More federal spending will mean higher taxes. It has to. Tax-rate increases for people earning more than $250,000 are already on the table. But tax increases are unlikely to stop there. That’s the bad news. The good news is a rule change can give taxpayers the chance… Read More

It was September 1999 — an exciting time for up-and-coming technology companies like IMS Health (NYSE: RX). Spun-off by Nielsen Media the year before, the healthcare information specialist was standing on its own for the first time — and the future was bright. IMS was the industry’s go-to source for… Read More

When everyone agrees on something, it’s much more likely that everyone is wrong than everyone is right. Universal consensus about the end of the dollar makes me think it won’t happen. Several things move currencies: Economics, interest rates and politics. I’m going to show… Read More

Chinese stocks have soared this year on the wave of upbeat news coming out of the country, which has also boosted the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index by +48.3% since the start of the year. That’s more than… Read More

“Advertising is totally unnecessary. Unless you hope to make money.” – Jef I. Richards What’s true for companies is also true for investors. Advertising spending can be a leading indicator, one that provides valuable information on future stock-market leaders and laggards. Read More

I’m going to share some advice I think you’ll find valuable. You see, after one of the most brutal bear markets in recent history… a bear market where stocks fell, bonds fell, oil fell, housing fell, Bear… Read More

Two dozen S&P 500 members yield 6% or more, about one in 20 companies listed on the market’s benchmark. Here are those companies: Company Ticker Yield Frontier Communications FTR 14.4% Windstream Corp. WIN 11.1%… Read More

I’m consistently amazed at the ability of smart, successful people to get things totally wrong. I find myself in slack-jawed awe of how just plain clueless investors can be. The supply of intelligence is finite, someone once said, but the population is growing. That makes me smile. I don’t grin… Read More

Wall Street loves to make things hard. People are mystified by the black arts practiced in the world’s financial capitals. These sorcerers hold a secret that everyone from a lowly financial adviser to a big-time deal maker doesn’t want you to know . . . The secret: It’s not hard… Read More

A good deal of political turmoil has surrounded the exchange-traded fund (ETF) world in recent months. The powers-that-be have been tightening the regulatory noose around certain commodities and leveraged funds. This has created headaches for fund issuers and millions of individual investors that have… Read More