The S&P 500 Index has been up nearly 92% since March 6, 2009. This impressive run has many market participants cheering for the rally to continue indefinitely. But as exciting as it may be to reference that 92% return, it is not very important, except for investors who bought… Read More

Currency investing by the “Main Street” investor, regular Joe’s and Jane’s like you and me, has exploded in recent years, thanks to the expansion of the exchange-traded fund (ETF) universe. Once the territory of hedge-fund managers… Read More

Whenever the topic of inflation arises, the two words that most often come from investors’ mouths are “gold” and “silver.” And while it’s true that gold and silver are inflation hedges that offer large potential returns, they also tend to carry an equally large… Read More

They’re a staple of most high-yield portfolios. Just about every income investor has at least a few thousand dollars invested in this group. There are good reasons for their popularity. These businesses throw off enormous amounts of cash. By law, they have to pay at least 90%… Read More

Despite the recent bearish effort, the stock market‘s still up 6% for the year. Some sectors and groups, however, are up more than others. Such outperformance begs the question: are these leading industries already over-baked, or is… Read More

Many investors wish they had invested earlier or more substantially in one or more of the BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China. In the mid-1990s the writing was on the wall that China and other emerging markets were headed for bigger and… Read More

Gold and silver have appreciated about 30% and 130%, respectively, in the past year. Given the returns, a pullback or correction in precious metals-related stocks would not be surprising. However, should the rally in precious metals continue to have legs, I have three… Read More

With a slew of bad news recently hitting the streets, it appears fear is on the rise.  Unemployment rates remain high at 8.8%, housing sales are still slugglish and, despite an already weak U.S. dollar, the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates near zero —… Read More

I recently watched the classic man-eating fish movie “Jaws” and the latest action in the precious metals space reminded me of the tagline for the film, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…” Is it safe to swim in the water?… Read More

Gold is one of the most malleable and least reactive elements known to man. It’s used for... Read More

Gold is one of the most malleable and least reactive elements known to man. It’s used for both practical and symbolic purposes. Historically, gold has been one of the most common forms of... Read More