In the past few months, commodities prices have surged. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index, which tracks 19 heavily-traded commodities, posted an +8.5% gain in September and then a +4.8% increase in October. There are many drivers for this trend which are likely to continue. The falling dollar… Read More

The super-rich aren’t like you and me. They can’t invest a little here and a little there and hope to make serious returns. They have to bet big on particular investments to really get a payoff. And with such big bets to make, you can be sure they do lots… Read More

Want to know how much power the Federal Reserve holds? Late Tuesday, the Fed announced it would spend $600 billion on a program of buying Treasury bonds. That’s in addition to what it will also spend by reinvesting the proceeds of other bonds it had purchased already. On Wednesday, the S&P soared nearly +2%, creating about $220 billion in market cap in a single day. I can’t say it was unexpected. You see, every year for my StreetAuthority Market Advisor readers,… Read More

Want to know how much power the Federal Reserve holds? Late Tuesday, the Fed announced it would spend $600 billion on a program of buying Treasury bonds. That’s in addition to what it will also spend by reinvesting the proceeds of other bonds it had purchased already. On Wednesday, the S&P soared nearly +2%, creating about $220 billion in market cap in a single day. I can’t say it was unexpected. You see, every year for my StreetAuthority Market Advisor readers, I put together two lists. First comes a list of my predictions for the coming year. Next is a list of my top 10 stocks for the year. About a week before the Fed’s announcement, I sent my predictions for 2011 to my subscribers. Prediction No. 9 called for this next round of quantitative easing, or as it’s more elegantly called, QE2. But that was only part of the prediction. Now that the first half came true, I also predicted exactly where I want to invest based on the news… and it’s looking good, too. Read More

In search of undervalued companies, investors seek out stocks that tend to have an earnings growth rate that is higher than the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. These stocks are known as low PEG stocks, or stocks with a… Read More

There are many things to like about the world’s fourth largest automaker. For starters, it was the only major U.S. automaker able to skirt bankruptcy during the financial crisis. And due to aggressive cost cutting, it is on target to have one of its strongest years ever. Read More

What’s the opposite of a value stock? A company with a large market value but a tiny or non-existent revenue base. These companies often hold a great deal of promise to their backers, but can also be a… Read More

There’s a balance between performance and stability when it comes to stock prices. Equities priced under $5 per share can offer huge percentage returns, but are generally volatile. Stocks priced more than $10 are generally more predictable, but offer a muted upside. In between $5 and $10 though, stocks offer… Read More

A very large grain of salt. That’s what economists suggest you take when digesting Chinese economic numbers. The country’s financial planners tend to massage key numbers to give the impression of an economy that is neither too hot nor too cold. To its credit, China’s decade-long growth spurt has been truly miraculous and policy planners seem to continually pull the right levers, even though those choices are often antithetical to Western economic dogma. Much of China’s success has come from its status as a low-cost provider of goods and comparatively low levels of… Read More

A very large grain of salt. That’s what economists suggest you take when digesting Chinese economic numbers. The country’s financial planners tend to massage key numbers to give the impression of an economy that is neither too hot nor too cold. To its credit, China’s decade-long growth spurt has been truly miraculous and policy planners seem to continually pull the right levers, even though those choices are often antithetical to Western economic dogma. Much of China’s success has come from its status as a low-cost provider of goods and comparatively low levels of per capita GDP, which enabled it to grow without bumping into hurdles that often come when economies achieve world-class status. But those days are over. China’s economy is now far larger — having recently surpassed Japan to occupy the No. 2 spot — and the government ‘s task of managing growth has become ever-more complex. Even as Chinese economic planners will continue to massage the numbers to give the appearance of a smooth-sailing ship, 2011 offers more potential pitfalls than ever. If… Read More

So many stocks are having a great year. Oil refiner Sunoco (NYSE: SUN), for example, has shot up more than +47%. Southern Copper (NYSE: SCCO) has spiked +38% and its competitor Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) has gained about +27%. Many broad indexes are looking good, too, like the… Read More

In a reprise of a role from the 1980s, fictional Wall Street titan Gordon Gekko recently returned to the big screen in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. In the sequel to the original Wall Street, Gekko states that in investing, “It’s not about the money — it’s about the game.”… Read More