In a volatile market, investors need to keep one thing in mind: valuation. As the term volatile implies, stocks easily move up and down in this type of market. As a result, if you plan on holding a stock for the long run and don't firmly believe in the future of your stocks, you stand to be incredibly stressed and nervous at almost all times.

On this note, I'd like to introduce a company that I consider to be a very interesting long-term play for this market -- Steven Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO), a purveyor of middle-to-upper level shoes. While there are certainly issues with the company -- namely the fact that the company's founder is a convicted felon who served several years in prison (and got paid during this time) -- I think the turnaround in the stock is very interesting for a variety of reasons, most importantly the stock's cheap valuation and recently announced increase in its share buyback.

Steven Madden sells a wide variety of shoes, encompassing products you might find at a discount retailer like Marshall's to shoes that could be found at a high-end retailer like Bloomingdales, implying that the company has a highly diverse pool of potential buyers. As a result, if any one class of consumer is hit, the company wouldn't suffer completely because it also caters to others. With the company in the process of designing a new line of dresses and growing in hot markets like New York and Las Vegas, I think there's certainly potential for operating momentum going into next year.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Steven Madden (SHOO) will wear well

Volatile Markets: Steven Madden (SHOO) will wear well originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.