The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which measures the price it costs to ship raw materials by sea, is falling again — and fast. #-ad_banner-#The BDI isn’t a regular stock index like the S&P 500. It’s a composite… Read More

Even as the S&P 500 Index sits at a multi-year valuation peak (see chart), some sectors aren’t faring as well. Any investor who watches the news could guess that financial companies are among the laggards. Many bank shares,… Read More

Several hundred thousand crude oil contracts trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) on a typical day. Look closely at the details of the session’s activity and you’ll see prices like $68.08, the closing price for October crude on Sept. 1. You’ll probably notice that December 2010 crude settled… Read More

Gold and platinum usually move in tandem, with platinum typically valued about twice as much as gold. Sometimes this relationship gets off kilter for a short while, but it usually corrects itself quickly. Gold and platinum prices have been disconnected since the end of 2008. Read More

When people think about the phone company, most naturally think about AT&T (NYSE: T), the most storied company in telecom. Though A&T has its fans — particularly dividend payers these days, with its 6.3% yield — it can… Read More

Investors hooked on green energy, government spending, and developing economies are looking in the right place. They just aren’t looking at the right stock. When the global economy slammed on the breaks, General Cable (NYSE: BGC) took it on the chin. It slid… Read More

When the financial meltdown began with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the talking heads on financial news channels pronounced the death of “buy-and-hold” investing. It had become unfashionable. No one was willing to defend the idea of buying a stock and holding on to it for years. I don’t know… Read More

The odds are good that you’ve never met either Jonathan Seiffer or Jonathan Sokoloff. They’re worth knowing, or at least being aware of. These men may be the only people that can save a $4 billion company. Both have serious Wall Street resumes and deep experience with some of the… Read More

China has had an impressive run. Its GDP has grown at double-digit rates while holders of Chinese stocks have earned triple-digit returns. While everyone else is talking about China, savvy investors should be asking where the next big growth story is. The investment company… Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied more than 2,500 points, climbing from a March low near 6,500 to retake the 9,000 level. That’s a +40% advance in less time than it takes to grow a tomato. So is the market set to roar past 10,000? Or is it about… Read More