It's been a while since I've read Bill O'Neils stuff...but isn't CANSLIM kind of unusable in a market like this one? ('M' is for market)
Yes. If you read IBD's Big Picture commentary, its basically about advising the longs when they should enter the market. In that regard it is sometimes dangerous to listen to because its always cheerleading for the next bull phase. It can lead you into a bull trap if you are not careful. In "How to Make Money in Stocks" O'Neal explains shorting very briefly and in such away as to make you think its a very arcane and risky thing to do. Says O'Neal "The whole matter of short selling is quite treacherous, even for professionals, and only the more able, daring, and successful investors should probably venture into this puzzling territory." That one sentence alone has made it very difficult for me to even think about shorting. That, and Cramer's little contribution below: http://www.thestreet.com/funds/smarter/862233.html
From Cramner's article...... "So, you are short National Gift. You have a borrow. The stock is at 15. It rallies to 23. You get a call from the custody broker saying that he can't find any stock anywhere and that he needs you to deliver stock to keep your short" No wonder he became a talk show host. Nice example of setting a good stop loss Jimbo. What a terrible example, he is so lame.
And he ran a hedge fund, key word here is hedge, as in shorting National Gift and buying a ratio of calls.
There are some books out on him, one of them by a guy who worked for him for a couple of years. In the books, even the one he authorized, it details how he was primarily a front runner and was investigated by the SEC numerous times but managed to stay out of jail. He would intentionally churn his account in order to get IPO shares and to know what the big orders from the funds were that day.
Cramer has been indignant about how Reg FD ruined the markets. Guess that level playing field stuff is just for us retail traders.