On Wednesday, both stocks fell in reaction to disappointing guidance. We promptly removed both stocks as a result. The holding period for these so-called safe picks was less than 2 months.

SJM fell victim to the ongoing peanut scare. Though the company has stated that its products were not tainted, jars of Jif are not moving.

CNP blamed slowing growth and lower energy usage by customers for crimping fourth-quarter income and 2009 guidance.

On the flip side, banking stocks surged Thursday morning on the prospect that they won't be nationalized. Yet, some of these companies have been the victims of very bad decisions by management.

When times were good, Citigroup (C) was constantly criticized for being too big and bloated. Even last year, the company's executives believed they could solve their problems by making C even bigger. Now, taxpayers are about to own a considerable chunk of the beleaguered firm.

Bank of America (BAC) acquired Countrywide and Merrill Lynch last year. Anybody who shorted BAC when the Countrywide merger was first announced has profited handsomely.

And none of this even touches on their loan writing guidelines (or lack thereof).

In summary, good stocks are going bad and the bad stocks are prone to having some very good days. Is it any wonder why I'm frustrated?

Rest assured, I don't like losing money and I realize you hate it even more. But it is better to take a known loss in a good stock, than risk losing far more by trying to time a bad stock.

The long-term rules for success have not changed. Buy well-run companies with rising earnings estimates that are trading at attractive valuations.