Four years ago, anxious policymakers in Washington threw automakers a badly-needed life line. The “cash for clunkers” program, which bribed people into buying new cars, helped stave off a death spiral that had beset the auto industry.#-ad_banner-# Yet just four years later, few people even think about “cash for clunkers” anymore. Sales trends for the major automakers (and their parts suppliers) are now booming, and it’s easy to see how trends will get even stronger from here. Within a… Read More

Four years ago, anxious policymakers in Washington threw automakers a badly-needed life line. The “cash for clunkers” program, which bribed people into buying new cars, helped stave off a death spiral that had beset the auto industry.#-ad_banner-# Yet just four years later, few people even think about “cash for clunkers” anymore. Sales trends for the major automakers (and their parts suppliers) are now booming, and it’s easy to see how trends will get even stronger from here. Within a few years, sales trends are likely to meet or exceed the previous annual peaks, and share prices in this sector now have upward of 50% upside. The Long Climb Back In the middle of the past decade, the auto industry sold roughly 16 million to 17 million cars and trucks annually in North America. That figure slumped to just 10.4 million in 2009 but had rebounded to 14.4 million in 2012. This year, that figure is expected to be about 15.4 million. Read More

We have all experienced the guy at the party who is always talking about his stock-picking skills. He will brag to anyone who will listen how he bought one stock or another near the lows, making a killing. I call this type of investor a “hot-stock chaser.” Hot-stock chasers are always looking for the next big thing in the market. They jump aboard whatever is moving or whatever is supposed to be the next… Read More

We have all experienced the guy at the party who is always talking about his stock-picking skills. He will brag to anyone who will listen how he bought one stock or another near the lows, making a killing. I call this type of investor a “hot-stock chaser.” Hot-stock chasers are always looking for the next big thing in the market. They jump aboard whatever is moving or whatever is supposed to be the next big thing. Jim Cramer is their hero, and their TV is always tuned to CNBC for the next sizzling tip. Jumping from stock to stock in a manic effort not to miss the stock of the day, week or month, hot-stock chasers are never satisfied.#-ad_banner-# When you first meet a hot-stock chaser, all you will hear about are his winning investments. Dig a little deeper, and you may discover that the hot-stock chaser also has a long history of money-losing investments. This is due to the tendency of the professional… Read More

In his book “Telecosm,” author George Gilder called this financial titan “the key source of organizational changes that have impelled economic growth over the last 20 years.” He earned more than a billion dollars over a four-year period as an employee of Drexel Burnham Lambert in the late 1980s — at the time, the record for employee compensation in the United States.#-ad_banner-# His success was attributed to an incredible trading record of only four losing months out of 17 years — as well as the rise in public awareness of a financial product popularly known as junk bonds. Although like… Read More

In his book “Telecosm,” author George Gilder called this financial titan “the key source of organizational changes that have impelled economic growth over the last 20 years.” He earned more than a billion dollars over a four-year period as an employee of Drexel Burnham Lambert in the late 1980s — at the time, the record for employee compensation in the United States.#-ad_banner-# His success was attributed to an incredible trading record of only four losing months out of 17 years — as well as the rise in public awareness of a financial product popularly known as junk bonds. Although like most public figures he is not without his critics, over the years this financier has also been praised by Fortune magazine and other media outlets for his decades-long work as a philanthropist and innovator in medical research. If you haven’t already guessed it, I am talking about Michael Milken. Milken is credited with helping expand the market for junk bonds, which have transformed the way companies raise capital. Junk bonds are high-yielding bonds that are below investment grade, which means they have a higher risk of default than traditional investment-grade bonds. Therefore, junk bonds need to pay out a higher… Read More

Canada continues to be a standout player in the global economy. While Europe and China struggle with recessionary conditions, Canada’s February GDP (gross domestic product) showed a solid 1.7% gain, its fastest pace since July 2012. January’s growth was also revised higher, giving the economy its two strongest back-to-back gains since July and August of 2011, causing many analysts to raise first-quarter GDP growth estimates to… Read More

