Despite widespread pessimism and a whole lot of volatility, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 have both gained roughly 25% a year for the past three years. I think the bull market could continue for quite some time, maybe another three or… Read More

The S&P 500 is up 11% year-to-date. But there is another rally that is getting less attention: U.S. Treasury yields have been on the rise. Short-term Treasury yields have inched up throughout 2012, while longer-term Treasuries have bumped up only… Read More

Twelve years ago, a total of $5 trillion in market value was lost when the “Dot-com” bubble burst. Many investors lost their life savings, their kid’s college funds, or their retirements as a result. Flash-forward to today, and I’m convinced many… Read More

One of the best places for investors to find high yields right now is in the MLP (master limited partnership) sector. Many MLPs pay 7% dividends and yield three times higher than S&P… Read More

I can’t think of a stock that’s more hated. I’ve written about this company several times before. I’ve personally owned it for years. But just about every time I mention it, I end up receiving nasty emails admonishing the fact that I would cover… let alone recommend…… Read More

When gold was first discovered at Sutter’s Mill in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains in 1848, thousands of people dropped everything and headed west with dreams of striking it rich. Within a year, San Francisco was transformed from a sleepy outpost with a few dozen… Read More

Warren Buffett is the world’s most successful investor. He’s worth $44 billion and is the third-richest person on earth. The investments made by his firm, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), gained 513,055% from 1964 to the end of 2011. The S&P 500, including dividends, gained 6,397% over the… Read More

In the week of March 12, the Federal Reserve gave the nation’s major banks their third so-called “stress test” to determine whether they would survive another collapse of the financial system like the one suffered in 2008. Overall, the group passed the test, with 15 of the 19 undergoing… Read More

A few years ago, a small Canadian energy producer called Paramount Energy Trust sported a yield of close to 14%. That sort of yield would have been tempting to many investors. Formed in 2003, the trust had a… Read More

In 2011, the large health care and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) generated $13.9 billion in free cash flow and maintained its “AAA” credit rating.   The drug maker Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) had more… Read More