Investors shuddered in horror as the market was dropping; with the Dow down 800 points in midday trading and finally closing at a better but still dismal 9,955.50, off -369.88 or -3.58%.

So, on this terrible day what if anything made a good showing of itself? Four stocks among the ones that I follow popped up.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) closed at $98.14, up 1.07, or 1.10%. Apple needs no introduction to most readers of BloggingStocks or anyone breathing almost anywhere on the planet. Although the stock appears to be a fallen star for the time being and is down 51% for the year it managed to outshine almost everything else today. Apple has not traded at a P/E below it's projected growth rate in years so the bargain hunters were obviously interested.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ: EWBC) closed at $15.69, up 0.61, or 4.05%. Some banking stocks are recovering nicely and this small California bank with business in the Asian community here and in China as well seems to be getting out from under the taint of the sector. It is one of the stocks I included in Chasing Value: Financial devastation? Still up but less. If I had to 'bank' on whether this stock is higher or lower in a years time I would say higher.

It was July 1, 2008 when I first posted Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times. The title speaks for itself. This update, after nine weeks and horrible market conditions, is through Friday October 3, 2008.

The index for comparison is the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The S&P closed Friday at 1,099.23 , down 14.12%.

Each of my five picks is beating the market and three of the five are actually up despite crushing news in the financial sector, unemployment and housing. Congress did pass a Wall Street backstop/bailout bill that President Bush has signed, but only after adding another 450 pages and $130 billion to the amount. Although the five stocks have averaged a 0.35% loss, as intended, they easily beat the S&P by 13.77%.

Here are the five stocks that I still think are worth considering. For my original rationale see the linked story above.

1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended, the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It closed Friday at $66.16 -- up 2.75%. JNJ was featured in Barron's this month as the most respected from the top 100 companies in the world.

2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) -- when recommended, the stock closed at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It closed October 3 at $46.08 -- up 0.06%. Teva (of Isreal) is the largest generic drug company in the world and just got bigger through the acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals last month.

The Dow Jones is down around 300 points again (Update: closed down 450) so it's time to revisit my stable stock picks to see how they are holding up. Each of my five picks is beating the market and all of them are up despite crushing news in the financial sector every day since my last report.

The prediction business is highly speculative, but I gave it a try anyway, searching for stocks that would hold their value. This update is a spot-check of my earlier post, Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times. The closing prices are from yesterday but these companies are doing well in today's down market too as the government steps in again and bails out AIG with $85 billion.

The standard for comparison is the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The S&P closed yesterday at 1,213.59, down 5.47%. The percentage gains for the stable stocks do not include dividends. They are up 4% for a 9.47% advantage. The volatility in the market today may alter some of the data points so expect an after market update. Update: the following five stocks remain ahead of the market but they did turn down in the last hour.

1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended, the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It finished at $69.80 -- up 8.48% -- and is trading up this morning. JNJ was featured in Barron's this week as the most respected from the top 100 companies in the world. Final Update: down $-0.29 to $69.51

2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) -- when recommended, the stock closed at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It finished at $45.96 -- no change -- and is trading slightly down this morning. Teva is the largest generic drug company in the world and just got bigger throught the acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals. Final Update: down $-1.25 to $44.11

I was out all morning and returned to my desk to find employment and retail numbers sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling down 345 points today. That made me think it was important to check out how stable my stable stocks -- stocks with the ability to ride out this bearish run -- were doing in bad times.

This update is a spot-check of my earlier post Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, to see how my picks are holding up so far. Closing prices are for today.

The standard for comparison is the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The S&P closed today at 1,236.82, down 3.37%. The percentage gains do not include dividends. Four out of five of my picks beat all the indices; CB was close.

1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It finished at $70.45 -- up 9.5%

2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) -- when recommended the stock closed at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It finished at $47.92 -- up 4.63%.

This is a continuation of Serious Money: Choose these 5 stocks over CDs -- DEO, GE, HNP, JPM, MRK, which listed the first five stock ideas. Below are the other picks rounding out the ten.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) - This is one of the world leaders in the idea of mini-mills. This smallish steel producer prides itself on running a tight ship, pays a dividend and has a P/E under 9. The steel industry has been volatile in recent years with many mergers and acquisitions. NUE could be a takeover target as the industry continues to consolidate. In the mean time, at Friday's closing price of $51.6, it was paying a 4.05% yield and is near its 52 week low, having dropped from a high of $83.56.

