Do analysts price targets matter? You bet. Any time you see a big gap between rational assessments of fair value and the current share price, it pays to dig deeper. Roughly 18 months ago, this is precisely why I saw value… Read More

Yields on 10-year Treasuries are now below 2%. And 30-year U.S. Treasury yields average less than 3%. But I’ve found a group of government bonds yielding upwards of 5%. Most of them carry high quality “AA” credit… Read More

I was talking with a colleague a few weeks ago and she wondered aloud whether the economic and political chaos in Italy — mainly the result of Europe’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis — was creating an opening for bargain-hunting investors. After all, we’re talking… Read More

Last week, I told you about the scramble among investors for American Silver Eagles. These coins, minted by the U.S. government, contain exactly one troy ounce of 99.9% pure silver. Twice between 2008 and 2009 the U.S. mint had to suspend sales… and demand has almost doubled… Read More

It’s the dirty secret of Wall Street. That report on a newly-public company tends to look a lot like the investment-banking pitch investors saw during the pre-IPO (initial public offering) roadshow. Those bankers come up with lofty projections to help sell the deal, and the analysts that ultimately follow the… Read More

It’s the best electrical conductor of any metal, and may soon replace the lithium-ion in batteries used in future Apple (NYSE: AAPL) iPhones and laptops. It’s highly reflective, making it a perfect choice for the increasingly popular photovoltaic solar panels. #-ad_banner-#It’s strong enough to… Read More

Every few months, hedge-fund managers take a fresh look at the economy, trying to figure out key trends that will yield the best returns in the months ahead. Once they complete their analyses, they rotate some… Read More

Investors who need a reminder of why dividends are desirable should be getting it in spades this year, thanks to extreme market volatility. The price of the S&P 500 Index is barely at breakeven year-to-date, while… Read More

A Saudi-Sized Oil Find… And a Rupert Murdoch-Backed Company Is in the Middle What I’m about to say might shock you… Israel sits on nearly as much oil as Saudi Arabia. You read this correctly, Israel — a country the size of the state of New Jersey — sits atop an estimated 250 billion barrels of oil. To put the sheer volume of Israel’s reserves in perspective, take a look at the chart below.   As the chart shows, that’s roughly the… Read More

A Saudi-Sized Oil Find… And a Rupert Murdoch-Backed Company Is in the Middle What I’m about to say might shock you… Israel sits on nearly as much oil as Saudi Arabia. You read this correctly, Israel — a country the size of the state of New Jersey — sits atop an estimated 250 billion barrels of oil. To put the sheer volume of Israel’s reserves in perspective, take a look at the chart below.   As the chart shows, that’s roughly the same as Saudi Arabia, which is the 13th largest country in the world and almost exactly 100 times larger than Israel. If oil is worth $100 a barrel, then Israel has the ability to tap into $25 trillion worth of crude. How did a country that’s historically struggled to meet its energy demands stumble into one of the largest known petroleum reserves on the planet? #-ad_banner-#Trapped beneath Israel’s famed Shefla basin, rests a special type of shale called kerogen. Kerogen contains bitumen, the petroleum-rich substance that the Canadians extract from the tar sands to… Read More