Adam Lass says the vast majority of retailers are ripe for shorting as a new era of thrift grips the US. Aside from bargain stores like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and the 99 Cents Only Store (NYSE:NDN), Adam says investors should buy put options on retail firms. And the best time to do this is when they talk of “better times to come”…

Adam Lass says the US economy looks “dreadful” in the short term. And it faces long-term monetary ruin. But somewhere in between, he expects a new bubble to form. One that will make some investors huge profits. To survive until then, Adam says you must use put options on “deadbeats” like Kohls (NYSE:KSS) to hedge long positions on proven “survivors” like Macy’s (NYSE:M).

Consumer spending was flat in the US in August. Adam Lass says this zero means more than the much-hyped $700 billion figure currently grabbing the headlines.

The bottom line is consumers are running scared, and that is bad news for retailers and manufacturers.

Adam says Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) and Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) are in for a particularly rough ride. Even ’safe’ stocks such as Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) or Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) could seriously hurt your portfolio in the coming months.