Stocks are on a major losing streak. The S&P 500 has fallen for five straight sessions and has risen on only three occasions this month. The lift from a solid earnings season has passed, scary headlines from Europe are splashed across the front pages… Read More

I’ve discovered a way to earn the equivalent of a second Social Security check every month. Now, I don’t want to mislead you. This check isn’t from Uncle Sam. In fact, the government doesn’t have anything to do with it. (I think that’s good news considering all… Read More

If you’re a fan of investment genius Warren Buffett or a shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), then by now you’ve certainly heard his investment management company started accumulating stakes in General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Viacom (Nasdaq: VIAB) last quarter. And it makes sense. One is an old-school auto manufacturer getting back on its feet, while the other owns some of TV viewers’ favorite cable channels. Both businesses are easy to understand and both are based on relatively reliable business models. These qualities are right up… Read More

If you’re a fan of investment genius Warren Buffett or a shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), then by now you’ve certainly heard his investment management company started accumulating stakes in General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Viacom (Nasdaq: VIAB) last quarter. And it makes sense. One is an old-school auto manufacturer getting back on its feet, while the other owns some of TV viewers’ favorite cable channels. Both businesses are easy to understand and both are based on relatively reliable business models. These qualities are right up Buffett’s alley, even though one or both of the two new illustrious members of his investment team — Todd Combs or Ted Weschler — likely made the picks. Yet, for investors looking to glean a stock pick, GM and Viacom may not be the best Berkshire coat-tails to ride — they’re just the highest-profile names being added to the $75 billion equity portfolio. Your best Buffett-based picks may actually be a trio of companies whose stakes he increased during the first quarter of the year. Here’s a closer look at them…… Read More

Trading is in my blood. I vividly remember, as an elementary school student, trading baseball cards with my classmates. My trading interest blossomed as I learned how to buy low and sell high via various part-time business endeavors. These businesses included selling produce I got for free from my grandparent’s… Read More

Quite often in the stock market, the share price of a hot company can suddenly fall out of favor, causing investors to dump the stock. The trick is to find out whether the negative sentiment is in fact warranted. If not, then this oversold stock can represent a compelling buying opportunity. In the energy industry, sudden price changes in commodities can change the underlying economics of companies that operate in the space. When prices of oil, coal or natural gas are too low, exploration activities… Read More

Quite often in the stock market, the share price of a hot company can suddenly fall out of favor, causing investors to dump the stock. The trick is to find out whether the negative sentiment is in fact warranted. If not, then this oversold stock can represent a compelling buying opportunity. In the energy industry, sudden price changes in commodities can change the underlying economics of companies that operate in the space. When prices of oil, coal or natural gas are too low, exploration activities can become uneconomical. Alternatively, rapidly-rising prices can cause a frenzy for extracting as much supply out of the ground to quickly bring it to market. And lately, one commodity in particular perfectly fits this out-of-favor vs. buying opportunity scenario: natural gas, whose prices have plummeted by more than 50% in recent months. To put things into perspective, a little more than a year ago, gas prices hovered closer to $5 per million British thermal units (BTUs) and touched below $2 BTUs just a few weeks ago. Seeing… Read More

Here at StreetAuthority, we often talk about “catalyst investing.” Simply put, it’s not enough to find stocks that are inexpensive — hundreds of stocks can bubble up on various value screens. This often leads to the question “Why now?” After all, will this stock… Read More

We often talk about the prowess of the big-time money managers on Wall Street, but we often neglect to talk about their mistakes. After all, if it’s worth learning from the successes of these guys so that we can… Read More

Investors looking at energy stocks may have a bit of whiplash these days. Oil prices appear fairly firm while natural gas prices still remain near multi-year lows. In other countries, natural gas prices are surging, as demand rises in places that have de-commissioned nuclear power plants, such as Japan and… Read More

Back in January, I highlighted that state and local governments were starting to turn to legalizing gambling to shore up their tax bases. Since then, the activity has only increased. Massachusetts recently held a forum to hear arguments on why it should develop casinos, and Maryland set up a… Read More

To many people, it’s hard to justify investing in companies that make such unloved products as tobacco, weapons or even alcohol. But income investors can find lots of reasons to like tobacco and alcohol stocks, namely their defensive nature and the fact that they typically perform quite well. Read More