STORM RIDERS
Short selling news is finally complete
BY DOUG WAKEFIELD

Our research paper, which we started in August, is up on www.bestmindsinc.com. It is amazing how much I've learned over the last five months. I also find it amazing how much my colleague Ben Hill and I underestimated the task of writing this paper. However, I am confident that regardless of your skill level or tenure in the world of finance, you will learn something from this effort. Actually, at 140 pages, it became more of a book in the end.

After a few housekeeping items, I can only hope you'll hurry to our bookstore to check out "Riders on the Storm: Short Selling in Contrary Winds."

• The paper is behind the secured section on our website. All you need to do is log in to enter the site. Just complete the fields on the page or click on sign-up from the login page.
  
  
• Once you are in the secured part of the site, you can download the complete work, 153 pages, or download the paper in sections. Since each section builds on the one previous, I had some misgivings about offering the paper this way. So, if you download the paper in sections, I would encourage you to read each of them sequentially.
  
  
• This month we will begin our new newsletter format. This will also be located behind the secure section of our website. The only difference from the past will be that you are required to use a password (that you establish) and login to read the new newsletter. With the length of the above mentioned research paper, I trust that you will understand why we didn't produce a newsletter from September through December of 2005.
  
  
• The article, "A Home Boom Busts," takes us to Shanghai for a look at a major shift in their real estate market. As so much disinformation is being poured into ears of investors, this is just one shot fired over the bow, warning investors to change course now.

Let me close with a bit of humor. The company, Despair Inc., is based in Dallas. Their business tag line is "Demotivators: The Therapeutic Context of the New Millennium." If you're familiar with the inspirational concept, and you're a tad bit cynical, at least enjoy www.despair.com. LW

Doug Wakefield is president of Texas-based Best Minds Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor, whose objective is to educate investors on what the “best minds” in the world of finance are saying and doing. To sign up for Best Minds Inc.’s free newsletter, visit www.bestmindsinc.com.