Since reaching a multi-decade low of $251.70 in August 1999, gold has been a top performing investment. Even during the 2008 financial crisis, it was only one of the few assets that increased in value (up +5.8%). While top-notch investors like John Paulson are still bullish, gold… Read More

As should be no surprise, there has been a wealth explosion in China. From 2003 to 2009, private wealth has grown at a compound annual rate of +24.8%. Even during the global financial crisis of 2008, private wealth grew by +8.3%. The rest of the world saw an -11.7% plunge. Read More

Just a year after going bust, GM (NYSE: GM) showed it can get its groove back. Its IPO was impressive, with a large increase in the price range as well as the number of shares issued. [Read:… Read More

Since the financial crisis in 2008, corporate executives have taken a cautious approach to making big decisions. This has been especially the case with mergers & acquisitions (M&A). But according to a recent survey from Thomson Reuters and Freeman (a consulting firm), it looks like 2011 is… Read More

Back in the late 1990s, there was a raft of books calling for the Dow to reach 30,000 or even 100,000. Looking back on it, it seems crazy. But such things are natural during bull markets. Interestingly enough, book titles can be an indicator that a bubble is about to burst. When it comes to gold, we are starting to see something similar. For example, a recent book called Hard Money makes the bold prediction that gold will eventually hit $10,000 per ounce. It’s inevitable that we will see other titles hit the market soon. Read More

Back in the late 1990s, there was a raft of books calling for the Dow to reach 30,000 or even 100,000. Looking back on it, it seems crazy. But such things are natural during bull markets. Interestingly enough, book titles can be an indicator that a bubble is about to burst. When it comes to gold, we are starting to see something similar. For example, a recent book called Hard Money makes the bold prediction that gold will eventually hit $10,000 per ounce. It’s inevitable that we will see other titles hit the market soon. But in the case of Hard Money, the author is not a crackpot. He actually manages the GBI Gold Fund and is the head of Global Research at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. He even convinced the pension fund to take a major stake in gold in 2007. #-ad_banner-#True, there are many top-notch analysts who have made bad calls. Not many saw the collapse of 2008, right? But in the case of gold, there are certainly strong arguments why the price can go higher. However, there will need to be some key drivers. Read More

In the past few months, commodities prices have surged. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index, which tracks 19 heavily-traded commodities, posted an +8.5% gain in September and then a +4.8% increase in October. There are many drivers for this trend which are likely to continue. The falling dollar… Read More

There seems to be no end to the commodities bull-run. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, which tracks 19 heavily-traded commodities, posted a nice gain of +4.8% in October. Keep in mind that came after a sizzling +8.5% pop in September. All in all, the gains were broad-based… Read More

From time to time, the banking sector will see a transformative innovation, such as the ATM or online banking. But it often takes time to get consumers to change their habits. Yet when it happens, the results can be a big money maker. This appears to… Read More

Perhaps the biggest domestic market opportunity for investors is the U.S. health care system. The industry already consumes roughly 16% of gross domestic product and that’s likely to reach 19.5% by 2017. Of the total spending, about half goes to hospital care and physician services. But with such large amounts, it is inevitable that there will be wasteful spending and lots of inefficiencies. A report from the Annals of Family Medicine shows that primary care physicians spend about half their work day on activities outside the exam room. Of course, this involves documentation, reporting, billing and so… Read More

Perhaps the biggest domestic market opportunity for investors is the U.S. health care system. The industry already consumes roughly 16% of gross domestic product and that’s likely to reach 19.5% by 2017. Of the total spending, about half goes to hospital care and physician services. But with such large amounts, it is inevitable that there will be wasteful spending and lots of inefficiencies. A report from the Annals of Family Medicine shows that primary care physicians spend about half their work day on activities outside the exam room. Of course, this involves documentation, reporting, billing and so on. Then again, the workflows for physicians are often problematic. They may rely on assistants who are often overwhelmed with records, regulations and rules. And the consequences can be severe. To deal with this, Congress has taken action to help reform the system. Roughly $38 billion in subsidies will be committed to aiding the speedy adoption, and improvement, of electronic medical records by 2016. This is actually part of the 2009 recovery legislation, which created the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). Basically, the law prods physicians to adopt information… Read More

While companies like Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have revved up their acquisitions latesly, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) has been quiet. But this won’t last for long. The company has integrated its $7.5 billion deal for Sun Microsystems and also snagged the former CEO of HP,… Read More