Judging from previous articles like this, can you guess what I'm going to write about? By now I think you should know my core beliefs-while everyone and their mother is covering the wheeling and dealings of hugely important corporations hence efficient stocks like Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), my blog's readers and I are having much more fun profiting from trading mostly short selling...well actually all short selling-smaller infinitely more inefficiently priced companies like GRO, PTEK and STXX, all of which were "pumped up" by various temporary catalysts.

For Agria Corp (NYSE: GRO), it was message board hype, PokerTek Inc (NASDAQ: PTEK) had a combination of message board hype, rumors and press coverage and South Texas Oil Co (NASDAQ: STXX) got a stock promoter mention, and now that those temporary catalysts have come and gone, all three have reversed hard off their highs. And mind you, while many pumps are accomplished on the infinitely ore sketchy OTCBB and Pink Sheet exchanges, all three of these companies are trades on more reputable markets like the NYSE and NASDAQ. And yes, I profited solidly on all three, increasing my yearly gain to around 40%.

Now I'm looking at stocks like Source Interlink (NASDAQ: SORC) as a potential short, which is up on insider buying, a catalyst I don't respect, but since there's not enough space for me to cover all the details of exactly what I look for here--it's about chart patterns, price action and volume. Today, I am doing a special Friday the 13th marathon episode of my LiveStock show. To the untrained eye, I know these small stocks seem scary, but maybe after this journey, I can help you better understand them.

Timothy Sykes writes the blog timothysykes.com, is a former hedge fund manager, star of the TV show Wall Street Warriors and author of the book, An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund

Today's markets could have actually been a lot worse. Oil rose $1.63 to $111.77 per barrel, making $100 ancient history. The March retail sales numbers would have been great at the +0.2% reading except for the fact that it was due to higher gas prices paid at the pump; otherwise sales would have been flat. In the environment of weak spending, that might still be a win. After everyone's favorite conglomerate killed the markets Friday, these small losses are a win. Below are the unofficial closing levels:

• DJIA 12,302.06 (-23.36; -0.19%)
• S&P500 1,328.27 (-4.56; -0.34%)
• NASDAQ 2,275.82 (-14.42; -0.63%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.5030% (+0.032%)
• 52 WEEK LOWS

AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI) was upgraded by Raymond James today after a huge airline sell-off last week. Shares closed up 20% at $4.97.