U.S. banks had a great run. From December 1994 to December 2006, the KBW Bank Sector Index (an index of leading banks) soared nearly +400%. But the financial crisis ended that party. Now the index is at 1996 levels again. Read More

This is a tricky market for income investors. Bonds are selling at historically low yields and high prices. The 10-year Treasury bond currently pays a miniscule 2.6% and a three-year CD pays about 1.8% on average. Meanwhile… Read More

U.S. debt is skyrocketing with no end in sight. And while the dollar has recently functioned as a short-term safe haven, its long-term fundamentals are deteriorating. #-ad_banner-#To put it in perspective, U.S. public debt in 2000 was $3.4 trillion. That has now more than doubled to $8.6… Read More

Talk about some serious volatility. The past two years have been some of the most hectic ever — on both the downside and the upside. Meanwhile, if you’re trying to escape the ups and downs in some of the typical safe-haven investments, you’re being paid next to… Read More

Real estate was one of the hardest-hit sectors of the market during the financial crisis, and for good reason. After all, the real estate market caused all of this mess in the first place. According to the… Read More

Emerging markets contain more than 40% of the world’s population and now account for about one third of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). And that number keeps growing. Yet most of these countries… Read More

It’s no secret. Markets have been tanking. Investors are fearful that the debt crisis in Europe will derail the recovery. As many analysts predict slower economic growth or a “new normal” in the years ahead, high dividend stocks could replace growth… Read More

The Greek debt crisis sent the world’s financial markets reeling, particularly across the so-called “PIIGS” nations in Europe — Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain, five European countries considered to be in the most questionable financial shape. The fear is that… Read More

Israel, believe it or not, is a blossoming emerging market. That’s because the country has an obsession with technology. You could argue that Israel is more focused on technology than any other emerging market in the world. On a per capita basis, the country has the highest… Read More

When searching for the best income stocks on the planet, it’s hard to beat master limited partnerships, which often go by the acronym MLPs. These partnerships exist to pass earnings to their shareholders. A variation on… Read More