Markets entering free fall

The markets are collapsing as the reality of a recession sets in.
I am disappointed that the oil stocks are being hit because I think that they are largely immune.

I am also disappointed that I still haven't finished my list of short stocks - and we would have made a fortune thi sweek.

Fortunately, I don't think this downturn is over and opportunities to short are everywhere.

Interesting week

I don't want to draw any conclusions from a week that has a major holiday in the middle.
For example, Monday's drop could have been housecleaning for the end of the tax year. However, that drop coupled with a drop today demands some attention. Consider the last 2 weeks (just a random starting point) when the Dow closed 12/14 at 13,339
12/17 -172
12/18 +55
12/19 -25
12/20 +38
12/21 +105
12/24 +100
12/26 +0
12/27 -198
12/28 +6
12/31 -101
1/2 -162 (in early trading so far)

Out of the 5 Triple digit days in 2 weeks: 2 positive, 3 negative and the negative were much greater in degree.
Go back another week and the same trend: 1 large up day and 2 larger down days.

Three weeks ago the Dow was at 13,807 and today it's barely above 13,100. Check the volume and you will not ethat it is up and down on regular volumes.

Many of our stocks are holding up well in the face of this downturn. Some are not. MVL in particular is down 7% in 3 days and there is no news. Sounds like some insider trading. It is very likely that MVL will not do well from the retailers at Xmas. We may have jumped in too soon. But we are focused on the movie debut of IRON MAN and the money that could eclipse the Xmas licensing revenue. If we are looking for upside surprises, that is the one we want.

LiveRocket Performance Week 52 - Down 0.7%

This was a very unusual week. As a holiday week, trading was pretty light. And then there was the murder of Bhutto which affected markets. So it's difficult to draw any conclusions.

Our performance was overall in line with the market.

In fact, most of our tocks did well and only a few brought us down

WINNERS

ATW - Up 6%

NOV - Up 3%

TRID - Up 4%

LOSERS

FWLT - Down 6%

MICC - Down 2%

MVL - Down 5% This was also a 1 day drop at 2x average volume. No news, so it could be retail related. Weak retail could hurt various licensing revenues.

WFR - Down 3%

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Also, a quick update on Marvel (MVL)

I was mistaken in my understanding of Sony's Spiderman contract. To re-cap: I thought that Sony's contract expired. What actually happens is that the fees rise per sequel going forward.

That is still positive upside but not as significant as I thought.

On a positive note, they will have Iron Man featured at the Superbowl in a commercial.