Each week, one of our investing experts answers a reader’s question in the Q&A column from our sister site, InvestingAnswers.com. It’s all part of our mission to help consumers build and protect their wealth through education. If you’d like us to answer one of your… Read More

If you look out into the middle of the decade, then you can make the case for increasingly robust economic growth that could fuel heady top- and bottom-line gains in a number of sectors. But we’re not there yet.#-ad_banner-# Recent economic signs point to an eventual economic brightening, though there are enough boulders in the U.S. economy‘s path that could derail an economic expansion. So perhaps it’s wiser to focus on companies that are poised for solid growth in 2013. Out of all the of the companies in the S&P 500, 91 (or 18%)… Read More

If you look out into the middle of the decade, then you can make the case for increasingly robust economic growth that could fuel heady top- and bottom-line gains in a number of sectors. But we’re not there yet.#-ad_banner-# Recent economic signs point to an eventual economic brightening, though there are enough boulders in the U.S. economy‘s path that could derail an economic expansion. So perhaps it’s wiser to focus on companies that are poised for solid growth in 2013. Out of all the of the companies in the S&P 500, 91 (or 18%) are expected to boost sales by at least 10% this year. And of those firms, 72 are expected to boost per-share profits by at least 15% in the coming year.  A cluster of them reside in sectors that have already received a great deal of investor attention recently, so they can’t be seen as solid values in the context of projected 2013 results any more. Housing stocks, for example, fit into this category. Instead, value investors may prefer to focus on stocks that have solid growth prospects, but sport forward price-to-earnings (… Read More

“The cult of inflation may only have just begun.”  That was a bold and eye-opening sentiment legendary bond fund manager Bill Gross expressed in the summer of 2012. What on Earth is he talking about? After all,… Read More

In the 1930s, the U.S. government sought to boost a flagging economy by maintaining very low interest rates. Throughout the decade, consumers benefited by obtaining low-rate mortgages — though their savings accounts garnered insultingly low levels of interest as well. Sound familiar? Well,… Read More

Yngve Slyngstad and Peter Ballon aren’t well-known names in the U.S. investment community, but their decisions are having a multi-billion dollar effect on a key asset class. These men head up organizations that manage Sovereign Wealth … Read More

As the stock market surged ever higher in the 1990s, many investors were content to let mutual fund managers find the right stocks for them. After all, the nation’s leading mutual… Read More

After surging above $13 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in 2008, natural gas prices have never recovered. They stood at $6 per Mcf at the end of 2010, $4.75 by the end of 2011 and now sit just above the $3 mark.  Still, that’s seen in a… Read More

U.S. Investors poured a stunning $54 billion into emerging-market exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in 2012, according to research firm ETFGI. That’s a stunning growth from just $3 billion in 2011. The two largest ETFs in the category, Vanguard… Read More

Each week, one of our investing experts answers a reader’s question in our the Q&A column at our sister site, InvestingAnswers.com. It’s all part of our mission to help consumers build and protect their wealth through education. This week’s question … Read More

Each week, one of our investing experts answers a reader’s question in our the Q&A column at our sister site, InvestingAnswers.com. It’s all part of our mission to help consumers build and protect their wealth through education. This week’s question will be answered by Investment Analyst David Sterman: Many of us invest for one reason: to build a big enough nest egg for retirement. Good old-fashioned stock picking is the preferred route for many investors but… Read More

Each week, one of our investing experts answers a reader’s question in our the Q&A column at our sister site, InvestingAnswers.com. It’s all part of our mission to help consumers build and protect their wealth through education. This week’s question will be answered by Investment Analyst David Sterman: Many of us invest for one reason: to build a big enough nest egg for retirement. Good old-fashioned stock picking is the preferred route for many investors but can be a bit daunting for the novice investor. This reader’s question addresses another type of investment that can provide you with a solid retirement strategy. Q. “I’m a long way away from it, but I’m starting to think about investing for retirement. I’ve heard of these mutual funds with a year attached to them and you pick the one that’s closest to the year that you expect to retire. How do those work exactly? And are they good?” — Paul, Manhattan, Kan. A. Paul, you’re talking about “target-date” funds, and the short… Read More