How many of you have lived through the nasdaq bubble of 1999-2000?  How many of you bought cisco, yahoo, or worse yet something like MCI Worldcom at its peak only to see big dollars turn into pennies.  How many of you were leveraged in the market during the 9/11 crisis?  And most recently how many of you had trusted dollars in your 401ks, IRAs, or personal accounts when the most recent banking debacle reared its ugly head.  I for one can remember, in a very somber way, waking up at 5:30 a.m the morning Bear Stearns had to lock the doors.  I can remember the futures being down as much as 800 points.  I weathered that day only to see many like it come in the following weeks and months.  Billions of dollars of American assets were demolished at the hands of greed and power.  You see there is a principal that I have learned over the last 12 years in the market, those who control the market control market direction and sentiment.  Those that have the assets create false wealth at the expense of the average American.  Anyone that has faced the housing crisis,those that bought at the peak, now understand what those in control can do to your future.  The governments financial arm has shown that it is unwilling to stand up to the pressures and political powers of big money and large conglomerate banks.  Greenspan, Bernanke, Paulson, all pawns in the game of power and money.  Can you possibly believe that the CEOs of Bank of America, Washington Mutual, Bear Stearns, Lehman Borthers, Countrywide Financial, etc didn't know what was coming?  Certainly they did; however the hole was dug so deep the only way out was to punish the average American.  When Mr. average lost his home and couldn't provide his family with what is needed Mr CEO lost a few trips on his personal jet.  Your financial leaders have failed you, without consequence, without responsibility.

The Dow Jones Industrial average has broke 10,000 again. That is nowhere near 14,000 where it was but certainly a rise from 6500. That is just a great feel good story. What you will find is disappointment if you really dissect the numbers. The Dow Jones or more importantly the S&P 500 is heavily skewed towards financial stocks. Stock sectors that include banks, insurance, brokers and mortgages. Much of the comeback has been in these securities. The was so much carnage in this section that any recover with regard to its weight in the Dow Jones and S&P have and will have a dramatic effect. Consider the "other" sectors that many of you may have had positions in. Oil, natural gas, renewable energy, tech of all sectors, and many others.

 Sure it looks great that the Dow Jones has risen from a low of 6500 to a high of 10000.  If we just look at that on paper we will see an increase of almost 54%. Whooaaa!!  For those of us that had the crystal ball and foresight to jump into a market that seemingly had no bottom at 6500 we have done fairly well.  The unfortunate part in this number is that for all of your money locked in your 401ks or your IRAs swimming in useless mutual funds it probably followed the entire fall.  We will use the Dow Jones 12,000 as a starting point.  Yes for you number pincher's it was above 14,000 shortly but 12,000 was a more constant number.  6500(new value)- 12,000(original value)/ 12,000(original value) *100=  45%.  Now as you can see you would have almost have needed perfect timing to retrace the entire drop.  But that is only half the story.  Lets take an example.  Lets so you bought XYZ stock at 50 dollars.  Lets next say that stock dropped to 25(I know it happened).  Now you have lost 50% of your investment.  But if you look closely in mathematical terms you now have to have an increase of 100% to recoup your investment.  Sure that happened for some; but for many it never returned.

If you are old school think back to the early and mid 90s. We were in the midst of an internet and communications revolution. The world was changing at a rapid pace and cutting edge technology was at the cusp of creation. Companies like yahoo, google, cisco, dell, apple, microsoft, etc were forging the way for a new era. Search engines were being created, brick and mortar business models were challenged, the very way we communicated was evolving into an explosive world wide movement. These pioneers of tech forged to way for current business models and single handed changed productivity and communication in the world forever. But there was a time when nobody believed in them. When Michael Dell was putting computers together in his dorm room. When Steve Jobs was creating the personal computer when there was none. When Bill Gates was busy copying everyone else(ok couldn't resist that one but heck he was smart enough to do it). When John Chambers changed the worlds information highway with fiber optic and routing. You could go on forever.

 So you may ask what is next?  Well I will tell you you won't find in the Dow Jones or the S&P 500.  What has happened there has already happened.  Maybe you look down to the Russell 3000, 2000, or 1000 that could be ok.  The real innovators are on the OTCB and PinkSheets.  I know what you are thinking, you must be crazy these are all fly by nights and are impossible to pick but that isn't true.  The is an absolute revolution, a world changing event, going on in micro cap biotech and green energy now like you wouldn't believe.  There is a new horizon, a new internet or industrial revolution going on right now that you can be a part of.  There is more groundbreaking work going on in the cancer or oncology arena right now than ever in medical history.  There are daily breakthroughs in science with regard to how what were once untreatable disease are now being identified as ones that may have a solution.  There are companies changing the way energy will be formed.  From smart grid solutions, wind, and solar energy is being transformed to a new world order.  Breakthroughs by modern science are made every day to change or energy dependence from foreign nations.  This is all to be said to annotate that this is where the big money is.  Sure pay 198 bucks for apple tonight.  Probably a decent investment, won't deteriorate anytime soon.  But it certainly isn't going to yield a 800% increase anytime soon which is what many of these companies can and will do.  I am excited about the future and love what I call the "under market".  Under what most people will consider.

 There is so much info on the internet with regard to these companies; most information that you need is right at your fingertips.  A little time and diligence will produce the gem that you are looking for.  Just answer the questions.  Is it groundbreaking work?  Does it fill a wanted and unfilled niche?  Can they bring it to market?  These are simple but good places to start.  I follow many companies in may sectors.  I am an individual investor; I represent no one; but am always willing and excited to share information.  I truly believe in the free market.  It is a function of democracy and capitalism.  Sharing of information is vital to the future of the next great wave..