When a publicly traded company makes money, who is the first to get paid? Imagine a line of people waiting in line on payday. They include the company’s creditors, employees, preferred shareholders and of course, the government. Like it or not, as a common shareholder, you’re the last in line.#-ad_banner-#… Read More

In the late 1700s, miners in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) discovered a curious new mineral. They named it pechblende by combining the German word pech, which means “pitch” or “bad luck,” with the word blende, which means “mineral.” The first scientist to analyze “pitchblende” was a German chemist named… Read More

In 2008, Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) co-founder Joshua Harris was on a losing streak. The firm’s $430 million investment in big-box retailer Linens N’ Things went south when the company filed for bankruptcy. Read More

The proposed expansion of the Keystone pipeline is probably the most hated energy project in America. The project has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who claim the harvesting of oil sands in Alberta poses unacceptable risks… Read More

The proposed expansion of the Keystone pipeline is probably the most hated energy project in America. The project has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who claim the harvesting of oil sands in Alberta poses unacceptable risks to the ecosystem. Last week, The New Yorker published an extensive article describing how Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and former hedge-fund manager, is spending millions of his own fortune to defeat the measure.#-ad_banner-# That’s interesting, especially considering that Steyer’s hedge-fund, Farallon, invested in fossil-fuel companies. From the New Yorker:… Read More

The proposed expansion of the Keystone pipeline is probably the most hated energy project in America. The project has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who claim the harvesting of oil sands in Alberta poses unacceptable risks to the ecosystem. Last week, The New Yorker published an extensive article describing how Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and former hedge-fund manager, is spending millions of his own fortune to defeat the measure.#-ad_banner-# That’s interesting, especially considering that Steyer’s hedge-fund, Farallon, invested in fossil-fuel companies. From the New Yorker: “After being criticized by some Republicans for holding some investments in the fossil-fuel industry, including stock in Kinder Morgan, which has proposed extending a rival pipeline to Keystone, Steyer said that he would fully divest his portfolio of its “dirty energy” holdings within a year.” The pipeline has also become a political issue. During last year’s presidential race, President Barack Obama refrained from taking a strong stand on the project despite… Read More

Different market sectors carry different risks. In the precious metals sector, and for mining companies in particular, there are geopolitical risks not normally associated with investments closer to home. If you purchase… Read More

Different market sectors carry different risks. In the precious metals sector, and for mining companies in particular, there are geopolitical risks not normally associated with investments closer to home. If you purchase shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY), you don’t need to worry about guerrilla fighters coming in and stealing your stores at gunpoint. But in the mining sector, this threat is real. I’m referring to is known as nationalization or… Read More

Different market sectors carry different risks. In the precious metals sector, and for mining companies in particular, there are geopolitical risks not normally associated with investments closer to home. If you purchase shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY), you don’t need to worry about guerrilla fighters coming in and stealing your stores at gunpoint. But in the mining sector, this threat is real. I’m referring to is known as nationalization or expropriation.#-ad_banner-# Nationalization occurs when a government takes assets held by individuals or private companies and converts them into public or government property. Sometimes compensation is offered. Often it is not. When Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba in 1959, he gradually nationalized all foreign-owned private companies. After a great deal of protest from former owners, the Cuban government eventually paid out $1.3 million to U.S. interests. It was a paltry sum, barely a fraction of what had been taken. When Salvador Allende became president of Chile in 1970, his government finalized the nationalization of Chile’s copper mining industry. The… Read More

“The 20th century was the era of manned aircraft; the 21st century is the era of unmanned aircraft.” — U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Christopher Martino.             Flickr/Don DeBold    … Read More

In 1905, Charles Henry Robinson spotted a unique opportunity. After moving west with his family to the North Dakota town of Grand Forks, he soon realized that settlers were in need of supplies. He founded a transportation company with the goal of delivering perishable products to consumers before they spoiled… Read More

Why are shares of a huge, profitable energy company — which currently yields 6.5% — selling for the cheapest prices in a decade? There must be a catch. Well… yes and no. To begin with, the company is based in Germany. And since the Great Recession, the European Union has not recovered as well as U.S. markets. Demand for energy has declined. Bailouts in Greece and bank troubles in Spain have dominated headlines, driving share prices lower across the board. However,… Read More

Why are shares of a huge, profitable energy company — which currently yields 6.5% — selling for the cheapest prices in a decade? There must be a catch. Well… yes and no. To begin with, the company is based in Germany. And since the Great Recession, the European Union has not recovered as well as U.S. markets. Demand for energy has declined. Bailouts in Greece and bank troubles in Spain have dominated headlines, driving share prices lower across the board. However, there have been signs of a turnaround recently, and big-name investors have been snapping up bargains in Europe. In February, Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK) invested $1.9 billion in eight European stocks. Buffett said in a May interview with CNBC that Berkshire was continuing to invest in Europe.#-ad_banner-# In his typically understated fashion, Buffett said that Europe was still “going to be around.” With that reassurance in mind, let’s look at this bargain-priced European energy… Read More