Lot’s of chasing in the market these days.

I continue to mostly watch.

Despite the chop and the 2 month wide range, the experts keep piling onto CNBC and other financial media outlets.

Ton’s of misirection and confusion is being created, but those that are spending/not spending are NOT confused.

Phoenix remains a trainwreck. Another large commercial/residential lender was shut down by the State just last week.

A friend of mine was telling me about all the good deals in Israel yesterday. I looked at him and I said, there are good deals within 5 minutes of all directions I was standing in San Diego…

People love to make things difficult.

The next 6-12 months will likely be bad, BUT that won’t shock anybody anymore. We expect it and more importantly, we have actually started to change our spending behavior.

The biggest watch are for me is Retail which I am short once again. The country is over restauranted and overretailed. As stores drop out of business, I can’t see where the replacements come from. That does not mean replacements won’t come. In late 2001, post 9/11, the malls were empty and it seemed like retail was an obvious short. The shorts got something wrong. FEAR…passed quickly and with jobs strong and income fine, retail was a trap.

In 2009, things are different. There is fear and nw we have had time pass as well. Habits have changed this time. At best retail muddles along as a group. Restaurants too.

That is why I am focused on this sector if I go short right now. Furthermore, I own some Amazon for if I am wrong, because they generally win either way.

Any good news will see rallies and it will take more shocking news or just a long stream of negative news to take the market back to the lows. Because I don’t play on the edges, I am mostly watching.

Until I get a great list of all-time highs, I have no real reason to be investing heavily in the market.

It remains a very important time to build your core business and consider all the possible collateral damage that your portfolio may have to withstand.

Are you up for it?