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.

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!

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.

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.