Are Stock Spin-offs Different Now?

Spin-offs have been good deals for a long time, but is it different now? We've all had it hammered into us that there are few more dangerous ideas than that "it is different this time." Sooner or later it turns out that it wasn't different and your money is down the drain.

So, how about the other direction? Everyone thinks that things are awful. It's different now?

This probably is as important a time as any to be watching spin-offs. The stock spin-off remains a good reason. That is not different. The trend is down right now, maybe heading toward flat. That is different, so we need to be careful, but not immobile.

Price and volume are still our two primary clues to what is really going on and whenthey turbn positive, spin-offs will be tops on our watchlists.