Back in August, BloggingStocks writer Kevin Kelly suggested that readers take a look at Steven Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO), a well-known maker of middle- to upper-market footwear.

His reasoning was excellent but the stock continued its decline -- perhaps making it more attractive than others. Apparently some other people agreed with Kevin's logic because the stock is up more than 11% today after the company announced that it was putting itself up for sale.

According to the press release announcing the move, Madden has "received inquiries from third parties with respect to an acquisition of the Company and shareholder communications urging that the Company explore alternatives to enhance shareholder value. The Board of Directors has determined to evaluate strategic alternatives available to the Company and, to this end, has formed a Strategic Review Committee..."

The stock looks cheap compared to its peers and the company's efforts to find a sale could yield favorable results for shareholders. If you didn't get into Steve Madden when Kevin first suggested, you may have a terrific opportunity now.

After reading Kevin Kelly's stock pick for a volatile market -- Steve Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO) -- I started thinking about all the shoe stocks that have been popping up on my deep value radar of late. A handful of shoe manufacturers and retailers have piqued my interest with low price/book ratios or low price/earnings ratios. Here they are:

Rocky Brands (NASDAQ: RCKY): Rocky owns the ROCKY® brand, along with GEORGIA BOOT®, LEHIGH®, DURANGO, MICHELIN FOOTWEAR and ZUMFOOT and manufactures DICKIES® boots under a licensing deal.

The company disappointed the Street -- actually enraged it -- with its second-quarter results. But the stock trades at a modest price/earnings ratio, and reaffirmed its guidance when it reported the bad quarter. At 0.23 times sales and .60 times book value, this one may be worth scooping out of the bargain bin.

Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL): Shares of Finish Line, an operator of mall-based footwear stores, have been getting hammered since the company agreed to acquire its much larger competitor Genesco (NYSE: GCO) for $1.5 billion in cash. Following the deal, the combined entity's balance sheet is going to look like something out of those 1950's horror movies you can get on DVD for a buck at Wal-Mart.

Phoenix Footwear Group (AMEX: PXG): These guys make shoes and work boots under labels including Royal Robbins apparel, the Tommy Bahama, Trotters, SoftWalk, H.S. Trask footwear, Altama boots and Chambers Belt. The stock popped a few weeks ago when the company received a nice Defense Department contract, but has since retreated.

Shoe Pavilion (NASADQ: SHOE): So far, this is one of those turnarounds that, like most turnarounds, isn't really turning around. The company operates discount shoe stores and isn't making any money.

Judging from their stock prices, life has been tough for the second-tier shoe companies -- Perhaps competition and pricing pressure from mass merchandisers is hurting sales and margins. But these stocks look, at least superficially, to be cheap, and may be good contrarian bets.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Steven Madden, Ltd (SHOO), Expedia, Inc (EXPE), Oracle Corp (ORCL) and Tim Horton's Inc (THI) round up today's noteworthy upgrade list:

• Steve Madden, Ltd (NASDAQ: SHOO) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Nollenberger as they believe Madden is well positioned going into the back half of 2007 with clean inventories and focused products.

• Matrix believes increasing marketing efforts and European growth are contributing to significant improvement in fundamental trends for Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE), and upgraded shares to Hold from Sell.

• Pacific Crest upgraded shares of Oracle Corp (NASDAQ: ORCL) to Outperform from Sector Perform to reflect improved channel checks and the probability of continued success.

• CIBC upgraded Tim Horton's (NYSE: THI) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer based on valuation...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Banc of America upgraded Intersil Corp (NASDAQ: ISIL) to Buy from Neutral.

• Bear Stearns upgraded Illumina, Inc (NASDAQ: ILMN) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

• Buckingham raised Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) to Strong Buy from Neutral.

• Matrix USA raised Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE: TIE) to Buy from Hold.

• Merrill Lynch upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc (NASDAQ: KLIC) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Quantitative analyst and editor of OTC Insight, Jim Collins sees opportunity in Steve Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO), a shoe designer whose products are distributed through department and specialty stores, its 95 retail shops and its e-commerce site.

Fundamentally, Collins is attracted to a recent new product launch known as the "Design your Own" collection, which lets buyers choose between the size of the heels and the patterns, materials, finishings and colors to customize their own shoes. Collins points out that there are a total of 4,221 possible combinations.

Technically, Collins looks to the stock's very high relative strength ranking of 98 out of 100 as well as its solid score of 'B' for accumulation-distribution. He does caution that the company is exposed to fashion risk, which he notes can be difficult to predict. Despite these risks, he has selected the issue as his latest featured investment.

Validea has an unusual approach to stock selection; editor John Reese assesses companies based on the strategies employed by "legendary investors." In the case of his latest buy, Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL), the stock was chosen based on the value methodology used by Benjamin Graham (Warren Buffett's mentor) and Peter Lynch.