Week In Review 6-20-2008

According to the Kirk Report--Since last Friday, the Dow declined -3.78%, the S&P 500 declined -3.78%, Nasdaq -1.97%, and the Russell 2000 -1.07%.

Considering how the indexes did this week, I'd have to call this week a success. I made 2.48%. Today I lost 1.76%, despite my lightweight portfolio, so I'm glad I wasn't loaded up. I'm in a much better position now than I was when the indexes were flirting with this level back in mid-March. On March 10th I was down nearly 20%!

I was able to beat my screens this week which rarely happens. The Zacks and Zweig screen continues to outperform the others and it gained again this week. That screen has been a great indicator of when to be in and out of this market and overall it's performance has screamed compared to the broader market. You have to take it's performance with a grain of salt, however, because many weeks had only one or two stocks meeting criteria which is way to risky for a portfolio.

There's chatter about end of the month window dressing moving this market back up in the next couple of weeks. I know this was a particularly volatile week because of options expiration and stuff, so who knows what the future holds. I'm not too happy about testing the March lows, and there's hardly any good news to turn this thing around.

The chart I use for short-term decision-making is about to turn bearish. We had a good run from April 3rd, but it looks like momentum is drying up and it's time to get defensive again.

This whole thing is wearing me out, but this is the time when I learn the most. We'll have turnaround again, and I'll be even more prepared to make some decent money.