Last Monday, my mission was to bring home the vital importance of The Great Dichotomy — the unprecedented contrast between the sinking ship of the U.S. economy and the rising tide of emerging markets. Today, my mission is to show you ways to profit from both. And as the events this past Friday clearly illustrate, the timing couldn't be more critical: The record surge in U.S. unemployment — the worst in 22 years — signals a swifter slide into recession than any government indicator we've seen so far. The record surge in crude oil — the biggest of all time — promises to gut household budgets and squeeze the profit margins of thousands of U.S. manufacturers that use petrochemicals to produce their products. The nonstop plunge in home prices promises to deliver ...

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) made a huge comeback last Monday leaping from $3.20 to $5.65, just one week later is back down to $3.79 a share.  Hard to believe this stock was $44.50 in 2006 and this week's fall is due to the dillution of PEIX shares by adding millions more to be shorted on the open market. Kudos Management. Here's the story from Sacbee.com: Pacific Ethanol Inc., seeking to bulk up at a time of slim profit margins, said Friday it has raised $34.25 million through a series of private stock sales. About $5.75 million in preferred stock and warrants were purchased by a group of company executives, including Chairman Bill Jones; Neil Koehler, the president and ...

Gafisa (GFA) is trading back down almost text book post earnings; could not ask for a better trade than what we just enjoyed here. We doubled (0.9% stake to 1.8% stake) the position last Monday near $38 We took out a smaller portion at $43 Wednesday We took out (down to 0.6% stake) a big position Friday AM at $49.60 We added (back up to 0.9% stake) a small bit yesterday below $45 We added a much larger piece back at $42 this AM Downside remains first to upper $39s (near $40) - first support - and then at $38 (stronger support) but my largest sell was at $49.60 (Friday) and largest buyback was $42 (today) so we cleared 15% on that transaction in a 2 session period. I'll take that all day, every day. I'll buy more on a pullback to $38, but for now Gafisa is back to a 2.4% ...