to your advantage.

Using the wisdom of our 140,000-member-strong CAPScommunity, I've hunted down a few dirt cheap, high-quality companies. Have a look:

Company

Recent Share Price

Forward P/E Ratio

5-Year Expected Growth Rate

TTM Return on Equity

Dividend Yield

CAPS Rating   
(out of 5)

Capstead Mortgage
(NYSE: CMO)

$14.09

5.76

4.5%

17.05%

15.3%

**

Humana
(NYSE: HUM)

$38.02

6.94

10.57%

18.24%

N/A

****

Wal-Mart
(NYSE: WMT)

$49.23

12.53

11.88% Continued...