The truth will make you sick. Congress is rich — unbelievably rich. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 249 of the 535 congressmen are millionaires. That’s 47%. By comparison, about 5% of U.S. households are worth more than $1 million. And until recently,… Read More

During the past year, we’ve heard the constant droning chant about how sluggish the global economy has become. China, the world’s second-largest economy, has seen consistently lower gross domestic product (GDP) growth, while recent retail sales figures for… Read More

Most people simply hate stocks. According to a June 2012 survey conducted by the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, 84% of respondents say the stock market is untrustworthy and that it’s foolish to put your money into stocks. Read More

As one of the world’s most successful and prolific investors, it’s no wonder Warren Buffett is closely watched by the stock market. After all, the “Oracle of Omaha” has been able to beat the S&P 500 37 out of the 45 years… Read More

Chile is a fast-growing emerging market with abundant natural resources. Yet many investors are not very familiar with this region, so they often miss out on great opportunities. For example, in northern Chile, a low-cost commodity and chemical… Read More

Readers of my articles know I spend little time focusing on biotech stocks. The science behind these companies is often so arcane that analyzing these firms to find the best stocks to invest in is best left to people with a serious grounding in medicine. Even if a biotechnology company’s… Read More

This has been another year of extreme market volatility. In May, after rallying to a new multi-year high in the first four months of the year, the S&P 500 saw a sharp 9% pullback before retracing all those losses in June… Read More

Being the premier name in a business category doesn’t necessarily make it the ideal investment opportunity in that particular sector. Take McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) for example. While it’s the undisputed king of fast food restaurants, its competitor-crushing edge five years ago led to a dangerous complacency, opening… Read More

It’s wise to be very suspicious of richly-valued IPOs. History has shown us time and again that many will end up stumbling badly once they must prove themselves on a quarterly basis. Yet in the early days of trading, these stocks are often accorded valuations that lead you to think… Read More