Choppy Stock Market

There seems to be no end to the bad news of the summer of 2011. We had unbelievable dangerous gridlock in Congress over such essential things as social security, Medicare, and national debt. We had the S&P credit downgrade to AA status which will make borrowing money harder for the government. Then, to top it all off, the August jobs report showed that zero jobs were created in August. We must have positive job creation just to stay ahead of population growth, and the unemployment rate is currently 9.1%.

Labor Day week will also not bring any relief. President Obama is scheduled for a Thursday job creation speech, and the Speaker of the House has already promised opposition. This impasse will reopen the deep wounds we already suffered in Congress at the start of August. How can a person get ahead in the stock market under these conditions?

The solution is to play both the long and short sides through ETFs. You must quickly take profits when you are up 10-20%, though. As fast as the stock market is revolving now, you can conceivably make 20% in something on any given week almost. If you just invest a mere $5,000 to be long or short, you can make $1,000 on that money nearly every week. If you can do this during 50 weeks in a year, you will have gained $50,000 on your $5,000 investment money. This is a ten-bagger even while it is not being done in the traditional favorite stock fashion.

On the long side, I recommend ERX, the triple energy bull ETF. It has shown a range between $39 and $48 and higher in these choppy times. As long as you can buy ERX at $39 or $40 and sell it at $48, you have a certain 20% gain. Just be sure you take profits when you are up because it won't last.

On the short side, I recommend FSG, FAZ, and TZA. FSG is a gold double long simultaneously with a double bear short on the S&P 500. FAZ is a triple financial bear ETF. TZA is a triple small cap stocks bear ETF. Just be sure you take your profits when you are up 10-20% because there are still positive forces in the stock market that will cause relief rallies on the long side.