The Great Search for Yield
Eric Fry, Jim Nelson on why a certain sector should be on your watch list. Plus, Dan Amoss offers advice as to when stocks might be worth buying. Two dismal data points: U.S. birth rate hits record low while youth unemployment soars to record high. Chris Mayer and 5 Min. readers deliver harsh truth… what could be the beginning of the end for investing in Brazil. Read More
Our Take on the Sudden Commodities Rally
Softs soar… The 5 chronicles the remarkable summer rally for coffee, corn, sugar, cotton and wheat. Chris Mayer delivers bad news… why you might want to reconsider investing in Brazil entirely. Another government-mandated disaster: Global helium supply on track to disappear in 25 years. Agora Financial analysts deconstruct Bernanke’s big speech… our thoughts and market reactions, below. Read More
Three Flashpoints for $220 Oil
A run-of-the-mill attack in Iraq… or an alarm bell warning of triple-digit oil? Two more Middle East flash points: How the United States and Iran are already waging a proxy war. One year later: Hey Ben, how’s that “sustained economic recovery” working out for you? Judge’s ruling creates “a little bit of a conundrum”… and a new bull market. “Enormous ignoramus”: Reader unloads on Alan Simpson… Others weigh in on where new jobs will come from. Read More
Surviving the Fall of Entitlements
How the United States has defaulted before… and is on the verge of defaulting again. “A milk cow with 310 million tits”: a salty politico’s crusty comments and the serious issue they obscure. New bull market: Why lean hogs are fattening the wallets of traders in the know. Chris Mayer makes sense of China’s 62-mile traffic jam… Plus, the great chopstick crackdown! Readers light us up on marijuana legalization. Read More
The Sector That Defies Deflation
Prescription drugs defy gravity… prices increase 8% in 2009 despite global deflation. More federal “assault on enterprise”… judge bans certain stem cell research. Patrick Cox on how the ruling will alter breakthrough medical technology. Byron King on oil prices and a new frontier for alternative energy — the Balkans. Plus, readers chime in… your thoughts on legalizing marijuana and the plight of American teachers, below. Read More
What They’re Smoking on Wall Street
One study of banker drug use that explains everything. Read More
Forecasts for the Mighty U.S. Retail Investor
by Addison Wiggin & Ian Mathias Floodgates about to open… India hints at opening market to retail investors Bond bubble expands: Investors rush out of stock mutual funds at record rate… and pile into Treasuries SEC catches New Jersey cheating… Read More
The American Retirement Crisis
Retirement picture worsens again: 401(k) “hardship withdrawals” hit a record. Dollar up, euro down as French leaders interrupt August vacation (!) for crisis summit. The yen at a critical juncture… Our currency specialist calls where it goes from here. What happened to the epic wheat rally? Alan Knuckman threshes for answers. Readers write: Oil consumption, the Russian Revolution, Social Security. Read More
Is This What Recovery Looks Like?
The stat that looks more like “recession” than “recovery”… and more where that came from. Hedgies sour on stocks: Soros dumps holdings, Bass says, “I don’t know how I can be long.” How the president just handed you the next “mega income opportunity.” The new frugality? Seattle getting back to the garden. Readers fire back on Social Security… and offer up a novel theory. Read More
Backfired Stimulus
The Fed can print it, but can’t control it: States hoard money intended to save teacher jobs. Sign of the times: Top-performing global indexes belong to socialist nations. Rich Lee on the sudden resurgence of the eurozone crisis. Plus, Alan Knuckman on the recent stock selloff… beginning of a downtrend or an isolated event? Read More