Looking To Profit From the Market's Plunge

Thank god for shorts.

Virtually anyone who has employed a buy and hold, long only strategy this year has felt a world of pain. As I write, the S&P 500 is down 12% for the year, having staged its worst June performance since 1930. Many great businesses—Starbucks, Coke, etc—have seen their share prices fall dramatically. Other, not so stellar franchises—GM, Citigroup—have fared even worse and seemed destined for bankruptcy or break-ups.