Did your CEO hint that they may be downsizing?

Make sure they are not just in survival mode barely keeping the lights on. Too many companies fail to see lean times ahead and spend far more than they can cover. Not to mention when they fall behind they tend to sign loan agreements with unmanageable rates that spell doom down the road.

Watch for heavy tax loss selling on some past bubble stories. Its easy to fall in love but hard to break up once the romance is over. Take emotion out of the trade and focus on making money. Don't get caught in the hype.

No matter how well you dress up a pig its still going to stink. It looks like the more they try to dress it up the more the pig starts to smell.  The pumpers are at odds with each other these days. They may be left holding the bag on some of their latest exploits. As their stocks sink they have their planned responses in place. "its not a reverse split its a reorganization to get stronger". Or who can forget this one "its not bankruptcy its bankruptcy protection". Come on the fat lady may not be singing yet but she sure is warming up her vocal cords behind the curtain.

A very well known and touted CEO once told me, "you know its about to run off the rails when you start believing your own lies". The truth may be very simple. Maybe it was a bubble.

This is a "show me" market and even some of my favorites have to live up to a certain standard or harsh choices have to be made. The markets are down in every sector but for some even a strong rebound may still leave them behind because their story just failed to launch.

IT'S NOT ALWAYS EASY TO JUMP OFF IN TIME