Looking Ahead With Hope and Trepidation

I have added some small positions to my very thin portfolio. I have added the U.S. Oil Fund (USO Quote) and El Paso (EP Quote). My feeling is that if we get this stabilization in the equities markets, oil's recent implosion will subside and crude might actually trade back up. Natural gas is El Paso's business, and a bump up in the gas price will help this battered stock.

My portfolio holds small positions in the SPDR Financials (XLF Quote) and SPDR Homebuilders (XHB Quote) and will for the upcoming quarter or so. I am looking for a small rebound in housing over time, and these two ETFs will be in line to benefit from a leveling off of housing price declines. I will expand on housing in a future column, because I am getting warmed up to this area. As the thaw eases in credit, I am looking for the pent-up demand to start to work off inventory of homes. I want to give homebuilding its due, so I will go into a detailed column in the near future.

Lastly, I own PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQQ Quote) and SPDR Trust (SPY Quote) in a very-short-term portfolio. These may be sold quickly if I believe the Senate, House and White House will all go to Democratic wins. A supermajority in the Senate is what worries me most. I am not in favor of a party holding all three -- Senate, House, and Pennsylvania Avenue -- and having a supermajority in the Senate. That would be worrisome to any investor of equities or real estate. Taxes could be raised, rules changed and more. We will know sometime very soon, so be patient and stay liquid until these questions are answered Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

As always, trade with your head, not over it.