Summer Contrarian Close-Out

Ultrashort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) was used for this strategy. It was closed on the stop loss order specified in the July 14 article for a loss of 5.14% on July 15. This was another well- timed stop loss. SRS has lost another 44% after the sale.

Buy the Dollar

This position used PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish(UUP). It was closed on Aug. 1 for a 3.17% loss (stop loss order placed on July 14). At market close on Sept. 11, UUP was down an additional 17%.

Buy the NASDAQ 100, Sell the S&P 500

This position used 2 times leveraged ETFs: Ultra QQQ ProShares (QLD) and UltraShort S&P500 ProShares(SDS). Since May 26, QLD has gained 40.54% and short SDS has lost 27.55%; the combined return for the hedged position is 6.49% as of market close on Sept. 11. I closed this trade on Sept. 11.

Buy Treasuries or Sell Treasuries -- You Pick 'Em

The two positions here are iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (TLT) or UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury ProShares (TBT) (two times short) tracking long-term Treasury bonds. The loss for TBT is 7.72% after being stopped out (15% trailing stop) on June 26. As of Sept. 11, TLT was ahead 6.29%.

The summary of all contrarian positions as of Sept. 11 is shown in the following table. In a few days I'll have available my contrarian picks for the fall.

Source: StockCharts.com

-- Written by John Lounsbury in Clayton, N.C.

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