Precision Drilling TR (NYSE: PDS) - This Canadian supplier of gas drilling equipment and manpower is probably the least well known of the companies in this group. It has dropped off its highs with the recent sag in gas prices and may well be a bargain again although not the bargain it was when I posted Chasing Value: Precision Drilling for 10% yield. At Friday's closing price of $21.35 it was paying a 7.1% yield and that is still a wonderful bounty even it the stock only appreciates a little.

The following two-part article puts forth ten stock ideas that I believe would be better off in your investment portfolio than one comprised primarily of Certificates of Deposits (CDs) or bonds, or even government treasuries. This is not to say that CD's do not have value or offer some level of security, but they are long term losers.

A basket of high yielding-high quality stocks can offer a higher return, better tax advantages, and the potential of significant appreciation for those with a long time horizon. Five year CD earning 4%, or a utility stock? I pick the utility every time.

My wife sent me the following quote from Ambrose Redman that I thought would be worth sharing with readers: "Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something else is more important than one's fear."

It seems that might be extended to one's view on investing as well. What is really important, the short term or the long term, growth or value, the promise of riches or the hope for stability? In each case I would favor the latter over the former and this brings to mind one of my pal Warren's lessons: Do not buy a stock unless you would be happy to own it even if the market was closed for ten years.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A and BRK.B) is certainly a candidate. Take a look at last week's Chasing Value: Considering Berkshire Hathaway... again. However, it does not pay a dividend. The following five quality stocks do:

Well, the market was in the dumps yesterday and is even worse today. So this may be a good time to check on my list of stocks for those looking for equities that are stable enough to ride out this bearish storm.

This update is a spot-check of my earlier post Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, to see how my picks are holding up so far. Closing prices are for August 12, 2008.

The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The following are the five stocks with closing prices from July 1.

1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It finished at $71.70 -- up 11.44%

2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) -- when recommended the stock closed at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It finished at $46.41-- up 1.3%.

3) Chubb Corp. (NYSE: CB) -- when recommended the stock closed at $49.01 and paid a 2.64% dividend yield. It finished at $48.39 -- down 1.26%.

Yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 225, so I decided to peg the financial stocks I wrote about investing in as a pool. We are often accused of bragging on the good days and having memory loss on the bad so I wanted to be transparent and forthright on the downside.

To my surprise the financial stock pool is actually up 9.96% on average. Six stocks increased in value, two were down and two stocks were even money. The big winner was MBIA Inc (NYSE: MBI) up over 68%!

In the same time frame the DJIA has gone from 11,397.56 to 11,431.43 (even) and the S&P has gone from 1263.2 to 1266.06 last night, for basically no change either.

The market is rebounding as I write so I expect the news is even better. Although, this pool of stocks beat the market so far in the short run, I hope to track this group for a year, or at least until Major League Baseball's spring training opens in 2009.

If you want to track the story with me the first post was Serious Money: 10 finance stocks as the market bounces. I remain stubbornly optimistic that this is a buying opportunity and investors will be sorry they did not have the courage to buy stocks when they were hated. The follow-up was Serious Money: Tempting fate with 10 financials

The initial prices are as of July 29, 2008.

After the market closed last night, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounding from Monday's notable drop and ending the trading day at 11,397.56, up 266.48 (+2.39%), I posted Serious Money: 10 finance stocks as the market bounces. This is the follow-up post listing the full pool of speculative stocks that as a group I believe will beat the overall market in the next 12 months.

The prediction business is thankless and the speculative business is even worse; it is often painful. I usually refrain from this activity but today I play the contrarian in a Sir John Templeton (RIP) sort of way, jumping into the stock market's worst performing sector with both feet. I believe the market is at or near a bottom and this summer is the time to buy.

Looking for a break in the clouds, yesterday I started choosing ten stocks knowing that three or four may go to zero, a few more will survive with modest gains, and three or four will rise, not returning to their old glory soon but more than covering the ones that fail. The first four picks have been bleeding all over Wall Street for a year now and the blood-letting is not done yet.

Initially I was looking for stocks that had fallen at least 70%. After reviewing my figures, I have compromised and changed that to 63% so that I could include some of the major companies like Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) that are broadly held and have strong reader interest. Prices are as of July 29, 2008.

Updating the story with the final numbers heading into the week end. The market looked sad again today, so I thought I would spot-check Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, to see if my picks, (suggested watchlist considerations) were holding up...so far so good, sort of...

