They say you should not look a gift horse in the mouth. Sorry folks, sometimes you do. In the case of the recently catapulting Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT), which I bought at 60 cents a share, I am.

I have been following this company for a while and have both made and lost money. Although it started out as a penny stock for me it has jumped over 150% in a week and closed today at $3.61 up $0.39 (12.11%) -- for a total gain to date of 502%. So why am I complaining?

January was a wild ride and February holds the promise of more of the same after yesterday's 370 point drop in the Dow. All the major indices were down in January and so were seven of my eight picks. Only Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN), the high tech defense contractor, was up. My two high flyers from last year, Huaneng Power International, Inc. (ADR) (NYSE: HNP) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), were the biggest losers.

I have not changed my opinion of these stocks from that of the original story Chasing Value: Final list -- 8 stocks for 2008 and I am following them closely for buying opportunities. We have already added more Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT) and Huaneng Power to our holdings.

Among the indices, the DJIA lost the least and the NASDAQ lost the most. The average return for my eight picks was -7.82%. This underperformed the average of the indices that was -7.58% -- but my new stalking horse Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) bested both, so Buffett is still the man.

Now including dividends for my picks which average 3.91% divided by 12 for the one month allows for an additional .326%, reducing the loss to -7.494%. Using 1.8% for the average dividend of the indices divided by 12 adds 0.15%, reducing the loss to -7.43%. The dividends tighted things up. BRK.B does not pay a dividend.

The following are my eight picks with the starting share price as of December 28, 2007:

A few days behind schedule, but here is my list of eight stocks. Included in the list there are two holdovers from the 2007 list of seven stocks. I do not see any value in creating an entirely new list when I have done well over the years riding the winners. This is particularly true if the reasons you bought the stock in the first place remain valid.

These eight picks for the year will be tracked monthly with updated results. The initial share prices are from December 28, 2007. They are focused on defense, energy, food, gold, metals, mining, oil, power, and every one pays a dividends. The following are my "Quick Takes" in alphabetical order with links to the complete stories.

Anglo American plc (ADR) (NASDAQ: AAUK) is a world-class player in precious metals, diamonds, and commodities, which are all growing in demand. When the world economy is booming, all of its mining products are sought after, and when the market runs scared, gold goes up. It pays a dividend yield of 1.9% and is trading almost 25% off its 52-week high. For full story: Chasing Value: Anglo American diamonds and gold are your best friend. The closing price on December 28, 2007, for AAUK was $30.79.

Regular readers of BloggingStocks will find no shortage of stock picks for 2008 on our pages. Steven Halpern alone has compiled about 120 picks from the investment advisors he follows. But plenty of other bloggers have favorites for 2008 to share.

In an effort to consolidate the wealth of ideas into one handy post, here are a few of our bloggers' favorite selections for the year ahead:

VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the 2008 pick of Georges Yared (check out how his 2007 picks did). He expects this internet security and domain registry firm to sell off its non-core assets and grow its core business in 2008.

Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN) is the current favorite of Beth Gaston Moon. It's already had an amazing run in 2007, climbing from about $45 to $120 a share. Looking for a lower-priced stock? Beth recently spotlighted 10 Stocks for Under $10.

Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ: DECK) is a stock I picked in a recent video, which Beth likes as well. I think it will continue to surprise to the upside on the strength of sales of its trendy Ugg boots. Zac Bissonnette thinks it will no doubt flame out at some point.