I live a rich life, one that has far exceeded my wildest dreams. I don’t mean rich as in uber-investor Warren Buffett or Facebook wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg. It’s not something I measure by the number of zeros that follow a dollar sign. I measure it with something… Read More

Carl Icahn has a pretty simple formula for investing: Find a company with unappreciated assets and a sleepy management team, rattle a few cages, and wait for shares to finally appreciate. That’s what he did with Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and many other companies over the years. [Read my take on that here.] He doesn’t always succeed, but several big hits have pushed him into the billionaire’s club (he’s actually worth an estimated $8.9 billion, according to Forbes). He’s at it again. Icahn has been buying up shares of natural gas firm Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:… Read More

Carl Icahn has a pretty simple formula for investing: Find a company with unappreciated assets and a sleepy management team, rattle a few cages, and wait for shares to finally appreciate. That’s what he did with Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and many other companies over the years. [Read my take on that here.] He doesn’t always succeed, but several big hits have pushed him into the billionaire’s club (he’s actually worth an estimated $8.9 billion, according to Forbes). He’s at it again. Icahn has been buying up shares of natural gas firm Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), and is gearing up some fresh cage rattling. Icahn just announced in a 13-D filing that his firm now owns 5.8% of the company and “intends to seek to continue to have conversations with the company’s management to discuss the business & operations of the company and the maximization of shareholder value.” There’s one small problem: Chesapeake’s CEO Aubrey McClendon is stubborn as a mule, and not likely to warm to Icahn’s overtures. As I noted this summer, McClendon thinks he’s smarter than his peers and can identify cheap assets better than anyone else. But I… Read More

As gold flirts with all-time (non inflation-adjusted) highs, many investors wonder whether gold can surge yet higher, or if we’re merely in a bubble. Although we lack a crystal ball on that question, we do know some basic facts that help to explain just how far from a baseline value that yellow metal has come. Gold serves four main purposes: 1. As a key ingredient in a range of industrial processes 2. Jewelry 3. As a key asset held by governments that can be used in trade when they want to take… Read More

As gold flirts with all-time (non inflation-adjusted) highs, many investors wonder whether gold can surge yet higher, or if we’re merely in a bubble. Although we lack a crystal ball on that question, we do know some basic facts that help to explain just how far from a baseline value that yellow metal has come. Gold serves four main purposes: 1. As a key ingredient in a range of industrial processes 2. Jewelry 3. As a key asset held by governments that can be used in trade when they want to take steps to fund their budget deficits or provide confidence in their currencies 4. As a hedge by investors that fear eventual high inflation. It’s that last factor that has caused gold to nearly triple in the past five years to around $1,400 an ounce. It’s hard to get a true read of how much gold is bought and sold between countries. Some countries have sold off major gold reserves, while others have loaded up on it. Assume that major governments do not impact gold, and… Read More

Rising dividends… A share buyback program… And strategic acquisitions. This combination of strengths shows General Electric (NYSE: GE) — one of the world’s largest companies — is again on a roll. In mid-December, the blue-chip company announced a 17% dividend increase on… Read More

Barring a year-end shocker, 2010 will go down as a good year for stocks. The S&P 500 is up more than 10% this year, and roughly 75% of stocks in the index are in the black in 2010. Of course, the other 25% would like to get past 2010,… Read More

Last week, investors got IPO fever — that is, for hot Chinese offerings. The standouts included Youku.com (Nasdaq: YOKU), the “YouTube of China,” and Commerce China Dangdang (Nasdaq: DANG), the “Amazon.com of China.” The stocks soared 161% and 87%, respectively. Of… Read More

The economic downturn was brutal for the ad industry. Advertising is the first thing to get cut when companies grow cautious, and ad budgets are only now beginning to thaw out. Investors have spotted the turn, bidding up shares of key players. But if you have a 3-4… Read More

Every year, The Economist magazine provides predictions for global economic growth for the coming year. This year, it projects the fastest-growing countries will be Qatar, Ghana, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. China and India won’t be far behind and are expected to grow GDP more than 8% next year. Below is… Read More

When it comes to handling the deepening European economic crisis, policy planners have no playbook. They’re winging it, coming up with repeated incremental steps to try and limit the spreading contagion. Thus far, they’ve failed. An increasing number of countries can’t seem to weather the storm on their own, yet there are clear limits to how much the stronger European countries can really help. In a worst case scenario, the economic crisis may deepen much further in the first half of 2011. Make no mistake, U.S. investors won’t be insulated from Europe’s problems. Here’s what you need… Read More

When it comes to handling the deepening European economic crisis, policy planners have no playbook. They’re winging it, coming up with repeated incremental steps to try and limit the spreading contagion. Thus far, they’ve failed. An increasing number of countries can’t seem to weather the storm on their own, yet there are clear limits to how much the stronger European countries can really help. In a worst case scenario, the economic crisis may deepen much further in the first half of 2011. Make no mistake, U.S. investors won’t be insulated from Europe’s problems. Here’s what you need to know… A tale of two regions The myth that Europe is one big economic zone is starting to come undone. France and Germany just reported notable increases in employment, while southern neighbors showed big spikes in unemployment. It wasn’t supposed to work that way. The decision to create an economic union and a common currency was expected to lead to balanced and mutually beneficial growth. Instead, the stronger countries are pulling away from the pack and the weaker countries have started to move into a self-reinforcing cycle of negative… Read More

My first rule of investing: never buy stock in a company simply because you think it will be bought out. Simply put, most rumored deals never happen. But I do like to keep an eye the rumor mill, because it can often point the way to intriguing companies that still… Read More