It was not that long ago when it seemed as if some sort of comprehensive legislation to tackle the issue of climate change almost seemed inevitable. But since then, political wrangling and the emergence of more pressing economic concerns have sent the issue to the backburner. Opponents… Read More

Value stocks have long been regarded as safer investments than growth stocks. They tend to sport lower valuations and are often dogged by low expectations. So any stumbles can be taken in stride. But investors need to do their homework before pouncing on a value stock too quickly. A little… Read More

I continue to be very uneasy about the market and believe it could begin trending lower at any time, so my natural inclination is buy inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These are baskets of stocks that move higher when the market moves lower. I gave you a great inverse ETF a couple of weeks ago, ProShares UltraShort S&P 500 (NYSE: SDS). I recommended this ETF because my systems were telling me then, and they continue to tell me now, that this market could move lower in the near term — perhaps a lot lower. But, what… Read More

I continue to be very uneasy about the market and believe it could begin trending lower at any time, so my natural inclination is buy inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These are baskets of stocks that move higher when the market moves lower. I gave you a great inverse ETF a couple of weeks ago, ProShares UltraShort S&P 500 (NYSE: SDS). I recommended this ETF because my systems were telling me then, and they continue to tell me now, that this market could move lower in the near term — perhaps a lot lower. But, what did the market do last week? It moved high enough to stop us out of the SDS trade. But remember: I am a rules-based investor. I have rules for getting into a position and rules for getting out. The rules for getting in are still flashing “Short!” But just because I have a rule that tells me when to short the market, it doesn’t mean that I ignore my rules for getting out of a trade. There is an old saying that the market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent. One of these days,… Read More

Two things happened you should know about: food got cheap and work got easy. Sounds simple when put like that, but it was enough to change the world. Consider a personal example… On my family’s farm in Kansas, my grandfather’s wheat crop was considered… Read More

The economic slowdown of 2008 and 2009 was especially unkind to stocks of smaller companies. Their shares were the first to be sold off when investors panicked, and many of them remain out of favor while economic concerns persist. Indeed many small caps may… Read More

Recent healthcare reforms will add an estimated 30 million new patients into the system within the next few years. That means more office visits, medical procedures — and lab tests. Lab tests impact a very high proportion of healthcare decisions and will also become increasingly important as… Read More

“Strike while the iron is hot,” is the new catchphrase in Private Equity (PE) circles. Conditions are perfectly in place to do deals, and you can expect to hear of many more this winter. Just this week, Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), Wendy’s/Arby’s (NYSE: WEN) and Seagate (NYSE: STX) are surging on… Read More

It may not seem remotely conceivable that the burning of garbage would be a viable or even appealing option for creating energy, but it is. There is an entire industry devoted to it, known as waste-to-energy, or WtE for short. The process involves the incineration of waste to create either electricity or heat energy — and it could be big business. Incinerating waste is not a new industry, but recent technological advancements mean new facilities can literally be state-of-the art. Given the increased efficiencies,… Read More

It may not seem remotely conceivable that the burning of garbage would be a viable or even appealing option for creating energy, but it is. There is an entire industry devoted to it, known as waste-to-energy, or WtE for short. The process involves the incineration of waste to create either electricity or heat energy — and it could be big business. Incinerating waste is not a new industry, but recent technological advancements mean new facilities can literally be state-of-the art. Given the increased efficiencies, WtE has become a viable alternative energy option that is arguably as “green” as other sources of energy that are considered truly green, such as wind or solar energy. For starters, WtE reduces the need for landfills that pollute the environment and are not a long-term solution for disposing of waste. Technologically, WtE facilities already meet strict emission standards, and firms in the space are constantly working to make them safer to the environment. Finally, as with any alternative energy, WtE reduces the dependency on foreign oil and dirtier options to create energy, such as coal. Read More

The road to a greener future has been a bumpy one for investors. The entire spectrum of clean energy stocks have risen and fallen in tandem with changing government policies and wildly swinging fossil fuel prices. Yet the industry has made considerable inroads as industry revenue for solar, wind and… Read More