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2008 Trades Gone Bad: 5 moves that hurt this year

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Whether a novice or a pro, we all may mistakes investing.

Sadly, for many of us, 2008 proved to be a year rich with bad options and negative results -- or, as I prefer to call them, learning opportunities.

Here's a review of some of the most painful learning opportunities in 2008:

#1 Going long the specialty retailers: If you made a bet on the specialty retailers leading up to the first $600 taxpayer rebate stimulus package, you got hammered.

#2 Betting on the China bull: Several ETFs that gave investors indexed exposure to Chinese stocks saw their values get hit for as much as 70%.

#3 Buying non-durables: Seems the kitchen and bathroom stocks didn't work this time around.

#4 Buying financials: Buying the financials while the Fed was aggressively cutting interest rates was supposed to be a no-brainer.

#5 Betting on peak oil: Crude is now trading around $40 -- down $107 per barrel in less than six months. Unbelievable!

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Last updated: November 26, 2009: 01:16 AM

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