wolfhounds (< 20)

My rating and score are up today? May be time to short some stocks.

July 07, 2008 – Comments (0) | RELATED TICKERS: JLL , WRI , STI

I've been killed in CAPS the last months, going from 92 to as low as 62, because I don't red thumb many companies. I use CAPS to mimic a watchlist of companies I want to buy. But digging into the financial statements of STI and a number of closed end funds, REITs, and regional banks finally convinced me it was time to protect my player rating. Bad enough I'm long energy in CAPS and real money. Among the companies I'm certain will continue to get hit hard are WRI, STI, JLL,HBC, and a long list of regional banks and smaller mall operators listed on my CAPS page.

With mall vacancies averaging over 10% and climbing, these REIT'sare having cash crunch problems resembling home builders. Some have already gone belly up. For the Fools out there who short stocks, these could me timely.

JLL bet the house on Asian expansion. Now values are falling on commercial buildings and JLL has nowhere to hide since the U.S. business is already in decline.

For those who are interested in reading very boring analysis of annual reports, my blog on STI is worth a look.

Happy investing!!