Beware of the ides of January

With the coming of the new year, portfolio managers tend to clean house and rebalance portfolios, often selling the mega-winners of the prior year. Conveniently taxes on capital gains recognized in January, whether short or long, are not due for another 14 months. If a big momentum stock breaks below its December low (see TZOO '05, TASR '05, but not AAPL '05 or TASR '04), be careful. The ride may not end for a long time. That means you holders: of AAPL, BTUI, GOOG, HANS, NDAQ, NTRI, PWEI, VPHM.