In the summer of 2010, a little-noted milestone took place. China passed Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy. Now, Japan needs to keep an eye on the rear-view mirror. Germany and Brazil are gaining ground and may overtake the Asian country… Read More

Every few months, the crisis in Europe rears its head, only to fade back into the background once again. Unfortunately, signs are emerging that Europe’s troubles are deepening anew, so investors need to tread cautiously with stocks until the market digests… Read More

There’s nothing like a visit to a foreign country to give you a sense of how well, or how poorly, that country is doing economically. Speaking with the “man on the street,” reading the local newspapers, and getting a feel for how citizens perceive their economic situation usually is much… Read More

I’ve found what I think is one of the safest dividend-paying stocks on the planet.  In the past year, this company earned $8.1 billion dollars in profits and only distributed $4.5 billion in dividends. In other words, it could see its earnings… Read More

I’ve said it at least a hundred times, and I’ll say it at least a hundred more… the vast majority of the world’s best high-yield stocks are not based in the United States… Don’t believe me? Consider this… Of the 244 companies that pay dividend yields of more than 12%,… Read More

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of hearing about the economic troubles in the eurozone. The media seem too focused on bad news, rather than reporting the tremendous progress that’s been made in cleaning up the debt mess and getting the struggling nations back on track. While… Read More

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its biannual assessment of the global economy and there were few surprises. The… Read More

I’m going to do something I thought I’d never do — recommend an airline stock. Like many investors, I’ve never liked airline stocks because they’re ridiculously volatile and notoriously easy to lose money on. Take the nation’s fifth largest airline, U.S. Airways Group (NYSE: LCC). U.S. Airways has gone bankrupt… Read More

Because the Chinese economy has expanded by leaps and bounds during the past few decades and is widely expected to keep posting solid growth for years, it may seem safe to assume China’s a great place to invest. But the world’s second-largest… Read More

Every once in a while, traders seem to forget that market prices move up and down and start expecting to see a move in one direction last forever. In the late 1980s, many traders assumed that the Japanese stock market was… Read More