I was able to make that move because I shorted stocks today instead of going long on them. My imaginary portfolio gained $79,329.40 (+6.32%) today. How nice would it be if I could do that with real money.  My goal in these 1 month contests is to get into the top 100 using a strategy of gaining 1-3% daily.  I did have a setback when I started this December contest and was down my first 2 days.  That means I am just making up my losses even with this nice 6.32% gain.  That is why my rank was so low already because I was already below the break even line.

I will probably cover all my positions tomorrow and go into 100% cash or possibly go long on all these positions I have shorted. I will base my decision on what the stock futures look like tonight and probably put limit orders in.  There have been a few times when my portfolio was punished when the market made a substantial move overnight in the opposite direction I was predicting.

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The stock indexes all moved lower in the last hour but closed better than their lowest lows for the day.  Watching the market with the release of more 12,000 layoffs form AT&T and other smaller companies puts the recession back as the headline news maker.  The big 3 automakers made another bailout pitch as they are all on the ropes trying to fight off bankruptcy.

I think because Congress has been talking in the billions of dollars, many companies think that we will just be able to print up cash on demand for their failing companies.  The money is actually taxpayer monies and I continue to oppose all the bailouts including the ones they have already instituted.

The argument by Congress and the companies asking for bailouts is that if we don’t do anything we will go into a severe recession or depression.  The problem is their perception is different from regular people like us.  We are already living in a severe recession and that is why we are not spending.  We are saving what we have and spending only on what we need. Why?  Because we already know the recession hit a year ago because our wallets and purses have told us.

These are tough times and I feel the companies that can’t survive because of poor decisions should be allowed to fail and go bankrupt.  Other companies will come and take their place. New jobs will be created as old ones are eliminated. The time transition to get through this will be rough but is necessary.  If we keep throwing money to prop up companies and real estate prices, the recession will continue to get more severe. If we let the markets correct itself, then we can recover much faster.

The Bush White House, Bernanke, Paulson, and the DEMOCRATIC controlled House and Senate have all failed the American people and the US economy with poor decisions.  The reason we are where we are now is because these people didn’t do what they were put in office to do. They actually made the problems worse by mucking around with interest rates and spending money we do not have available to spend.

My current ranking in the UpDown December 2008 contest is #5,784. I got hammered the first few days so I am far behind the number 1 spot. Hopefully I make a comeback before the end of the month. The good thing is it is not real money so I can’t lose.

The real markets right now are coming off a 2 day streak of up days. It is struggling a bit right now, but we will see where the last hour of trading takes it. It was in positive territory earlier for an hour but now it is below the line.

Tomorrow may be another volatile day which will end this volatile week.