You know that political bumper sticker that reads, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention"? It might as well apply to the market these days. More than a year ago now, stocks began dropping ... and dropping … and dropping.

While we’ve had a nice little recovery of late, good -- even great -- companies are still selling for levels far below their true worth, and it’s not too late for you to take advantage.

A shocking and somewhat interesting statistic
Despite the recent rally, nearly 50% of all stocks traded in the U.S. are down since the beginning of 2008. That's a whopping 5,034 names in the red. Well-regarded names such as Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) remain down 25% or more.

So if you've lost money of late, don't feel bad. There's been no hiding from this downturn.

But let's also be honest: It hurts.

Time to panic-sell!
It's outrageous and it hurts, but what's the individual investor to do? The market is a monolith at times, and it can be hard to sway.

Case in point: Barrett Business Services . I found this tiny West Coast professional employer organization and staffing company during my work as the micro-cap analyst for our Motley Fool Hidden Gems service. At the time, it was trading for a little more than $20 per share. I liked the CEO, I liked the balance sheet, I liked the track record, and I thought it looked cheap.

What's happened since? You guessed right: It's dropped 50%.

What's your next move?
See, the market's convinced that the economy is worsening and the consumer is weakening. When fears are that broad, everybody gets punished.

The pain isn't reserved for companies that aren't yet showing operating profits, such as Omniture (Nasdaq: OMTR), or companies such as E*TRADE (Nasdaq: ETFC), which was rocked by subprime exposure.

But back to Barrett: It still has a strong balance sheet, it's increased its share repurchase program, and it's paying shareholders a nice 3% dividend. Could the stock drop further from here? Of course, but it will be among the first to rebound if the economy improves. And no matter what, it's still outrageously cheap.

And I'm not alone. CEO Bill Sherertz told analysts on a recent conference call: "If you guys want to sell [the company] down to five times earnings, maybe I will just buy the whole [expletive] thing." Continued...