The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poors 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The following are the five stocks with closing prices from July 1.

1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) closed at $64.34 and pays a 2.89% dividend yield. (NOW $66.53 -- up 3.4%) finished at $66.26 -- up 2.98%.

2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) closed at $45.80 and pays a 1% dividend yield.( NOW 42.58 -- down 7%) finished at $41.78 -- down 8.78%.

3) Chubb Corp (NYSE: CB) closed at $49.01 and pays a 2.64% dividend yield. (NOW $47.51 -- down 3%) finished at $47.56 -- down 2.96%.

After seeing the interest in yesterday's Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, I decided to track the stocks on a quarterly basis to see how they hold up over time (otherwise, what would be the purpose of discussing them in the first place?).

I said that all five have shrewd, conservative management teams and have been in the right place, at the right time -- and prepared. The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poors 500 Index which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. Although my original story was published yesterday, I will be using the second quarter end point for my five stocks as well.

1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) closed at $64.34 and pays a 2.89% dividend yield.

2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) closed at $45.80 and pays a 1% dividend yield.

3) Chubb Corp (NYSE: CB) closed at $49.01 and pays a 2.64% dividend yield.

It was only yesterday that I posted Serious Money: GM, GE, Gee Wiz!, concerned that Barron's was betting on the wrong horse (which happens all too often -- see Sunday Funnies: Big Brown a sure thing at Belmont) as it pumped up General Motors (NYSE: GM) in a cover story two weeks ago.

GM stock closed yesterday at $12.81 but today traded down to a new 52-week low of $11.21; as of 1:15, it is at $11.51, down nearly 10%.

GM is trading at a 30 year low. "Today's drop came after a Goldman Sachs analyst cut his rating for GM to "Sell" from "Neutral" and his price target to $11 from $16, saying things could still get worse for the North American automotive industry as a whole."

I wonder if he read my post yesterday . . . probably not. I am not a big fan of analysts as a group but this did not take a crystal ball. Barron's should do a follow-up story explaining how their crystal ball got so fogged up.

A recent Barron's had a cover story featuring General Motors (NYSE: GM) which I have been pondering for a while. Somehow the story did not get me all that excited despite the boldness of the headline reading "BUY GM."

More attuned to the words that followed -- "GM is a risky bet" -- I wondered why they would not feature something with possibly equal potential and far less risk. If you read the journal cover to cover, you might have taken note of the fact that there were two articles highlighting General Electric (NYSE: GE).

In the first, Michael Santoli extols the virtues of owning GE compared to a 10 year Treasury note which offers security but no upside potential. He mentions the high yield, low P/E, strong businesses and the fact that current CEO Jeffrey Immelt bought shares in the open market for $3.5 million.

It's time to make some major changes, something I have said before. I am not the first to suggest this and I am quite sure I will not be the last. General Electric (NYSE: GE) needs to take some serious action to add shareholder value. Apparently, Jeffrey Immelt was very embarrassed after last quarter's earnings announcement, when the company reported disappointing earnings following Immelts' own earlier statement that they would hit their targets.

After GE sells its kitchen and laundry appliances, which is on the block now, it will still own business-producing aircraft engines, locomotives, electric distribution and control equipment, generators and turbines, and medical-imaging equipment. GE is also one of the preeminent financial services companies in the U.S. Commercial finance, consumer finance, and equipment financing and leasing together comprise the company's largest segment. Here is the formal list from the company web site:

• Appliances
• Aviation
• Consumer Electronics
• Electrical Distribution
• Energy
• Finance – Business
• Finance – Consumer
• Health-care
• Lighting
• Media & Entertainment
• Oil & Gas
• Rail
• Security
• Water

I have been following General Electric (NYSE: GE) for years, believing it was a sadly underperforming stock with high quality businesses but a lackluster management team who at least from outward appearances are just caretakers. They have added almost no shareholder value in ten years in the form of stock appreciation and in fact have gone down lately, as the chart indicates.

Although I have been interested in the stock, I was always able to find something more compelling and I always wanted a bargain. When it was $40, I had a buy order in at $36, then lowered it to $34, then $32, and finally $30, where we bought in on Friday. Today it touched a 52-week low of $29.78 but is trading over $30 as of 2:30. (UPDATE: closing price $30.33 up $0.27, +0.90%)