General Motors, MetLife and Tesla: Doug Kass' Views

I'm making an important portfolio change this morning, buying a delta-equivalent of call positions against my life-insurance and auto shorts to neutralize the balance of those holdings.

I put General Motors  (GM) on my "Best Short Ideas" list on Dec. 2 at $36.15, and the shares closed yesterday at $26.90 for a +26% gain on my short.

Likewise, I added Lincoln National  (LNC) and MetLife  (MET) on my "Best Short Ideas" list on Oct. 28 at $52.90 and $50.80, respectively. Those shares are now down dramatically, so my short positions are showing gains of +42% and +31%.

I'm keeping all three stocks on my "Best Short Ideas" list, as I continue to believe in "Peak Autos" and a "lower-for-longer" rate backdrop that will challenge life insurers' reinvestment opportunities for some time to come.

But I expect the stocks to rally over the near term, so I plan to buy calls on them this morning. If I'm correct, I plan to sell these calls later for a profit while retaining and moving back into naked-short positions on these three stocks down the road.

Stocks are near the day's lows as I write this -- and an old traders' adage is to "buy what's green in a flow of red."

That's not a strategy I plan to employ today. But for contrarians who are looking for some trades in a potential market turnaround, here are some stocks that were up on the day at last check at a time when the S&P 500 was about 30 handles lower:

• Cisco  (CSCO) , +9.73%

• Tesla Motors  (TSLA) , +7.02%

• O'Reilly Automotive  (ORLY) , +4.79%

• Potash Corp.  (POT) , +1.77%

• Walt Disney (DIS) , +0.75%

And in my biotech basket:

• Otonomy (OTIC) , +4.62%

• Sage Therapeutics  (SAGE) , +3.96%

• Nektar Therapeutics  (NKTR) , +1.79%

• Aerie Pharmaceuticals  (AERI) , +0.56%