SAVIOR FOR THE DAY: TIM GEITHNER

Soon after NBC announced that Obama would nominate Tim Geithner as the new treasury secretary to replace Don Corleone, the market responded as if Jesus himself had arrived to save us all. Geithner is the Head of the Federal Reserve in New York. Clinton, Geithner, Richardson tapped for key Obama posts - MarketWatch The market erased its losses and subsequently climbed almost 500 points. I am just glad it was not another investment banker. These moves up and down are consistent with my reading of the VIX and do not change my current posture.

I did mention the other day that I would whittle down further my short term gains for the year by selling some securities that I have recently bought, when I was still trying to catch the falling the knife, and I sold the 50 shares of Teco Energy at a few cents shy of the closing high, for less than $100 loss after adjusting for the recent dividend. See, Notable News 10 22 2008 & END OF DAY TRADES (IR, INTC, TE AND EHL)

I will continue to do some tax loss selling on big up days and I do anticipate at least one and maybe more days like today before the end of the year.

Selling by individuals has picked up in the TC market, sending some of them back to levels that interest me. These are bonds and I am in the market to buy bonds. I placed a limit order today to buy one that I have talked about but it was not filled. The preferred stocks of REITS are acting as if most of them are going under sometime next year. The fall in stock prices seem to be forecasting that none of them will be able to secure financing even for properties that have no mortgages on them. This is certainly true for all of the mall REITS with the industrial and hotel REITs not far behind in being mauled. I am going to stick with my small positions in CBL and FR. I am prohibited from adding common stocks now, but I view preferred stocks to be more like a bond than equity so that is a loophole in my deep freeze/cocoon/hibernation state.