BTW2, are you still waiting for S&P to hit 600 or did you decide to go long stocks? (Sorry, couldn’t resist)

I smartly guessed the propaganda will push indexes higher.

Meaning that recently I’ve stayed away from short positions, except for..
I (stupidly) held onto one 5%-of-portfolio put option (DEC 17 2011) on the S&P. It is presently out of the money to the tune of 40% loss. I should have dumped that option back on July 2nd when I noticed it was then in the money by +30%; selling it then would have allowed me to re-buy it TODAY.

And I held my double-short position in gold against the market from $1200/ounce up to the present $1300/ounce, putting that (large) position down over 15%. That was stupid. The problem with my theory (that gold will have a major pullback) is that gold might go to $3000/ounce before that pullback is seen!

My long-the-long bond position is only up 5% because I came late to that trade.

So I’m an amateur who can make mistakes like everyone else.