how did i get it so wrong

I bought my first shares at 14. That was many moons ago. I started going short on the DOW and DAX on March 24 2005. As soon as i read that intinerent lettuce cutters in California were being sold home loans while standing at the farm gate i knew in an instant this whole financial system would blow sky high. I placed 82 consecutive bets shorting both indicies. Only 3 made money but i nevered wavered in my belief it would end in a monster crash. And so it came to be eventually on 1st Nov 2007. Couldn't believe it would take so long to get there. Fortunately i kept-the-faith and made cash esp on shorting the German, italian and spanish indicies and shorting the copper price. But i thought that here in Oz we had the budget/economy under control and when things stabilised in mid July i went long on many stocks in the ASX. I did short FMG,WDC and BBG and AWC. Thank God i did. The rest have been smashed and i have lost heaps.
How could i have got it so wrong? MAH is an example. When it breached 1.20 i thought it was a buy. At 1.oo i felt it was a bargain. At 90c i bought more and so on all the way down to 38c!!! My query is: the profit outlook for MAH in 09 is deemed the same as 08. I reckon 2010 will see MAH get several decent sized govt contarcts and have earnings equal to and possibly higher than 08. Yet MAH is selling for 33-34c!!! How did i get it so wrong? What has happend in Australia that fear has paralysed confidence and turned good comapanies into basket cases? 5 weeks ago i couldn't conceive MAH at this level.