"The technical backdrop has taken a distinctly bullish turn," says Michael Ashbaugh in MarketWatch's The Technical Indicator. Here, he looks at the market averages and a trio of stock ideas.

"Perhaps most obviously, the S&P has staged a 10-to-1 rally, and a 28-to-1 spike, from its 200-day moving average. And by any measure, this raises a bullish technical flag.

"With a gravity-defying rally, the S&P extended its gains, clearing resistance at 930 last Thursday. From current levels, significant resistance holds at the 2009 closing high of 946 while initial support rests at 930.

"Meanwhile, the Dow's near-term view is similar. With this week's rally, it's staged a 'V'-shaped reversal, breaking to one-month highs. Looking ahead, significant resistance holds at 8,799 - matching the 2009 closing high - while support rests at 8,580, matching the breakout point.

"The steel stocks tend to go through boom and bust cycles depending on global economic activity; they have been pummeled over the last year, as the global economy slowed," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "But the news about steel is not all bad." Indeed, he believes some steel companies are poised for a turnaround. Here's his review of 6 leading steel production companies.

"Weakness in two big steel consuming industries, autos and construction, has been particularly troublesome for the steelmakers.

"However, there is evidence that steel inventories are gradually being worked off to low levels. There are also signs that economic activity in China, which is a huge consumer of steel, will not fall off as far as some economists initially feared.

Eoin Treacy of Fullermoney says that as commodities prices weaken, you need to look carefully before investing.

Q. Eoin, I've read that China's annual consumption of copper has declined from a 28.66% growth rate to 2.4%. What does that mean for continued growth in China and also for the global copper market?

A. China and indeed much of Asia and the Middle East are in a generational-long period where they have to build infrastructure from the ground up. The push for educating, housing, transporting and employing large young populations requires massive investment, fueling demand for commodities across the boards.

The supply side was completely taken unawares by this demand following the 20-year crushing bear market that cut exploration budgets to the bone. That is now changing, as major mining groups compete for the best resources, particularly in politically stable parts of the world.

China continues to lead the world in terms of GDP growth, although it has recently manufactured a slowdown to combat rising inflation, generally positive for the economy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Yahoo!, Goldman Sachs and Bankrate were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Banc of America downgraded shares of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Neutral from Buy as they believe that even if shareholders accept Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) offer, the regulatory hurdles are significant.
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Perform from Outperform as they believe the current valuation is not sustainable in a year when the company will probably deliver results that will not be substantially better than peers.
• Jefferies lowered its rating on Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) to Hold from Buy on valuation, as they believe the run-up in shares reflects expectations for strong Q4 results and guidance.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• SiRF Technology (NASDAQ: SIRF) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, to Market Weight from Overweight at Thomas Weisel and to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
• Goldman downgraded Posco (NYSE: PKX) to Sell from Neutral.
• Baird downgraded Associated Bancorp (NASDAQ: ASBC) to Neutral from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Tyson Foods, Unilever, Brooks Automation, Akzo Nobel and Yahoo! were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) to Buy from Hold on valuation and the potential for protein complex improvement.
  
• Goldman upgraded shares of Unilever (NYSE: UN) to Neutral from Sell to reflect the company's diversified product range and growing exposure to developing and emerging markets.
  
• Bear Stearns raised its rating on Brooks Automation (NASDAQ: BRKS) to Outperform from Peer Perform. The firm cited the company's compelling valuation and growth drivers.
  
• Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at SNS Securities, as they see absolute total return greater than 20%.
  
• CIBC upgraded Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer on valuation following the recent pullback and their analysis of Yahoo's non-operating assets. They believe Yahoo's stake in Alibaba Group is now worth about $4/share and raised their target to $31 from $28.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• First Analysis upgraded Spss Inc (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• UBS upgraded Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• WestLB upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Hold from Reduce.
  
• HSBC upgraded Posco (NYSE: PKX) to Overweight from Neutral.

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.

In the seventh week since our Volatile Markets stock recommendations, only a few of our picks have seen significant movement.

After stalling last week, South Korean steelmaker Posco (NYSE: PKX), has jumped another $7.39. The 4.08% gain brings Peter Cohan's tip to $188.52, 52.02% higher than its August 16 opening price of $124.01.



Sheldon Liber's recommendation, Huaneng Power International Inc. (NYSE: HNP), gave back some of last week's 18.08% gain this week. Despite the Chinese utility's 6.53% knock, Huaneng still stands a formidable 30.40% higher since our volatile markets feature ran.

With the dollar hitting record lows every day, how can you make money in stocks? The short answer is to invest in growing companies based outside the U.S.

This strategy has propelled my investment newsletter to outperform the S&P 500 in the first nine months of 2007. Specifically, stocks highlighted in The Cohan Letter -- I highlight three stocks per month -- are up an average of 17%, compared to a 7% rise in the S&P 500 since the beginning of the year. Which three picks have done the best?·

• Posco (NYSE: PKX) rose 48% from $92.70 to $178.77. Barry Summerlin highlighted this Korean steel company, which I suggested might do well in an August post -- it's up 46% since then;
• CVRD (NYSE: RIO) -- the Latin American telecommunications mining company -- rose 45% from $18.50 to $33.85; and
• New Oriental Education and Technology Group (NYSE: EDU) -- a Chinese educational testing company -- rose 34% from $43.75 to $65.66.

I don't know whether these particular stocks have peaked, but if the dollar keeps dropping, they could continue to do well.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

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.



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!

