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

The remarkable run in gold and silver prices this year has had me thinking lately — particularly silver’s run. Recently, gold’s poorer cousin reached 30 year highs, with prices reaching $30 per ounce on the futures market. It reminded me of a story… Read More

With companies sporting abnormally high levels of cash these days, they’re feeling greater pressure to give something back to shareholders. A dividend hike is the normal route, but an increasing number of companies are initiating massive stock buybacks.     I looked… Read More

You can still practically smell the wreckage. Stocks of the nation’s largest banks, most of which were overexposed to toxic subprime assets, crashed and burned during the financial crisis. The KBW Bank Index (an index of the largest American banks) fell from a high… Read More

It’s the most frequent question readers have asked me lately. Is there a buying opportunity thanks to the sell-off in municipal bonds and muni bond funds? Municipal bonds are issued by states and municipalities to fund public works. Generally they are considered safe, but in November many muni funds saw their biggest one-day price drop since the financial crisis. Investors withdrew a record $5.4 billion from municipal bond funds within two weeks last month, according to Lipper FMI. Some funds fell by 5% or more, and… Read More

It’s the most frequent question readers have asked me lately. Is there a buying opportunity thanks to the sell-off in municipal bonds and muni bond funds? Municipal bonds are issued by states and municipalities to fund public works. Generally they are considered safe, but in November many muni funds saw their biggest one-day price drop since the financial crisis. Investors withdrew a record $5.4 billion from municipal bond funds within two weeks last month, according to Lipper FMI. Some funds fell by 5% or more, and many hit 52-week lows. So what exactly is going on, and more importantly, is this a chance to buy municipal bond funds for cheap and lock in attractive yields on some of the safest securities available? Believe it or not, this sell-off wasn’t entirely unexpected. The pattern of a sell-off at year-end and a rebound in January is well-documented. It occurs when some investors sell before the end of the year to lock in their gains or losses for tax purposes. Then, they buy back the same shares in January. Read More