Seeking Alpha by Adding Beta

I was thinking of how one can use current economic turmoil and depressed valuations to earn steady return from stocks. Following applies only if you are optimistic about overall long-term trend that things would recover. If you are pessimists, this does not apply - I would recommend keeping money under mattress (since you may not even trust any banks:-) Buy stocks of companies which you believe are going to survive and would not declare BK. This is easier said than done since no one believed that Lehman, Washington Mutual would go BK Buy stocks on days when these companies get penalized (go down by 50% in one day) due to some short-term market issues. Some examples would be HIG below $5, HUN below $3, GNW below $1, MS below $8, DRYS below $4 and so on. You need to be patient and buy only when such opportunities are presented. I always believe that markets are in-efficient in short-term Buy in quantities. 2000 if stock is below $2, 1000 if it is below $5, 500 if it is below $10. Basic

Just saw the news that democrats and Bush has reached an agreement of $15 B bailout for auto-companies to get them over the remaining days of Bush's presidency and then they would have some more $$$ after Obama takes over. USA has become a bailout nation with so many bailouts this year: Bear Sterns ($29B) FRE / FNM ($200B) AIG ($152 B and counting) Citigroup ($300B and counting) 9 major banks including Goldman, Morgan and Bank of America ($150B and counting) Now 3 auto companies ($15 B) General bailout pool of $700 B In all this, I was surprised to see so much discussion for bailing out auto-companies when they are requesting "only" $34 B which is about 1/4 th of what one company AIG consumed. Auto companies at least produce something which folks can use to drive whereas AIG is just selling some derivatives - what double standards this administration has ! Obama has started very impressively in selecting his cabinet - excellent choices for his economic as well as na