Ben Bernanke's buyout bailout is helping push the dollar to record lows. While this will make your travel outside the U.S. shockingly expensive, the Washington Post offers some ways you can invest to ease some of that pain:

• Buy foreign stocks. The U.S. investor converts dollars into the currency needed to buy the stocks, whether euros, pounds, yen or something else. Then, if the share price holds and the dollar falls, the investor gains when he sells the stock and converts the money back into dollars. If the share price has risen, the profit is even greater. Of course, if the dollar appreciates in the interim, the process works in reverse. As Barry Summerlin notes, my recommendation of Posco (NYSE: PKX) has gone up significantly since August, probably due in part to this effect.
• Buy U.S. companies with overseas earnings. buy the stocks of big, multinational U.S. companies that benefit from the weaker currency. A lower dollar helps boost U.S. exports by making them relatively cheap on world markets The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) is among the beneficiaries of this trend.
• Buy CDs, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds packed with various currencies or linked to baskets of foreign exchange. More than $2.7 billion was invested in open-end currency funds by the end of July, up from $36 million at the end of July 2000, according to estimates by Lipper. So far, the falling dollar fund is the better bet: It is up 7.91% for the year, as of Thursday. The rising dollar fund is down 2.66%.

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.

Wow! I hope you looked into Peter Cohan's pick, Posco (NYSE: PKX), when our feature ran. Like a broken record, again I ask how long the South Korean steelmaker can continue these fantastic gains -- 44.37% higher in just five weeks! Even if you bought in last week, you'd already be up 10.41%. Phenomenal.



Also performing handily are two of Sheldon Liber's picks, Huaneng Power International Inc. (NYSE: HNP) and Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC). China's Huaneng rose 1 1/2% since last week to close at $44.99 Thursday, putting it up 18.43% since our virtual purchase August 16. Texas energy concern Anadarko has gushed 4.48% higher since last Thursday, climbing to $52.96, a total gain of 11.54% since our August 16 Volatile Markets feature.

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.

It goes without saying that it's pretty early to begin seriously evaluating our recommendations, but there's no harm in checking in on our stock plays.

Some performed better than others, obviously, but we happily report that all of our picks have gained since the feature ran! Seven picks are beating the Dow, which has gained about 2.95% since its August 15 close. One pick, Starbucks, is behind the Dow but ahead of the Nasdaq Composite Index, while three are trailing the Nasdaq.



Sheldon Liber's pick, Huaneng Power International Inc. (NYSE: HNP), leads the pack, despite one analyst's downgrade of China's top energy utility one day after our stock picks ran. Shares of HNP closed Thursday at $45.62, climbing 20.0% from $37.99 in the two weeks following the volatile-market feature.

An ultra-low-cost Korean steel company in which Warren Buffett invested -- Posco (NYSE: PKX) -- is looking like a bigger bargain in this turbulent market. Buffett may have acquired much of his 3.49 million share -- or 4% -- position (as of March 2007) in 2005, when Posco -- the world's third largest steel company -- shares were low -- bottoming at $44 in June of that year -- due to anxiety over rising competition from Chinese steelmakers.

Buffett inspired me to take a look at Posco which I recommended in The Cohan Letter back in February 2007 when it traded at $92.70 -- it's up 45% since then. I liked it in February because at a Price Earnings to Growth (PEG) ratio of 0.6 -- on a P/E of 6.8 it looked cheap relative to its forecasted 12% earnings growth to $10.05 in 2007 (the 2007 forecast has since been raised 10% to $11.02). Posco peaked at $154 on July 23rd and is down 16% since then.

So why does Posco look cheap now? Its strength is derived from infrastructure development and automobiles in Korea, China and India which spurs demand for Posco's products. This demand is not likely to decline in the face of market volatility. And at a P/E of 11.1, Posco looks like even more of a bargain than it did in February -- trading at a PEG of 0.4 on 27.3% earnings growth to $14.02 in 2008.

If Posco drops further and its earnings growth remains high, Bufett could back up the truck. And perhaps, so should you.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Posco.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) is reportedly attempting to tighten its financial reporting procedures, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported. The auto maker is under investigation by the SEC and a federal grand jury for its accounting of transactions as far back as 2000.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is in talks with India's Reliance Industries for a joint venture that would enable Dow to reduce its exposure to commodity products and gain access to cheaper raw materials. Indian newspapers report that a deal could lead to a full takeover by Reliance.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the Korea Economic Daily, citing an unnamed Posco ADS (NYSE: PKX) executive, a senior Arcelor Mittal Steel Company (NYSE: MT) executive expressed interest in Posco's merger plans. Posco denied the report, saying "There was no discussion on issues related to M&A when the Mittal executive met Posco CEO last month," according to the Economic Times.
• The Independent reported that Imperial Tobacco Group plc (NYSE: ITY) has made a GBP7.6B bid for the Franco-Spanish tobacco company Altadis. The private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is also reported to have interest in acquiring Altadis. An Imperial-Altadis merger could derail a hostile bid by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
  
• BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" section mentioned Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE: NEM), CB Richard Ellis Group Inc (NYSE: CBG) and Superior Energy Services Inc (NYSE: SPN) positively.
• Which gold producer will shine brightest? Newmont Mining "is the one," says Vincent Carrino, Chief of Brookhaven Capital Management, which has loaded up on its stock.
  
• Douglas Roberts at Channel Capital Research Institute doesn't see the Fed cutting rates soon, and hence he likes CB Richard Ellis Group.
• Superior Energy Services aims to be everything to oil-and-gas explorers in the Gulf of Mexico, and in most cases it is. "Superior can't keep up with the tremendous demand for its repair and recovery services, which will provide strong growth through the end of the decade," says Martin Sass, CEO of MDSass, which owns a 1.2% stake.