Emerging-market stocks are notorious for two things: growth and extreme volatility. But while that strong growth has padded many portfolios in the past few years, extreme bouts of volatility have also left more than a few investors searching for a more stable method to tap into the emerging-market growth story. Read More

After being in the investment business for longer than I care to admit, surviving two nasty bear markets, experiencing the advent of the Internet, seeing more corporate scandals than I care to remember, and more, I’ve decided there are only two basic kinds investment… Read More

If you’re an executive at a struggling retailer, then you’ve been warned. Either come up with a way to turn the ship around, or get ready for investors to make life quite difficult. In this tough economic climate, investors are in no mood to hold on to any retail stock… Read More

I live in hurricane country and have personally witnessed my share of Category 3s, as well as a handful of tropical storms. One main point safety officials stress is concerning the eye of the storm. Although it brings a relative period of calm, depending on how big the eye of… Read More

The old cliche of cash being king is actually quite accurate. This is particularly true in times of economic uncertainty. Cash enables companies to act quickly on opportunity, to avoid debt and to continue to maintain a high level of operation during slow periods. It is the lubricant that keeps… Read More

Just a few weeks ago, I was looking at a group of stocks that — on the surface at least — looked like they had solid potential upside, perhaps as much as 100%.  Well, one of those stocks stuck in my craw.  #-ad_banner-#I decided to look more deeply at the… Read More

Today, I want to tell you about a true game changer in the energy industry.  Up until a few years ago, this initiative would have seemed almost impossible. It would have been the subject of sci-fi movies. #-ad_banner-#But don’t worry, what I’m about to tell you is very real. In… Read More

At the start of 2012, investors were assessing whether it was wiser to focus on the deep value that many stocks offered, or the incipient signs of a global economic slowdown that would cap any upside for stocks. They focused on the former in the first quarter, giving stocks a… Read More

The biggest trades are the ones no one sees coming. Take housing in 2006. Optimism was at an all-time high. Prices were screaming higher every quarter. The mere mention of a correction brought immediate scorn and ridicule. Until the day prices began declining, very… Read More

Bill Gates is the second-wealthiest man on Earth. His fortune is estimated to be an astounding $54 billion. If we itemize his net worth in the past 25 years at 14 hours per day, it would work out to earning $1 million per hour… Read More