The S&P 500 recently notched its highest close in more than three and a half years. Hitting new peaks in the bull market that began in March 2009, the U.S. benchmark has gained 9.0% so far this year. Read More

I can imagine what you’re thinking after reading the headline of today’s issue… “Government bonds don’t yield 8.7%. I can go to dozens of websites and show you that 10-year… Read More

It’s a country that rarely gets any mention by the mainstream investing press.  Sure, you hear about India, China, Russia, and Brazil. And for good reason — those countries are growing at incredible rates, which has made many investors rich already… and… Read More

Europe, as we say in the South, “is a big ‘ol mess.” Authorities have put a tiny band aid on the wound, which is also known as “Greece.” Yet massive problems lie ahead in the other Euro-peripherals: Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. But, as you may know,… Read More

Last year was a disastrous year for global financial stocks. This year could be different. In the European Union (E.U.), banks underperformed every other industry group last year, due to concerns about their loans to troubled European countries such as Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece… Read More

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about the enormous number of high-yielding stocks abroad. I think the amount of international dividend-payers out there is one of the market‘s biggest secrets. I told you that only 17 profitable U.S. Read More

It’s time to stress-test all of the companies in your portfolio. It’s crucial to determine their geographic exposure right now, because a handful of major economies are possibly headed for a long-term unwinding. #-ad_banner-#Each of these countries is beset by stunningly-large budget deficits, unfavorable demographics, a too-strong… Read More

I’ve found what I think is one of the safest dividend-paying stocks on the planet. During the past year, this company earned $8.6 billion in profits. It only distributed $4.6 billion in dividends. In other words, it could see its… Read More

It’s tried-and-true wisdom on Wall Street that yesterday’s laggards are often tomorrow’s outperformers. That’s exactly what’s shaping up for the energy, metals and basic materials sectors. These stocks were laggards in 2011, but now they look to… Read More

The U.S. economy is seven times larger than Brazil’s economy. Yet the U.S. stock market is 12 times larger. That’s simply the result of the fact that most global investors want exposure to the United States, relatively… Read More