My Stock Picks 2008 (Guru says...)

First off I'm no guru.

My 2008 return was about 15% on my personal trading account. My 401k was cashed out in August so I avoided the nasty crashes of the winter and closed w/ around a 19% return. So basically.. I failed to beat the fund managers. I didn't lose $11b like YooBS though, ahahahaa.

Second, I work in Fixed Income, so I have no professional skill in equities. I can tell you what Vega is but mainly how it relates to bonds.

Third, my historical stock picking is positive but I'm no W.Buffett or R.Lee.

Here's my long awaited random pick-ups for 2008:

DBC - Deuccche Bank Commodities. Get exposure to the hot talk of a hot communities year.
URRE - Uranium ? Yes yes.. its going to be hot for 2yrs. Then collapse. Get in on the tail end.
GS - under $200 is a steal, get it. they are gold. get in while its down.
FHN - sounds like a girly mag, but this sucker has a >10% dividend yield and great cashflow to cover. Its been shot down with subprime, get in while its down.
INP - India still has growth for a decade. Get exposure ASAP even if you don't like Indian food.
LVS - Invest in the house, because gambling is always a winner for them. LVS got shot down recently but they just opened a few hot casinos in Macao and Vegas. Expect miracles. I was tempted to go for Wynn but Wynn is a nutcase.. can't buy into a nutcase's operations.

Here's my current best holdings that are still hot:

IAU - this comex index is money in the bank.
FXI - probably the hottest ETF of 2007, waivering between 70-105% return
AAPL - beaten down right now, its definitely going over $200 esp after MacWorld blows the doors off the press once again
EMC - VMW is down but people will eventually understand what it means to own 70% of VMW.

I'll probably also get some S&P or Russell index funds (ETFs) to diversify my wild plays.

Vig is on vacation. I'm settling down on the dating scene for a little while. Call it hibernation during the cold harsh winter.