A penny saved is a penny earned.

Today I sold off my Freddie Mac shares and it appeared to be a good move despite news of an 5.3% increase in pending home sales. Quoting Benjamin Franklin, "A penny saved is a penny earned." I saved my butt from losing another 10% on Freddie Mac. Then I decided to ride the housing slump and shorted some shares of Fannie Mae. With Fannie Mae reporting earnings at the end of the week, I assumed that the news would further deteriate its stock. I gained about 5% from the opening bell and found out fast that I wasn't able to stomach the swings associated with selling short and sold immediately this morning. I compare selling short shares of stock to that guy who bets on the "No Pass" line at the Craps table. Just feels like bad vibes and negative karma. So no more selling short for me.

FYI. Fannie Mae continued to decline another 8% and it looks like my assumption would have been correct that Friday's earnings was really going to drag down its price.