Yes the market as a whole for 2008 will continue to perform poorly but
that does not mean every single stock will do so also. Why do most
people only see things in black and white and not discuss the grey
areas?
Believe it or not there were stocks in 2007 that made a 25% return
seem small and there will also be stocks in 2008 that will do the
same.
Where we will be getting screwed mainly is our next President will
probably be a Republican, (I don't think this country is ready for
either an African American or a Women to be President) so we will
continue to have differing political parties in the White House and
Congress hampering any type of progress as a result.

OK - first of all I thought I was the only one posting messages
between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM - secondly what you are saying about not
holding on until it is too late is probably true. It is just so hard
to let go when for a short while it looked like things were starting
to turn around.  How will I ever know if this will be the case when
the market has been getting nothing but bad news since November with
very brief glimpses of good news in between.  I am new to the market
but I am pretty sure it is not always like this.  If we are indeed
heading for, or are already in a recession, what stocks should I
invest in?

  I have looked into this and find a variety of opinions on this
subject.  Some say tech stocks will continue to do good for a while,
others say get out now and invest in defense or health care stocks
while still more are saying to get out completely and invest in high
yield municiple bonds.

All the stocks I invested in at the end of October were already at low
levels which is what attracted me to them in the first place because I
felt the companies all have potential and I was getting a good deal
purchasing at low prices. The only problem is November came along and
they dropped even lower so my GUPR stock that was selling for $1.05/sh
when I bought 25,000 shares worth is now going for .43/sh which would
be a $15,000 or approx a 60% loss for me if I were to sell now.  The
company itself is doing just fine in their industry - paper
manufacturing in China .  In todays market though it is difficult for
a low volume OTC stock to make any headway -upwards that is because it
doesn't seem to have any problem traveling the other way.

  Some of the scenario you describe in your posting is true - some
companies never get back to the level they were at especially if you
bought them when they peaked back in 2000 and yes ENRON took a major
slide but both are the extremes.  Most companies since 2000 have
reached the same peak multiple times over the years - even then this
still does not apply to my situation as I would hardly call 1.05/sh a
unobtainable peak for GUPR as well as$2.40 unobtainable for ATS or .55/
sh unobtainable for FSN - these are the prices I paid when I purchased
these stocks although while writing this I have taken time out to
look at their history and 2.40/sh and 1.05/sh were peak levels for ATS
and GUPR - damn - I can't believe the lack of scrutiny I used when
making my first purchases - what the hell was I thinking?

  So if I am understanding you correctly I should not continue to wait
for any of these to get back to the levels I paid for them because
they may never.

  I just can't bring myself to take that type of loss especially with
GUPR - I know this company is doing well and they are in the Asian
market as well as ATS and FSN so maybe, hopefully, I did at least that
much right - that was yet another recomendation to defend yourself
against a recession here

 Im sorry it's late, (5:00AM).  I'm tired,, (I haven't gone to sleep
yet) and this is depressing me

A roller coaster goes up and down, the stock market is different.
Some stocks never return to previous levels.  Some companies sell off
part of their assets to continue.  From then on they are clearly not
worth as much.  Such is the case with so many financials - they made
bad investments and the financial data that the high stock prices were
based on were incorrect.  Consider ENRON.  More like a slide than a
roller coaster.

A stock is worth today what it is worth today.  It has no obligation
to go back to where you bought it.  Review your holdings regularly.
Ask yourself, ignoring the purchase price, whether you would buy it at
the current price, considering all the other investments you could
make.  If not then sell whenever the price seems relatively high and
buy something else when the price seems relatively low.  In this
market buy and hold is not the best strategy.

Look for bargains.  Buy Lowish sell Highish.  Very hard to pick the
top or bottom.

Didn't mean to keep HOKU for long, sold it already.  May buy some ATS
again, if it falls a little further.

Repeat often - get rich.

I have been told that investing in the stock market is like riding a
roller coaster except your emotions respond the opposite.  In other
words as your going up the incline you have a feeling of exuberance
but when you get to the top and start traveling downward instead of
elation you experience disappointment and anticipation of the next
incline. All I know is my roller coaster ride that started at the end
of October of 2007 has had many more valleys than peaks.
Early November of 2007 is when the results of faulty lending practices
made by financial institutions hit the market. As a result the level
the stocks I purchased in early November declined and just when it
looked like things were going to start to turn around in late December
when financial institutions were getting their houses in order along
comes January of 2008 and wham - more bad news - the unemployment rate
is at an all time high further indicating our economy is in a
recession - the result - whatever gains my stocks started to make in
late December have been wiped out and then some.
I would like to get off of this roller coaster until the layout of the
ride is redesigned but my seat belt won't release until I reach the
peak I started at in late October of 2007 and it is beginning to look
like that hill is a long way off

I am curious as to why you would invest in HOKU with numbers like
these?

