Game on. The market is overreacting to an announcement today from GameStop (NYSE: GME) that it had trouble competing with Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) for holiday shoppers. Holiday sales were flat and GameStop lowered its guidance for the year, which ends in March, to between $2.23 to $2.27… Read More

Trying to find untapped corners of the market has become increasingly challenging for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but fund issuers have been up to the challenge. One particularly inventive offering by Van Eck fills a conspicuous gap for gold bulls — and the timing couldn’t have been better. Read More

The year 2009 ended with the S&P 500 at a crucial technical juncture. The positive trading action of the first day of 2010 did much to resolve the uncertainty. The October 2007 high water mark for the benchmark… Read More

When 2008 ended with a -37.0% loss in the S&P 500, investors didn’t have a lot of good news to share. But 2009, happily, proved to be a comeback year, with the benchmark index… Read More

Amy, what do you see as promising areas for income investors in 2010? Despite this rally, I’m happy to say there are still plenty of chances to lock in strong — and frequent — dividends. One area I like is master limited partnerships (will lead to above-average… Read More

The key to boosting income lies in a security most investors might not be familiar with. Nevertheless, more than 1,250 of these securities trade on U.S. exchanges. They invest in every almost every possible sector and niche of the market (from stocks and bonds to… Read More

Not a day goes by when we’re not bombarded by advertisements to save money on auto insurance. Geico, Allstate, Progressive, 21st Century… I’m not sure how they can all be the cheapest, but that’s entirely another story. The point is, these messages don’t really hit home with… Read More

It’s coming. Or, I should say, “he’s” coming. Warren Buffett? No. Bill Gross? No. I am referring to Dick Clark. He’s on his way. He will be hosting, again, the annual ball-drop on Times Square… Read More

Never judge a stock by its share price. Just because a stock trades for $5 does not make it “cheap.” Conversely, a stock that trades for $100 is not necessarily “expensive.” Millions of investors ignore this. Mention a stock and the first question out of most investors’… Read More

Benjamin Franklin once referred to the magic of compound interest as the “8th wonder of the universe” for its ability to systematically accumulate wealth. Inflation, then, which systematically destroys wealth, must be an evil twin. Nothing is quite like the relentless… Read More