Nine Investments that Might Pull a Jim Tressel

In a move that managed to surprise everyone and no one (at the same time), Jim Tressel finally resigned from the Ohio State University. Tressel, whose Buckeyes won one National Title and regularly competed for the top slot, walked away after it became clear that he had covered up rules violations for some of OSU's top players. "The recent situation has been a distraction for our great university and I make this decision for the greater good of the school," Tressel said in his resignation letter. Tressel was scheduled to appear before the NCAA infractions committee to explain why he denied knowing about players receiving improper benefits — a denial later proven a lie when emails emerged showing that he had, indeed, known of the benefits. Tressel's departure comes at an odd time, considering he had already been suspended for five games and an interim coach had already been named. He could have walked away then and saved himself some time and money, rather than drag out a losing hand for another few months. You might see a similar situation play out with your portfolio this June. The probable end of QE2, matched with the government refusing to announce any sort of QE3, will serve as a defining moment for a few stocks this summer. Here are a few investments who might “Pull a Tressel,” disappoint your portfolio and leave you hanging come the fall. First up on the “maybe i should get in short on this” category are the banks. If QE2 ends without QE3, financial stocks will likely get slapped around a bit this summer. Even the big boys won't be immune, which means look out for possible signs of decline for JP Morgan Chase JPM and Citigroup C. Goldman Sachs GS is another possible target, but they have so many government insiders that it's hard to imagine them falling significantly in the long term. Second, consider oil companies. If the economy avoids another round of cheap money, oil prices are likely to go down. Rather than trying to pick which oil stocks will gain or fall, consider playing this event with oil ETFs. Three to look at are the United States Oil Fund USO, PowerShares DB Oil Fund DBO, and the Teucrium Crude Oil Fund CRUD. Third, look to gold. Dollars have been depressing and limp for a while now, in large part because of QE and QE2. An end to the free money policy might prop the dollar back up, leading to a relative decline in gold prices. Gold has been higher than Rick James lately, so perhaps a fall back to the regression line is in order. Consider three different ETFs, depending on your level of risk-aversion and portfolio. SPDR Gold Trust GLD was the first Gold ETF, and remains very popular. ProShares Ultra Gold UGL is more aggressive, offering double returns (and the chance of double losses) with its shares. Market Vectors Gold Miners Fund GDX offers a different twist on gold investments, by investing in gold companies rather than the price of gold directly.