Brett Owens

I dig out and uncover contrarian investing and trading opportunities - you know, the good stuff that you can't find via mainstream financial publications. To track our contrary investing coverage - it's all free - check out our blog at http://contraryinvesting.com/.

I used to believe that "buy and hold" was the way to go. Maybe it is, but I came to think this mantra was a relic of an epic bull market that had brainwashed everyone. Being "in the market" and sitting tight is usually not enough for good performance...in fact, it will sometimes make you roadkill (a la 2008)!

My first contrary play was when I started trading commodities in 2005 - fortunately ahead of the big crowd - after ...More reading Jim Rogers' classic book, Hot Commodities. I bought a couple of sugar futures contracts - everyone laughed - but those babies took off, and I was hooked on commodities, currencies, and any neglected investment opportunity.

Along the way, I've had a lot of fun - I've made some nice money, I've lost big too - and I've come to a couple of conclusions:

1. You have to invest opposite the mainstream to make any money, and

2. I really dig sarcastic financial coverage

So on My blog, I try to dig up stories that fulfill one or both. I hope you enjoy, and that you'll sign up for our free daily newsletter.

Finally, this blog is a labor of love more than anything. My "day job" is running a time tracking software startup called Chrometa - we've got a really cool cutting edge app that captures your time automatically. I really enjoy and benefit from the balanced perspective that I get in the day-to-day trenches of early stage entrepreneurship. If only the jokers running our nation into the ground had similar types of experience!