About 20% of the world’s energy supply comes from 440 nuclear power plants, located in 25 countries around the world. About 12% of these nuclear reactors are in Japan. As the headlines describe, the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 triggered a series of explosions, leading to the partial meltdown of a nuclear plant, located 150 miles outside of Tokyo. The impact of the meltdown has spread far beyond Japan, affecting nuclear-power companies worldwide. Observers suspected plans for many of the world’s 60 new nuclear plants could be stopped, or at the very least halted, for… Read More

About 20% of the world’s energy supply comes from 440 nuclear power plants, located in 25 countries around the world. About 12% of these nuclear reactors are in Japan. As the headlines describe, the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 triggered a series of explosions, leading to the partial meltdown of a nuclear plant, located 150 miles outside of Tokyo. The impact of the meltdown has spread far beyond Japan, affecting nuclear-power companies worldwide. Observers suspected plans for many of the world’s 60 new nuclear plants could be stopped, or at the very least halted, for some time to come. This week, the Swiss government announced the suspension of approvals for new nuclear plants. The German government followed suit. Furthermore, Germany’s seven nuclear facilities, built prior to 1980, will be shut down until at least May. This step leaves the country with only 10 operating nuclear facilities. In France — where 80% of the country’s electricity comes from nuclear power — the Green Party has called for a referendum on the future of nuclear power. And even China, which has had big ambitions for nuclear power-expansion, announced Wednesday, March 16, that it was… Read More

A couple of weeks ago, I spelled out the case for rising uranium prices. Then, tragedy struck. As you know, Northeast Japan suffered a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11, which unleashed a monster 30-foot tsunami that wiped out everything in its path. Read More

There are many investing maxims, but my favorite one will always be “love stocks when they’re hated.” That usually refers to bear markets being great buying opportunities, as we saw in early 2009 when the market finally began to turn around. Yet, the… Read More

The unfolding events in Japan are distressing and saddening. We all hope that the social, environmental and economic impact of the recent earthquake will prove to be not as bad as is currently feared. In times like this, one can become a bit squeamish talking about investing. The sheer notion… Read More

Large pharmaceutical companies are facing a crisis. The industry spent a record $65 billion on research and development (R&D) in 2009, but approval rates for new drugs have fallen 44% during the past decade and continue to drop. Also in 2009, drugs launched in the previous five years accounted for… Read More

It was in an e-mail I received from one of my Daily Paycheck subscribers the other day. I thought it was a great suggestion. “Would you please consider displaying yield in the portfolios as both ‘current yield‘ and ‘… Read More

I got to know one company on my current watch list very well one summer, while working in the mail room of my father’s law firm. This was the mid 1980s. E-mail wasn’t even a Jetson’s fantasy. The computers that were around at the time were as big as a… Read More

This has been quite a winter. From Arab states falling to Twitter revolutions, to U.S. states finally owning up to their own fiscal shortfalls, to natural disasters in New Zealand, Australia and now Japan, stock markets around the world have been swinging up and down in manic… Read More

As impressive as the stock market looked when it is was rising ever higher in 2009 and 2010, recent trading action has been even more impressive. Sure, the S&P 500 has gone nowhere for the past six weeks, but it has hung in there despite a series of shocks that… Read More

When oil prices surged through 2007 and into 2008, many airlines ran for the hills, taking many planes out of service, cancelling orders for new planes and gearing up to conserve cash in case oil prices failed to fall back down. Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer,… Read More