Nestled deep in the back pages of this week's Barron's newspaper was an interesting letter.A Mr. Robert M.Hunt of Kenwood,California wrote that shorting the first 50 companies on Barron's annual most respected list was the Contrarian play.He did say to go long the 50 least respected names on the list but that is cover for his debate.Mr.Hunt is telling everyone across the globe that shorting Apple,Berkshire Hathaway,Boeing,Google,etc is his choice.I can not recall how many times I have heard people exhorting fellow investors to short Apple In the last ten years.The trading landscape is littered with empty shells of persons following this reckless advice.Very few retail investors could even dream of shorting Berkshire Hathaway at 192,900 so that is out of reach unless Mr.Hunt has rich relatives who write blank checks.Brin and Page must howl with laughter when anyone mentions shorting Google.Someday might be a good time to short these companies but following Mr.Hunt's advice may assure you of never seeing that day.Just because something is printed in the back of a newspaper on page 46 does not mean no one reads it.The spotlight is on you Mr.Hunt or can we call you Robert?
Disclosure: The author is long AAPL.