I'm in with the In Crowd

Let's face it. All of us prefer to think we're right.

Failures and busted dreams are always the fault of others. Our straitened circumstances, failed relationships and foozled tee shots, not to mention our ravaged portfolios, which I will mention in a moment, are always the result of implacable, unseen forces that only the In Crowd (Dobie Gray, 1965; The Ramsey Lewis Trio instrumental version later that year) can control and take advantage of. Sing it, guys, "We make every minute count! Yeah! Our share is always the biggest amount..."

The credit crunch, not wearing a watch, "the sun was in my eyes" and slick suits in league with the Federal Reserve all serve as convenient foils. Just ask Dick Fuld.

However, as Grantland Rice put it much better than I, these are only aliases. The real names of these Four Horsemen are: Baby, the rain must fall; didn't want to know what time it was; forgot to wear a visor and Ivy League envy.

In other words, the day of the stock picker has arrived, in my view. The volatility of the market is as great as trading in individual names these days, so why not swing for the fences? Briefly, the downside risk appears to me to be roughly the same, but the upside potential seems greater.

Fifteen years ago, Byron Wien of Morgan Stanley fame (not name-dropping; I'm sure he doesn't remember me) penned a piece in the firm's Investment Perspectives that resonates with me still: "I Hear the Death Rattle of Indexing."

The death rattle is now as threatening as the menacing announcement of a diamondback's desire to survive.

Here are two names I would look at for a short-term trade: Advanced Micro Devices ($2.28, up $0.08 on Friday) and Palm Inc. ($2.30, up $0.52 on Friday). They're chasing Intel and Research in Motion, respectively, but both, I believe, have competitive products that the big boys need to have in the mix to keep them on their toes.

Full disclosure: I currently own neither AMD nor PALM, but plan to buy at the opening market price Monday (Dec. 15, 2008) morning and then go play golf at Dyker (supposed to be 60 degrees and sunny). As I said, I'm like everyone else. I prefer to think I'm right and will crow if I am and make excuses if I'm not. Sell ideas to come.

Kev's buy list: F (recommendation initiated 12/12/08; I own F shares, bought at $1.15 on 11/20/08), AMD, PALM (recommendation initiated 12/13/08).