Some traders may be hesitant to buy a stock that’s just hit a new all-time high. But personally, I hunt for these types of trades because they often represent low-risk/high-reward opportunity. Often, stocks trading at new highs continue to advance because there’s no historical technical resistance in sight. Read More

When a company decides to split its stock, it’s usually a good sign for shareholders. For one reason or another, the company has decided it would like more shares outstanding on the market. This is usually accompanied by a run-up in the share price… Read More

If you’ve read my wife, Carla Pasternak’s High-Yield Investing newsletter or her free Dividend Opportunities publication, you know she spots investment trends with uncanny accuracy. Carla’s trend-spotting ability also carries over to her fashion choices. She prefers the latest styles — especially when hitting the gym,… Read More

If you follow the foreign exchange markets, you are probably aware of the Canadian dollar’s rise against its U.S. counterpart. Canada’s currency has now eclipsed the value of the U.S. dollar — it now takes roughly $1.05 U.S. dollar to buy one Canadian “loonie.” The rising… Read More

Gold is one of the most malleable and least reactive elements known to man. It’s used for both practical and symbolic purposes. Historically, gold has been one of the most common forms of monetary exchange throughout human history. Its secondary place to paper currency did not come about until the 20th century. And after continuously rising to new highs even after a multi-year bull market, one other thing can be said about gold: It can also make traders a lot of money… With gold rallying to… Read More

Gold is one of the most malleable and least reactive elements known to man. It’s used for both practical and symbolic purposes. Historically, gold has been one of the most common forms of monetary exchange throughout human history. Its secondary place to paper currency did not come about until the 20th century. And after continuously rising to new highs even after a multi-year bull market, one other thing can be said about gold: It can also make traders a lot of money… With gold rallying to record highs almost daily, it’s seen increasingly as a way to protect oneself against worldwide currency inflation. Inflationary worries were prominent news this trading week. China’s central bank raised its interest rates — for the fourth time since mid-October — to head-off price increases running at nearly 5% a year. The European Central Bank also raised rates for the first time in nearly two years, in order to curtail rising food and energy costs. In the United States, rising interest rates may… Read More

China’s GDP growth is projected by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to be 9.9% this year, making it by far the fastest-growing economy in the world. Although Chinese “A” shares, shares of mainland China-cased companies, are generally… Read More

In my recent article The Perfect Way to Short Nuclear Power Stocks, I describe how the nuclear crisis in Japan is negatively impacting nuclear power companies worldwide, providing potentially profitable trading opportunities. However, another way to profit from the ongoing nuclear crisis is to invest in… Read More

About 20% of the world’s energy supply comes from 440 nuclear power plants, located in 25 countries around the world. About 12% of these nuclear reactors are in Japan. As the headlines describe, the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 triggered a series of explosions, leading to the partial meltdown of a nuclear plant, located 150 miles outside of Tokyo. The impact of the meltdown has spread far beyond Japan, affecting nuclear-power companies worldwide. Observers suspected plans for many of the world’s 60 new nuclear plants could be stopped, or at the very least halted, for… Read More

About 20% of the world’s energy supply comes from 440 nuclear power plants, located in 25 countries around the world. About 12% of these nuclear reactors are in Japan. As the headlines describe, the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 triggered a series of explosions, leading to the partial meltdown of a nuclear plant, located 150 miles outside of Tokyo. The impact of the meltdown has spread far beyond Japan, affecting nuclear-power companies worldwide. Observers suspected plans for many of the world’s 60 new nuclear plants could be stopped, or at the very least halted, for some time to come. This week, the Swiss government announced the suspension of approvals for new nuclear plants. The German government followed suit. Furthermore, Germany’s seven nuclear facilities, built prior to 1980, will be shut down until at least May. This step leaves the country with only 10 operating nuclear facilities. In France — where 80% of the country’s electricity comes from nuclear power — the Green Party has called for a referendum on the future of nuclear power. And even China, which has had big ambitions for nuclear power-expansion, announced Wednesday, March 16, that it was… Read More

In the 1920s, about 40% of the U.S. labor force worked on farms. Today, less than 2% of U.S. workers are employed in agriculture. The United States increasingly relies on imported agricultural goods for any number of products. Recently, inclement weather across the globe has caused a… Read More

First Egypt erupted, then Libya exploded. Investors might certainly wonder where the next Middle East powder keg will ignite and what effect it will have on crude oil prices. Analysts speculate there is already a $10-a-barrel “risk premium” built into crude, and that premium can go even higher if the… Read More