Shares for less than a buck? Hundreds of stocks face delisting on NYSE, Nasdaq

How low can some stocks go? Not just in terms of price, but in quality?

The market's remarkable 50-plus percent meltup since early March hasn't been an equal-opportunity rally. Lower quality stocks (generally companies with weaker balance sheets and riskier prospects) have tended to greatly outperform higher quality stocks (generally companies with lots of cash, little debt and proven businesses).

That rush to lower quality might seem counterintuitive at first, but it makes a lot of sense. After all, the greater the risk, the greater the reward, and with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) still 30 percent off its all-time high, market pros are looking to recoup losses as quickly as possible.