Dykstra: Winning in Any Market

Two weeks ago, I wrote a column entitled Attention All Detractors, about how much I enjoyed when a pick I have gotten a lot of heat for pulls through and moves to the win column.

At the time, I noted big victories I grabbed with Morgan Stanley(MS Quote), Citigroup(C Quote) and AIG(AIG Quote) and said I was waiting on Wachovia(WB Quote), a pick I made prior to partnering up with TheStreet.com, to pull through.

Last Friday, Wachovia finally came through too -- a $13,200 win. I had gotten quite a few emails about these deep-in-the-money call picks, questioning my logic. My column a few weeks ago was meant to address those questions and show how these picks came around just as I expected.

Today I want to expand on that theme. One recurring question I hear is whether my system works in a down market as well as an up market. Some have claimed -- incorrectly -- that my system only works during a bull market. This is simply not true. The stats don't lie, so let's go to the videotape.

I started the 2008 season on March 25, when I picked Delphi Financial(DFG Quote) in a column I posted on TheStreet.com. That day, the S&P 500 closed at 1352.99. From there the index rallied, hitting 1426.63 in mid-May before steadily declining. Yesterday, Aug. 4, the index closed at 1249.01, more than 100 points lower than when the season started.

However, despite the decline during that time frame, I was able to ring the register over and over -- 47 times to be exact. I currently have $117,500 in the win column so far. Many of my early-season picks appeared on TheStreet.com. The others were provided in my subscription newsletter Nails on the Numbers, which is now the only place to get my picks. Nails on the Numbers launched in late April and relaunched with TheStreet.com in late June.