 EPS:  -0.30

                                                          Key Stats &
Ratios

                                                           Sep
'07           (2007) Annual             (TTM)

Net Profit Margin                                -420.08%
-51.27%                 -139.21%
Operating Margin                                -529.29%
-75.75%                 -168.08%
EBITD Margin
-
-71.63%                 -163.59%
Return on Average Assets                    -10.35%
-8.78%                   -14.00%
Return on Average Equity                     -16.03%
-10.41%                   -18.87%

ENEI that you mention is also displaying poor numbers

Total Equity   -27.04

EPS:  -0.07

                                                                 Key
Stats & Ratios

Sept07                    2006                     TTM

Net Profit Margin
-5276.44%          -39696.00%               -6518.48%
Operating Margin
-2828.27%          -26410.00%              -4257.02%
EBITD
Margin
-             -26019.00%              -4160.58%
Return on Average Assets
-443.86%              -450.66%                -344.63%
Return on Average
Equity

   What criteria are you using to pick stocks?

As I said I sold ATS at $2.10 taking a small profit and watched it
continue up.  I have learned to not wait until the peak since by the
time you know it peaks it has already come down.

Things worked out very well since I took the proceeds and bought HOKU
which is up about 15% today.  I found it while looking at the stocks
you mentioned and HOKU was listed as a competitor to one of your
list.  Another competitor that looked interesting is ENEI.

The January market is doing well in the emerging markets and resource
rich countries.  Financial data in US may mean a further drop in value
of $US.  Increasing oil and gold prices are not due to increased
demand in the products this week but reflect hedging against dollar
devaluation.

I never heard of them either until I did a search for possible
investments for 2008 using the criteria I mentioned earlier.

All of these companies have been performing well financially for 2006
and 2007, good eps, good volume etc...
They appear to be undervalued and the market is starting to make the
corrections now.

I am not sure if this is a good indicator or not but HIMX, ACTS AND
XWG( I put down the wrong symbol- AWG - for this last one originally)
have all been up even with the market doing poorly these last few days
since many people must not be very perceptive.

 Info is coming out now on last quarter results for a lot of companies
including other indicators tied to the last 3 months of 2007.  I
thought everyone was aware that these 3 months were not good for most
but people seem to be acting surprised by the results and the market
responds negatively.  What were people expecting, good results?

 Looks like the market for January at least will be performing  poorly
again for this reason. I wonder how much longer we will be paying for
the mistakes made by the lending institutions?

One last note - you are aware the letters I listed are the companies
stock symbols and not the names of the companies themselves right?

I've never heard of them.

 I do not get involved with hedge funds nor do I rely on analyst for
info.

What are some  other ways to protect yourself from the manipulation
you describe? I know you mentioned avoiding stocks with low volume -
what else do you recommend?
Again -thanks for the feedback

I was unaware that it works this way.  I have seen level ll breakdown
before at http://www.otcbb.com/asp/Info_Center.asp  but I did not
understand what it meant. I guess I have had luck on my side as I do
place limits on my orders as a safety.

One of the criteria for my new investments is the stock needs to have
good volume;  I have chosen the following for 2008 investments. Can
you please give me your opinion on these?

HIMX, SIMG, ACTS, AWG, GBT

low volume stocks can be manipulated much easier by insiders of
someone with a big stake. personally I have found it better to stay
away from very low volume stocks, you may even have a hard time
getting out when you want to for your price if there are no takers.

i have been trading for about one year...lots of "potential" profits
on my portfolio. You forgot one thing...be aware of stock
manipulation..hedge funds and crooked analysts. For a good example
check out LDK, a chineese solar company. the message boards will fill
you in. Even good news can be followed by a downfall. All the homewrk
in the world wont protect you from manipulation. always be aware of
this fact. The SEC does not do its job. The market is like playing in
a card game where everone cheats but you. I am still in LDK, and I
believe it will have a big run, it is just a shame that there are
those who pervert the system.