The road to a greener future has been a bumpy one for investors. The entire spectrum of clean energy stocks have risen and fallen in tandem with changing government policies and wildly swinging fossil fuel prices. Yet the industry has made considerable inroads as industry revenue for solar, wind and… Read More

In many races, the fabled tortoise always beats the hare. That’s the lesson learned by diversified miner Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO), which tried to race ahead, stumbled badly, and is now running the race at a more moderate and safer pace. At the height of the commodities… Read More

Emerging markets have certainly been the place to be. In the past 10 years, the iShares MSCI... Read More

Emerging markets have certainly been the place to be. In the past 10 years, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) has returned an astounding average of +21.5% a year, compared to +5.1%... Read More

I have a little quiz for you. I’ll describe one of the most lucrative commodity plays I’ve ever seen, and you tell me which one I’m talking about. Ready? This commodity is one of the most versatile on the planet. It… Read More

One of the most interesting indicators used in the financial markets is the Baltic Dry Index (BDI). The index, created and maintained by the London-based Baltic Exchange, measures the price of shipping raw materials such as iron ore, coal and grains around… 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

I feel the same way about gold right now as I did about tech stocks in the late 1990s — that it’s far too late to get in. Just the fact that no one can agree if there’s a gold bubble is enough to turn me off to the yellow… Read More

It’s little secret that China is one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. It already boasts the world’s largest population of nearly 1.4 billion citizens, and through the first half of this year, its economy grew by +11.1%, which comes despite a global… Read More

Interest rates near zero and record-low U.S. Treasury yields make finding good income investments a bit harder these days. Don’t get me wrong — it’s still possible to find attractive yields, but you need… Read More

Even as the high-profile spat between the United States and China over the too-cheap Chinese currency gets much press coverage, currency wars are brewing all over the place. And how these battles shake out will determine whether the global… Read More