Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 6

Back on August 16, with the Dow opening under 13,000 for the first time since April, our BloggingStocks experts outlined a number of stock plays to ride out this volatile market. Picks ranged from Dow components and other household names to obscure business-to-business giants and foreign market leaders. Here, we review our picks weekly.

Week six was rough for a couple of our stock picks -- chiefly Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) -- but Huaneng Power International Inc. (NYSE: HNP) just had a phenomenal week. Read on.

Posco (NYSE: PKX)'s gains have tapered a bit -- Peter Cohan's pick followed up last week's 10.41% run with a modest 1.30% rise this week. Still, just six weeks since our Volatile Markets feature, the South Korean steelmaker stands 46.06% higher! Incredible.

Volatile Markets Week 6 Tops

This week's big story, however, is Huaneng Power International Inc. (NYSE: HNP), recommended by Sheldon Liber. The Chinese utility nearly doubled its gains as of last week, shooting 18.08% higher, closing Thursday up 39.51% in the last six weeks!

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), selected by Steven Halpern, also fared well this week, no doubt boosted by British Airways' $8.2 billion order, which Boeing shared with European competitor Airbus Industrie, losing its exclusive 747 contract with British Airways. Boeing has soared $4.21 since last Thursday's close for a week-over-week gain of 4.25%, giving Boeing a total 13.76% gain in the last six weeks.

Volatile Markets Week 6 Middles

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), another pick by Sheldon Liber, lightly padded its healthy gains by 64 cents in week six, bringing it 12.89% higher since August 16. Likewise, General Electric (NYSE: GE), selected by Steven Halpern, fared modestly this week, gaining just 15 cents, but GE still stands 11.26% higher over the six weeks since our Volatile Markets feature.

Trailing the Dow -- which is up

8.18% over the last six weeks -- we find three recommendations from Georges Yared:

Volatile Markets Week 6 Bottoms

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) climbed $1.02 to finish week six at $57.33, for a total gain of $3.94, or 7.38%. Suffering the week's worst loss meanwhile, Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) has been sacked for $3.89 since last Thursday -- a loss of 6.04% which limited Target's six-week gains to just 3.21%. Target has hit a spell of hard luck in the last couple of weeks: it's been sued by Andre Agassi, warned of slumping same-store sales, recalled children's gear, and just Thursday was fined by the EPA.

Also slipping this week, Georges' pick Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) gave up 0.38% to finish week six at $50.60, up just 1.50% since our virtual August 16 purchase. Just behind is Steven Halpern's pick Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX), which dropped 1.89% since last Thursday, lowering its six-week gains to 1.35%.

Volatile Markets Week 6 Losers

Still struggling is FreightCar America Inc. (NYSE: RAIL), recommended by Sheldon Liber. RAIL slipped for a third week, dropping $1.10 since Thursday to fall 10.78% under its August 15 closing price.

Laggard Steven Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO), Kevin Kelly's tip, finally caught a break this week. After falling at least 7.9% for three consecutive weeks, Steven Madden has recovered $1.02 since last Thursday for a week's gain of 5.19%. That still leaves SHOO 20% under its August 16 price, unfortunately.

Volatile Markets Week 6 chart

So how's our Volatile Markets Index faring overall? Not bad, up 9.65% since our feature ran six weeks ago -- outperforming the Dow but trailing the Nasdaq (10.20% higher over the same period). Wish we could get Steven Madden out of the basement -- discounting SHOO, the index sits about 12.61% higher. Alas, you dance with the one who brung you, as goes the saying. Check back next week.

See all the posts in this special report: