As a self-confirmed needle-phobe, I try not to glance at those opaque bins in the doctor’s office that are full of used syringes and other such instruments. But looking in the other direction doesn’t change the fact that healthcare facilities go through a mountain of “sharps” every single day. Read More

We can all be thankful for the remarkable rebound in the stock market, which has helped to rebuild many portfolios during the past 11 months. Stocks may power yet higher if the economy is indeed on the mend, but concerns remain that we’re due… Read More

When a hot new technology shoots out of the gate, investors often get spoiled. They expect demand to keep growing and growing, and have little patience when the industry hits an inevitable speed bump. In recent years, carbon fiber garnered considerable buzz, as the lightweight — yet super-strong — material found its… Read More

In a highly uncertain environment, one thing is clear. The demand for health care will not merely continue… It will dramatically increase in the years to come. Health care has always been a “defensive” industry, as people get sick no matter… Read More

Investors with a stake in this overlooked land don’t mind the lack of publicity. While it may be a small country of less than 17 million people, its equity market packs quite a punch. In fact, it has posted a stunning return of +3,014% since 1989. That 30-fold increase would… Read More

They say success comes at a price. The same thing applies to capital gains. Most investors forgot that lesson in the 1990s, when high-growth “dot-com” stocks were all the rage. Growth at any price was the name of the game, and some investors paid dearly for it. Read More

“There has never been,” President Obama proclaimed this week, “a program of this scale, moved at this speed, that has been enacted as effectively and as transparently as the recovery act.” This is Mr. Obama’s assessment of his $787 billion stimulus package, which marked its first anniversary… Read More

Every company has a life cycle. Some, like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) or Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), seemingly come out of nowhere to dominate their industries. Others, like Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) or General Electric (NYSE: GE), have delivered steady returns to shareholders for decades. But let’s face it:… Read More

Throughout the 1990s tech boom, Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) made life miserable for any other firm trying to sell computers. Its lean operations enabled it to generate solid profits even as price wars kept most rivals’ bottom lines in the red. First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) has taken a page from Dell’s… Read More

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently cut the nation’s biofuel output quota for 2010. It wasn’t a token cut, either. It was a -94% reduction in cellulosic ethanol, to 6.5 million gallons, from 100 million gallons. (Cellulosic ethanol… Read More