In 2005 The ‘Venture Vixen’ and I sold our oversized home and lot in Paradise Valley for something half the size. Our utlility bill in the summer was over $500 per month and could spike to $700 with the pool. Dumb.

We sold the home the first day on the market as if it was a stock (not Yahoo but more like Google).

Yes, we thought we were leaving money on the table and we believed in the neighborhood, but the government was giving $500,000 in gains tax free and we could just buy a smaller home for pretty much nothing. We did. We invested everything else in internet companies like GolfNow.com and than Lifelock.com . I also had a clear head and the ability to ‘nut’ up and start another company – Wallstrip .

Lot’s of good have obviously come from the decision to downsize. You could call it luck, but I believe that getting the big house off our back and focusing on opportunities.

The Lindzon’s are not big house and property people and being in a financial position to pounce, gave us a great deal of freedom. It took the pressure off us to go for it when opportunities presented themselves.

The luxury of downsizing in 2008 may not be in the cards for most Americans, but in order to take advantage of all the opportunities in the coming months, you need to clear your table and FOCUS.

The winners of the last bull runs are not going to lead us in 2009 and beyond.

If oil and agriculture stocks prices stay up at these levels, it will be tough for a much broader section of the market.

When I started this blog after selling our home in 2005, my themes were Gold, Inflation, Canada, Oil, Canadian Dollar, GPS, Apple and Web Video .

Only GPS has really given way and that is due to it’s amazing growth, competitive landscape and shrinking of margins. Trends end.

If I were to bet on the trends going forward I would still choose Oil, Gold, Apple, Canada, the Canadian Dollar and Inflation (travel and food). Since I have been stopped out of so many stocks in the last 6 months, I am on the hunt for the new ones.

Here are some interesting ones I am watching:

1. Qualcomm – great strength so far. Apple and Rimm are the bullets and should still do fantastic in the phone wars, but Qualcomm is quietly strong with their patent and licensing business

2. Biotechs – keep an eye on BBH – thanks Stockrake

3. Water and Solar

4. Medical Devices – aimed at heart and sports medicine and joints