Even though it has been a tough year for most of my stock picks I have not changed perspective and my original rationale for my eight picks remains, with the exception of Valero based on its outlook. I do not change my mind based on price but on facts, and that is why though others are down it is only VLO that I am re-examining. See Chasing Value: Final list -- 8 stocks for 2008 for the original story.

In January, I added Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT) and Huaneng Power (NYSE:HNP) to our holdings. I made no additions in February or March among these stocks. In April as HNP hit new lows we acquired more stock. This is a long term position and we are prepared to ride the 5.6% yield as long as it is there for the taking.

Through April the average return for my eight picks was a loss of -8.96%; a welcome improvement from last months sad -15.96% showing. This under-performed the average return of the indices: -6.71%. This years stalking horse, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B), sagged a little more during the month, still besting both my average and overall indices average. However, the DJIA is slightly ahead of 'my pal Warren' so far this year -- oooh!

Including dividends for my picks, they averaged 3.91% yield though the first quarter. However that must be adjusted because of NCT's reduced dividend, so I have adjusted to 2.99% going forward. Therefore I will be an adding .978% for the first 3 months and .249% (2.99% / 12) for each additional month. Through April the loss was -8.96 + .978 + . 249 = -7.73%. Using 1.8% for the average dividend of the indices divided by 3 adds 0.6%, and reduces the loss to -5.57%. I'm still the loser so far while the gap did close some. BRK.B does not pay a dividend.

I continue to hope that 2008 does not end up being about who loses the least. The following are my eight picks with the starting share price as of December 28, 2007:

• Anglo American plc (ADR) (NASDAQ: AAUK) from $30.79 is Up to $32.75 for a gain of 6.37%.
• Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) from $119.03 is down to $114.09 for a loss of -4.15%.
• Huaneng Power International (ADR) (NYSE: HNP) from $41.75 is down to $33.65 for a loss of -19.4%.
• Loews Corporation (NYSE: LTR) from $49.35 is down to $42.11 for a loss of -14.67%.
• Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT) from $13.08 is down to $9.89 for a loss of -24.39%.
• Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) from$61.51 is UP to $63.97 for a gain of +3.4%.
• Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS) from $54.32 is Up to $60.78 for a gain of +11.89%.
• Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) from $70.55 is down to $48.85 for a loss of -30.76%.

The Indices:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 13,365.87 dropped to 12,820.13 for a loss -4.08%
• NASDAQ Composite Index: 2,674.46 dropped to 2,412.80 for a loss -9.78%
• Standard & Poor's 500 Index: 1,478.49 dropped to 1,385.59 for a loss -6.28%

This year's "stalking horse" Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) (I am tracking the 'B' shares, not the more expensive 'A' shares) saw its B shares down from $4,685 to $4,457 for a loss of -4.87%. This is the second month Berkshire has had a loss which increased by a small fraction while most everything else improved.

This year, so far, it looks like the big cap DJIA was the place to be.

Yesterday our Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced another cut in the discount rate of a quarter point to 2% and changed posture to signal it would probably be the last cut.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. DISCLOSURE: I currently own shares of AAUK, BRK.B, HNP, NCT, and VLO.