Canada continues to be a standout player in the global economy. While Europe and China struggle with recessionary conditions, Canada’s February GDP (gross domestic product) showed a solid 1.7% gain, its fastest pace since July 2012. January’s growth was also revised higher, giving the economy its two strongest back-to-back gains since July and August of 2011, causing many analysts to raise first-quarter GDP growth estimates to 2.3% from 1.5%. The Canada economy continues to get a big boost from its mining and energy industries, with growth in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction expanding 2.2%, the fifth straight increase. Mining and quarrying alone expanded 6.4% on higher output at potash mines. Output in oil and gas extraction rose 1% from higher oil production.#-ad_banner-# Canada is also benefiting from the fact that it didn’t fall as deeply into recession as many other countries did during the financial crisis. No Canadian bank needed a… Read More

Canada continues to be a standout player in the global economy. While Europe and China struggle with recessionary conditions, Canada’s February GDP (gross domestic product) showed a solid 1.7% gain, its fastest pace since July 2012. January’s growth was also revised higher, giving the economy its two strongest back-to-back gains since July and August of 2011, causing many analysts to raise first-quarter GDP growth estimates to… Read More

Canada continues to be a standout player in the global economy. While Europe and China struggle with recessionary conditions, Canada’s February GDP (gross domestic product) showed a solid 1.7% gain, its fastest pace since July 2012. January’s growth was also revised higher, giving the economy its two strongest back-to-back gains since July and August of 2011, causing many analysts to raise first-quarter GDP growth estimates to 2.3% from 1.5%. The Canada economy continues to get a big boost from its mining and energy industries, with growth in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction expanding 2.2%, the fifth straight increase. Mining and quarrying alone expanded 6.4% on higher output at potash mines. Output in oil and gas extraction rose 1% from higher oil production.#-ad_banner-# Canada is also benefiting from the fact that it didn’t fall as deeply into recession as many other countries did during the financial crisis. No Canadian bank needed a… Read More

The S&P 500 has been charging higher in 2013, producing an impressive 16% gain in just the first five months of the year. But certain sectors have performed better than others. At the… Read More

If you’re a regular reader of StreetAuthority, you know I love getting — and reinvesting — dividend paychecks. Simply put, my goal is to earn a paycheck every day of the month by owning a basket of solid… Read More

As you probably know, we are in the midst of one of the greatest bull markets of all time. Fueled by an unfettered fiscal-easing policy with central-bank assurances that pro-growth intervention will continue until the economy is back… Read More

Using the wrong words can be dangerous. Confuse “sapo” for “sopa” in Spain, for instance, and you’re going to get a frog instead of soup. Fail to listen to the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” closely, and your friends will be howling when you croon, “I’ll never leave your pizza burnin’.”#-ad_banner-# In the bond world, the stakes are even higher. As with any investment, words are all you have to help you understand what you’re buying and what… Read More

Using the wrong words can be dangerous. Confuse “sapo” for “sopa” in Spain, for instance, and you’re going to get a frog instead of soup. Fail to listen to the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” closely, and your friends will be howling when you croon, “I’ll never leave your pizza burnin’.”#-ad_banner-# In the bond world, the stakes are even higher. As with any investment, words are all you have to help you understand what you’re buying and what the risks are. Here are two of the most confusing yet most fundamental. Make sure you understand what they mean before your next foray into the market. Yield to Maturity (YTM) Yield to maturity is one of the most misunderstood bond terms because it involves math that looks hard. But don’t let it faze you. First of all, the math… Read More

Using the wrong words can be dangerous. Confuse “sapo” for “sopa” in Spain, for instance, and you’re going to get a frog instead of soup. Fail to listen to the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” closely, and your friends will be howling when you croon, “I’ll never leave your pizza burnin’.”#-ad_banner-# In the bond world, the stakes are even higher. As with any investment, words are all you have to help you understand what you’re buying… Read More

Using the wrong words can be dangerous. Confuse “sapo” for “sopa” in Spain, for instance, and you’re going to get a frog instead of soup. Fail to listen to the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” closely, and your friends will be howling when you croon, “I’ll never leave your pizza burnin’.”#-ad_banner-# In the bond world, the stakes are even higher. As with any investment, words are all you have to help you understand what you’re buying and what the risks are. Here are two of the most confusing yet most fundamental. Make sure you understand what they mean before your next foray into the market. Yield to Maturity (YTM) Yield to maturity is one of the most misunderstood bond terms because it involves math that looks hard. But don’t let it faze you. First… Read More