The absolutely highest high I could have predicted for the Dow Industrial Average was exceeded by 20 points on Friday. Do I care? Less than you might think, actually. But rather than impose on your reserve of forgiveness with the usual technical post-mortem and yet another Mother-of-All-Tops hidden pivot, let me focus for a moment on a timely topic that has justified my publishing the cheesy photo below of our favorite Mousketeer-turned-pole-dancer, Britney Spears.

(Click on photo to enlarge)

You might think this an odd time for the au courant Rick’s Picks  to feature Ms. Spears, given the earth-shattering news even more recently that Paris Hilton – very briefly Britney’s soul-mate, as some of you may recall – might actually have to do hard time in the L.A. county jail. (Ms. Hilton’s 45-day sentence, for a violation of probation terms after her conviction for reckless driving under-the-influence, will start in early June, in case you’d like to drop her a card. The former “It” girl may need your support, since she’s not likely to make new friends in jail as easily as the always gracious Martha Stewart evidently did.)

The Money Shot

Concerning our ever-metamorphosing chanteuse, as recently as a few weeks ago Britney may have been a drunk, a druggie, a serial flasher, an unfit mother and a borderline suicide. Even so, it was as clear then as now that no paparazzo dared look on her as a has-been. To the contrary, a blurry, gravel-grained photo of Britney stuck in the revolving door of some rehab clinic would have been worth maybe $30 thou to the cameraman persistent enough to have been in the right place at the right time.

So how do you think the most Googled person on earth announced to the world that she is back with a vengeance? If you said, by doing her trademark jazzercise routine in an L.A. blues club, and by tossing in a lap dance to prove she’s not afraid to try out new material, then go to the head of the class. Since a video is worth a thousand words, let me direct you to a web site that has recorded for all posterity Britney’s latest comeback, spangled pasties a-twirl. Click here to see a now brunette-coiffed Britney and her troupe of blonde gypsies make show-biz history, such as it is.  As AOL delights to inform us, she is still ever so….badassssss!

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A Guru’s Best Tricks Revealed

“While perusing some of your posts chronologically from months back, I'm truly struck by the remarkable prescience of many of your fearless calls. The results are uncannily accurate. Thanks again for this opportunity to profit from your usually directionally correct analyses. The subscription is worth every penny - and then some.”

-- Colin L. MacVeagh, a subscriber

Aloha Rick.  I just want to thank you personally for all of your posts in Comex Gold and Silver.  I have traded gold/silver futures for a decade and there is NO ONE who has identified prices as accurately as you do. FACT:  Your New Year's Eve call of a high at 643.10 call was dead-on (even if floor traders ran it up a few days later to flush the momentum traders.) But your subsequent forecast of a pullback low at 603.00 was mind boggling! I Sold my longs at 643.10 and covered my shorts at  603.00 -- the exact bottom.

   -- Mark Johnson, Hawaiian subscriber

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Want to learn exactly how I do it? Then click here for details concerning next month’s online Hidden Pivot Seminar on May 19-20 (Saturday/Sunday morning). Sign up now while there are still a few seats left. The goal of this course is nothing less than to teach traders and investors of all levels of experience how to forecast stocks and commodities at least as accurately and confidently as those who do it successfully for a living.

With just a cursory understanding of the material taught in the course, and a little bit of follow-up, you will never again have to ask an “expert” what he thinks about a particular stock or “the market.” That’s because you will be better equipped yourself to answer the question simply by looking at a few charts.

The course is not about technical analysis in the conventional sense, with its tired and overly scrutinized trendlines, its familiar oscillators, channels, volume indicators, and all the rest, Rather, it is a way of looking at charts with a fresh eye – to see charts as “art,” with emphasis on visual elements of harmony, symmetry, and, indeed, beauty. My annotated charts do not look even remotely like those of other technicians, and that is why the “buy” and “sell” signals that come from them rarely coincide with those favored and used by the herd.

Don’t Rely on ‘Experts’

The online class will be a particularly good opportunity for those who were unable to attend my classes last year in New York, Sydney, Vancouver, San Francisco and Denver. If you’ve visited the Rick’s Picks chat room and marveled at the forecasting skill of seminar grads, this course is designed to quickly bring you up to their level. While I cannot guarantee that the course will turn you into a fabulously rich trader,  I can promise, as implied above, that with a little diligence and practice, your ability to precisely predict price reversals in stocks, indexes, options and commodities will be at least as good as anyone whose forecasts you have ever paid for.

Although the on-site course was offered for as much as $2,000, I am offering it online for $960, since many of the expenses incurred in holding “live” seminars – including hotel and travel costs, and the rental of conference facilities -- are not a factor. If you are seriously interested in attending, click here for more information, or go directly to the registration page by clicking here, then clicking the “UPCOMING” tab.