Some might say Bill Gross is the greatest bond manager in the world. The co-founder of one of the world’s largest investment firms, Pacific Investment Management (PIMCO), has a reputation that was built upon… Read More

The 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico delivered a crushing blow to the offshore-drilling industry. Not only did it cause financial damage in the form of lawsuits and lost revenue, it also took a huge toll on public sentiment. Many investors simply lost their appetite for offshore… Read More

Buying a business is a great way to get rich.  Not only are business owners entitled to a portion of their company’s profit, but those profits are frequently classified as distributions, so they’re taxed at a lower capital gains rate. That’s a… Read More

When billionaire bond manager Bill Gross speaks, investors listen. So when the largest fund manager in the world, with assets under management approaching $1 trillion, began aggressively buying and recommending municipal bonds to avoid potential… Read More

Hedge fund billionaires are known for two things: Making highly profitable investments that frequently outperform market averages and pushing stocks higher behind huge trading size and… Read More

“Black Friday” is considered the most important day of the year for many retailers. But if the current trend continues, then it’s only a matter of time before a new champion sits atop the throne.#-ad_banner-# In the past few years, consumers have increasingly turned to online shopping so they can avoid the madness of deal-thirsty shoppers lining up outside traditional brick-and-mortar operations. That was on full display recently, with e-retail sales jumping 29.3% on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, while store sales were virtually unchanged, according to Internet intelligence firm comScore (Nasdaq: SCOR) and payment processor Chase Paymentech. And… Read More

“Black Friday” is considered the most important day of the year for many retailers. But if the current trend continues, then it’s only a matter of time before a new champion sits atop the throne.#-ad_banner-# In the past few years, consumers have increasingly turned to online shopping so they can avoid the madness of deal-thirsty shoppers lining up outside traditional brick-and-mortar operations. That was on full display recently, with e-retail sales jumping 29.3% on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, while store sales were virtually unchanged, according to Internet intelligence firm comScore (Nasdaq: SCOR) and payment processor Chase Paymentech. And that’s not including Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, which many online retailers use to unleash great deals and drive sales growth. Total sales on Cyber Monday reached $1.98 billion, a 17% increase from last year, according to a report from Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE).  But bullish online sales on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just a glimpse of a larger trend changing the way consumers shop. About 66% of consumers prefer Web retailers while 73% of survey participants complete almost 50% of their shopping online, according to a recent survey conducted… Read More

Blue chips aren’t known for cranking out big market-beating gains. But that’s exactly what has happened in the first nine months of 2012, with the group surging higher as investors fled volatility and slow economic growth in favor of… Read More

Third-quarter earnings season was an unmitigated disaster. With the economy stumbling along due to weakness in Europe and China, and margins reaching a multi-year cyclical high, more than a few companies disappointed the Street with… Read More

Initial public offerings (IPOs) are legendary for producing big gains for early investors. Stories about technology and pharma IPOs surging higher permeate the Street, enticing many investors to dip their toes into the volatile waters of a newly-listed security. #-ad_banner-#But the reality is that you don’t have to be a… Read More

President Barack Obama’s first term was very good for precious metals. Silver was up an eye-popping 236% while gold added an impressive 128% gain, both handily beating the S&P 500’s 75% return. Those big gains have more than a few investors concerned about another… Read More