first what I say, now what I do.....

Notwithstanding the bounce I see, I still have a lot of defensive stocks and short positions.

It looks something like this:

Short: 25%

• stock 15%
• dow 10%

Long: 35%

• stock 25%
• gold etf 10%

Short 2yr. Treasury future: 40%

The long positions are mostly in high-yield dividend stocks with a couple of not too well followed commodity plays.

The short positions are all in companies losing money hand over fist or suffering criminal scandals.

This week's Barron's got me excited about Newmont Mining until I saw the p/e is over 50. Forget it.

I love to analyze stocks from the point of political correctness. For example, I keep my eyes out for an overhyped politically correct company that's losing money and short it to hedge against a downturn in the economy or the market. The greatest play on the long end was to buy the cigarette companies soon after they made their multi-billion dollar settlement with the government.

What's the most vilified thing now? Adult stem-cell research. Now that the hype has died down I believe it's time to look for companies that are bringing treatments for heart disease, bone repair, osteoporosis, disc and cartilege repair, etc. to clinical trials.

Now that everyone hates growth stocks, this is also a great growth play.