This is an update on the stock price status of the first four Chasing Value companies. I was tracking my ideas and thought if I was doing this anyway I might as well share it with readers. I'll be the first one to acknowledge the time frame is rather short, nevertheless here is the data through the end of April.

February 16, 2007: Chasing value: Wells Fargo closed at 35.59 from 35.76: 17 cent loss: Basically even money.

February 23, 2007: Chasing value: Anadarko Petroleum - got it! closed at 46.66 from 40.84: A gain of 14.55%

March 3, 2007: Chasing value: Aluminum Corporation of China ADS closed at 29.05 from 22.98: A gain of 26.41%

March 20, 2007: Chasing Value: Anglo American - Inflation hedge & more closed at 26.39 from 24.65: A gain of 7%

So far so good; 3 of the 4 stocks beat the market and the average of the four, at 12% beat the market by a large margin as well.

Those of you who are new to Bloggingstocks.com can check out my other stories and read Chasing Value or Serious Money to find more potential opportunities and verify my track record as well.

Disclosure: I own APC and ACH in several portfolios.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the vice president for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. Check out his other posts for BloggingStocks here.

Yesterday I bought some more shares of Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) at $39. Basically, I had to put my money where my mouth is because I have written about it as a safe haven and a defensive stock so often. Now with the sub-prime lending ruckus filling the headlines and driving the stock price down I thought I would take advantage of the fear in the market place. This is another wonderful stock for long term investors.

If you have money in a WaMu CD at the Online rates (which are higher than walk-in) you are receiving a smaller return on your investment than if you bought the stock which currently is yielding 5.56% - and you have no future appreciation.

There is no question that WaMu could drop further and that may have been able to buy it at a lower price. I have no idea where the bottom is, but for those of you interested in watching this one and possibly seeing long-term gains plus current income consider the following data points: