This is special intraday update #1957a for Thursday after-hours, December 26, 2013.
I bought HDGE at 12.7972 shortly before the close of regular-hours trading using 0.10% of my net worth, which I would rate as a 7 on a scale of 0 through 10. HDGE is an actively managed fund of pure U.S. equity short positions. This fund is likely to be among the top winners as we experience a major bear market for general U.S. equity indices during the upcoming two to three years. If you prefer to sell short directly, I would recommend shorting high-dividend assets including XLP and XLU which have already been in quietly grinding downtrends for several weeks or months. The advantage of HDGE is that if it is held for at least one year and one day then it legally qualifies as a long-term capital gain which has a lower U.S. federal tax rate; if you hold a short position for more than a year then it still counts as a short-term capital gain.
True Contrarian
Disclosure: Since May 2012 I have been progressively accumulating long positions in funds of commodity producers whenever they have been most disfavored. I completed selling many funds of general equities which I had bought near their important low points in 2012, and which I unloaded on a gradual basis from January 28, 2013 through May 3, 2013. In late August and early September 2013 I was aggressively buying the shares of emerging-market country funds. During the past several weeks, I have added moderately to my funds of the most undervalued mining shares and emerging-market equities, especially during their most extended pullbacks. From my largest to my smallest position, I currently own GDXJ, KOL, XME, GDX, REMX, SIL, COPX, SCIF, GXG, GLDX, RSX, VGPMX, ECH, EWZ, IDX, BGEIX, VNM, URA, ZJG (Toronto), SLX, PLTM, and EPU. I have significantly reduced my total cash position since June 2013 in order to increase my holdings of the above assets, and I sold almost 90% of my SLX near 49 dollars per share because steel insiders were doing likewise.
