One of the best performing markets of the past century is read hot again this century. Warren Buffett said, “The 19th century belonged to England, the 20th century belonged to the U.S., and the 21st century belongs to China. Invest accordingly.” Maybe so, but this… Read More

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin dropped a bombshell in early August.   Unrelenting drought, scorching heat and uncontrolled fires have ravaged farmland and destroyed Russian crops this year. It has been estimated that roughly a third of Russia’s wheat harvest has been lost. So Putin took the only… Read More

Before the economic crisis took hold, the U.S. dollar began a steady downward drift as global... Read More

Before the economic crisis took hold, the U.S. dollar began a steady downward drift as global investors started to realize that economic growth would be more robust elsewhere in the world. The... Read More

Several months ago, I was lucky enough to sell my home relatively quickly (at full asking price, no less). Unfortunately, when the time came to hand the keys to the new owner, we still hadn’t found a replacement. Luckily, I knew a local commercial property manager who… Read More

Brazil is emerging as one of the great stories of the 21st century. Sound economic policies and abundant natural resources have led to sustained economic growth. And investors are racing to get in to this Samba party — the iShares Brazil (NYSE: EWZ) exchange-traded… Read More

You have undoubtedly heard that various components or asset classes of the market are, from time to time, manipulated. “Manipulating the market” means that by some purposeful and sometimes with nefarious intentions, a market that should move higher, moves lower… or, as in the case of September, the market moved… Read More

In recent weeks, stock market pundits have been wrestling with a curious phenomenon. Trading activity has fallen sharply, which these market-watchers presume to mean that investors have lost interest in stocks. Mom-and-pop investors have likely become more gun-shy this year. But the main culprit for lower trading volumes: Wall Street’s… Read More

The numbers are out and it’s official: this year’s summer was the fourth-warmest on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Moreover, on a population-weighted basis, it was perhaps the warmest summer on record in the United States. Yet here we are with natural gas… Read More

If you had a crystal ball in the 1960s, you probably would have seen that Japan would turn out to be a great investment. The country’s economy was growing nicely, family birth rates were high enough to ensure a young workforce, its education… Read More

A seldom mentioned emerging market country is nurturing a future oil giant. Few are aware that Colombia is a growing and dynamic economy. Many people think of Colombia as a violent and lawless place dominated by drug cartels, or perhaps even… Read More