With the stock market bouncing along on another roller-coaster ride, wary investors are wondering when the carnage will end and the opportunities to buy back in will begin. The Dow has already dropped about 14 percent from its peak in October, and many analysts on Wall Street predict that it could fall an additional 5 to 10 percent, if not more.

Regardless of where we are in the market cycle, bottom-fishing investors probably don't need to rush back into the market anytime soon. With the economy on the slide and the mortgage crisis still unfolding, there is little reason to expect stocks to make a sustained rebound anytime soon.

But when you are ready to edge back in, it would be nice to come equipped with a list of stocks that could survive the turbulent economy and prosper as the market turns around.

In October 2005, I posted a list of 20 Minnesota blue-chip stocks that I considered to be among the best in the state, based on consistent growth of earnings, revenue, stock price and dividends. Most of those stocks fared well the first year, but many have suffered the past few months, as the stock market wavered.

Next week, I'll unveil a new list of top Minnesota stocks. But first, let's review the old list and find out which stocks have done the best over the past two years.

Graco (GGG): Graco was up 23 percent the first year -- from $33 to $41. But after hitting a peak of about $46 in July, the price has steadily declined to $34.

Donaldson (DCI): Donaldson also had a nice run the first year, up 27 percent, from $30 to $38. Last month the price hit $48, but has been falling, and was at $40 on Friday.

U.S. Bancorp (USB): The stock was up 21 percent the first year, from $28 to $34, but the mortgage crisis has helped short-circuit its growth since. Still, it was trading at $33 on Friday, and pays a dividend of about 5 percent.

Toro (TTC): The Bloomington-based company was up 19 percent the first year (from $36 to $43), and Toro continued to climb, peaking at just more than $60 in September. But the recent stock market decline has taken a toll, with shares closing Friday at $47.52.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH): Once the fastest-growing blue-chip stock in Minnesota, UnitedHealth Group Inc. hit a rough patch when its CEO was embroiled in a stock options scandal that led to his resignation. After reaching a high of about $64 in late 2005, the stock nose-dived to about $42 a share. It has worked its way back up some since, and closed Friday at $50.

Patterson (PDCO): After years of steady growth, the dental equipment distributor has fallen out of favor. The stock, around $40 when it made the list in October 2005, has dropped to less than $32.

Polaris (PII): Like Patterson, Polaris enjoyed steady growth for many years, but hit the wall in 2005. After peaking at about $70 a share in early 2005, the stock has been hovering between $40 and $55 ever since. It closed Friday at just over $40.

St. Jude Medical (STJ): This is another stock that hit its peak in 2005 and has been fizzling ever since. After reaching $52 in late 2005, the stock was at $40.88 on Friday.

Ecolab (ECL): The cleaning supplies producer continues to enjoy solid growth. It was up 36 percent the first year (from $33 to $45), and recently hit a peak of about $52 before declining to about $47 in the market selloff. It closed at just over $46 on Friday.

Target (TGT): The discount retailer was up 11 percent the first year, from $53 to $59. It peaked at about $70 a share in July but has fallen since. On Friday, it was at $51.60.

The second group of stocks (Nos. 11 to 20) also had mixed results. The best of the group has been Alliant Techsystems, a defense contractor that saw its stock go from $69 in October 2005 to $102 last week.

Other notables from the second 10 include Digital River, which doubled in price the first year, but recently dropped from a high in April of around $60 to its Friday price of $38.28. Bemis, which was up 36 percent the first year, has dropped back to about $25.

Fastenal was up 20 percent the first year but has been fairly stagnant since. Techne, 3M Co. and Hormel enjoyed modest gains before the recent market drop. And Medtronic and TCF have both lost ground over the past two years.