“Strike while the iron is hot,” is the new catchphrase in Private Equity (PE) circles. Conditions are perfectly in place to do deals, and you can expect to hear of many more this winter. Just this week, Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), Wendy’s/Arby’s (NYSE: WEN) and Seagate (NYSE: STX) are surging on… Read More

It may not seem remotely conceivable that the burning of garbage would be a viable or even appealing option for creating energy, but it is. There is an entire industry devoted to it, known as waste-to-energy, or WtE for short. The process involves the incineration of waste to create either electricity or heat energy — and it could be big business. Incinerating waste is not a new industry, but recent technological advancements mean new facilities can literally be state-of-the art. Given the increased efficiencies,… Read More

It may not seem remotely conceivable that the burning of garbage would be a viable or even appealing option for creating energy, but it is. There is an entire industry devoted to it, known as waste-to-energy, or WtE for short. The process involves the incineration of waste to create either electricity or heat energy — and it could be big business. Incinerating waste is not a new industry, but recent technological advancements mean new facilities can literally be state-of-the art. Given the increased efficiencies, WtE has become a viable alternative energy option that is arguably as “green” as other sources of energy that are considered truly green, such as wind or solar energy. For starters, WtE reduces the need for landfills that pollute the environment and are not a long-term solution for disposing of waste. Technologically, WtE facilities already meet strict emission standards, and firms in the space are constantly working to make them safer to the environment. Finally, as with any alternative energy, WtE reduces the dependency on foreign oil and dirtier options to create energy, such as coal. Read More

The road to a greener future has been a bumpy one for investors. The entire spectrum of clean energy stocks have risen and fallen in tandem with changing government policies and wildly swinging fossil fuel prices. Yet the industry has made considerable inroads as industry revenue for solar, wind and… Read More

If you were asked to name the types of stocks with the greatest appreciation potential, which sectors would come to mind: tech, energy, financial services, health care? Investors flock to those and other well-known industries for good reason. They all have a history… Read More

In many races, the fabled tortoise always beats the hare. That’s the lesson learned by diversified miner Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO), which tried to race ahead, stumbled badly, and is now running the race at a more moderate and safer pace. At the height of the commodities… Read More

Emerging markets have certainly been the place to be. In the past 10 years, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) has returned an astounding average of +21.5% a year, compared to +5.1% for the S&P 500. However, this outperformance has been lost on many dividend investors who have likely considered emerging markets an exotic indulgence of growth investors. But emerging markets are an increasing force on the world stage that can’t be ignored — even by income investors. Read More

Emerging markets have certainly been the place to be. In the past 10 years, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) has returned an astounding average of +21.5% a year, compared to +5.1% for the S&P 500. However, this outperformance has been lost on many dividend investors who have likely considered emerging markets an exotic indulgence of growth investors. But emerging markets are an increasing force on the world stage that can’t be ignored — even by income investors. These nations represent 40% of the world’s population and already control two thirds of its industrial output. And their influence is growing. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says emerging markets accounted for nearly all of the world’s growth last year, and they’re forecasted to grow at nearly three times the pace of the rest of the world in 2010. Investors don’t normally associate dividends with emerging markets. Many companies in these fast growing economies have used excess cash to fund expansions rather than pay dividends in the past. But things… Read More

I have a little quiz for you. I’ll describe one of the most lucrative commodity plays I’ve ever seen, and you tell me which one I’m talking about. Ready? This commodity is one of the most versatile on the planet. It… Read More

You have to hand it to the executives at Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD). They struggled to raise the $52 billion necessary to buy out the Busch family and all other shareholders and were pilloried in the press for vastly overpaying for the venerable brewer. Management made lofty… Read More

Right now a little fewer than 40 million Americans — that’s almost 15% of the country — has reached retirement age. But that’s the tip of the iceberg. Every day, almost 8,000 Americans turn 65. In just a decade, seniors in the United States will number 55 million. That’s a… Read More