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Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks, Week 7

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.

Volatile Markets Week 7 Tops

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.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks, Week 7

Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 4

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.

Four weeks into our Stocks for a Volatile Market feature, our index has fallen just behind the Nasdaq, grounded mostly by shoe and apparel maker Steven Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO), picked by Kevin Kelly. After giving up $2.51 in week three, Madden dropped $3.39 in week four, falling 14.7% and leaving SHOO at $19.67, 17.77% under its August 16 price of $23.92.

Might as well get all the bad news out of the way -- it looks like Sheldon Liber's call, FreightCar America Inc. (NYSE: RAIL), has temporarily derailed. After strong gains in previous weeks, RAIL dropped $3.78 in week four -- a loss of 8.35% -- and slipped to $41.49, 4.4% under its initial price.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 4

Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 3

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.

Our third week following our "Stocks for a Volatile Market" feature finds a couple of our volatile market picks bruised, but as an index, our selections continue to lead both the Dow and Nasdaq.

At the front of the pack: How much longer can Peter Cohan's pick Posco (NYSE: PKX) keep up its fortunes? Already sitting 19% higher as of last Thursday's close, the South Korean steelmaker has since climbed 6.5% further, closing yesterday at $157.69, $33.68 higher than its August 15 closing price.

Volatile Markets Week 3 Tops

China's Huaneng Power International Inc. (NYSE: HNP), Sheldon Liber's tip, gave back some gains in the last week, retreating 1.71%, but remaining a healthy 18% higher than its August 16 opening price. Another pick from Sheldon, Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), is our last recommendation that's outperforming the Nasdaq -- since trailing both the Dow and the Nasdaq last week, Anadarko has padded its shares by $2.07, and fetches 6.57% more than on August 16.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Checking our stock picks - Week 3

Volatile Markets: Dip makes Posco (PKX) a bigger bargain

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.

Continue reading Volatile Markets: Dip makes Posco (PKX) a bigger bargain

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DJIA+20.0310,246.97
NASDAQ-2.982,151.08
S&P 500-0.071,093.01

Last updated: November 11, 2009: 07:58 AM

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