While Gulf Coast residents are taking to the streets for Mardi Gras, Brazilians prepare to kick it up a notch (or 12) with their own unique, pre-Lent festival: Carnival. But despite its reputation as a party-hardy destination, Brazil is also home to a thriving, highly productive, developing emerging… Read More

It’s fascinating to read through the latest 13-F filings, which reveal the top buys and sells of many fund managers from the prior quarter. While many investors focus on the most high-profile money managers such as Warren Buffett or George Soros, who often tend… Read More

To make money in stocks, you need to focus on companies BEFORE everyone else does. It’s not easy to do… and often times it means buying stocks that are out of favor with the general market. But… Read More

Let’s be honest. When you hear about a stock that yields 12% or more, your first thought should be that the company is probably a basket case that can’t even turn a profit. If it’s offering a… Read More

It’s been four years, but it feels to be a lot longer than that. The U.S. housing sector started to quickly deteriorate in the spring of 2008, and though many hoped industry conditions would improve in a year or two, we’re still waiting for signs of life. And looking more… Read More

With April 15 just around the corner, if you’re like me, you’re looking for ways to permanently reduce your tax bill. The good news is that there are investments that not only cut your taxes, but also deliver high yields. Some of these are small niche investment vehicles and not… Read More

The market gets it right about 90% of the time. That’s been my experience with stocks that take a big hit or post a big rally. The other 10% of the time: the market reaction appears simply misplaced, and investors need to be patient and wait for logic… Read More

In a recent issue of my Energy & Income newsletter, I talked about some maneuvering by congressional Republicans to attach a pipeline amendment to the payroll tax cut bill. The Obama administration had been dragging its heels on this issue and didn’t intend to reach a decision before 2013. Read More

Investing in an undervalued high-growth play brings an inherent challenge. Shares are usually undervalued because the near-term growth prospects aren’t as bright as the long-term prospects. This was the biggest risk factor I laid out when I added Cree Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) to my $100,000 Real-Money Portfolio. Read More

Long-term investors in McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) have much to celebrate. The stock delivered returns of 20% a year for the past five years, 15.3% for the past 10 years and 11.4% for the past 15 years.   But the Golden Arches could finally be… Read More