Right now the market sucks. It looks like nothing good can be seen on the horizon. But, if you look hard enough you can find a few shiny stones in the murky black. Todays pick and the usual blatherskite.

Tuesday, February 24th, the market is suppose to open with a little money in the pocket. I suspect that the same as yesterday is going to happen. The bulls are going to try for a rally, but the bears are going to claw them at the heal.

However, I do have one pick that might just buck the trend. It is a utility stock in my own little home state, and the provider of electricity for more than just my familiar home. It also provides electricity for much of the south-eastern states of the Union. I'm talking about FPL. Yeah I know utilities took a beating yesterday also but just about everything did. Strangely enough the major airlines had some upward as US Airways states that they will no longer charge for non-alcoholic beverages, but who is really traveling by air these days?

So, back to the pick, FPL. I am personally going to try for it today. My strategy is to Buy 9 shares at a price between $50.12 and $50.29. That is a Stop of $50.12 Limit of $50.29. I am also going to be protecting the majority of my "bet" with a OTO (One-Triggers-Other) Stop of $47.48. That is a position of just under $500 with a risk of about 6%. My target is the $55-$56 range. Which means a moderate gain of maybe $45. Not a whole lot but in this market you take what you can get. This is my own personal opinion. I think it is ready to go up again. It has been doing this oscillation thing since October of 2008 and currently it has been dancing at the bottom of this oscillation for the past 4 days. The technicals say that it is oversold, and the downward momentum has been slowly declining, so I am ready and to pull the trigger.

Understand, please, that I am not a stock broker; I am not a financial advisor; I am not telling you what to buy or sell. I am just an opinionated investor. If you decide to follow in my footsteps you are taking some risk. It is inevitable that I may be wrong. So if you are going to follow in my footsteps that is your own personal decision. I am not responsible for any loss that you may, and probably will incur regardless of my opinion.

So if you are not ready to follow in my footsteps, I have two words for you. Paper Trade! Get a legal pad. Make 9 columns and above each column right the following labels: Symbol, Shares, Entry-Stop, Entry-Limit, Stop-Loss, Target, In, Out, and Difference in that order.

• Symbol is for the stock symbol, obviously.
• Shares is for the number of shares you want to buy.
• Entry-Stop is the least you are willing to pay.
• Entry-Limit is the most you are willing to pay.
• Stop-Loss is the most you are willing to watch it fall.
• Target is the value you "hope" it reaches so you can take some profit.
• In is the product of the number of shares and the price it was bought, for pessimist sake use the Entry-Limit figure.
• Out is the product of the number of shares and the price it was sold, assume the closing price for pessimist sake unless you hit your target then use that.
• Difference is the difference between the In and the Out, which will either be positive or negative.

That is my opinion, you can take it or leave it.