Most people don’t have a million dollars to invest. It doesn’t matter. What I’m going to show you applies no matter how much money you have to invest — whether it’s $100 or $100 million. #-ad_banner-#But there is a sad truth about a million dollars. Even that heady amount wouldn’t earn you much in regular income — if you put it to work in the “traditional” ways… $560. That’s the most you will get each month if you put that $1 million into a 1-year CD, which, according to BankRate.com, is yielding just 0.67%. For comparison, the average Social Security… Read More

Most people don’t have a million dollars to invest. It doesn’t matter. What I’m going to show you applies no matter how much money you have to invest — whether it’s $100 or $100 million. #-ad_banner-#But there is a sad truth about a million dollars. Even that heady amount wouldn’t earn you much in regular income — if you put it to work in the “traditional” ways… $560. That’s the most you will get each month if you put that $1 million into a 1-year CD, which, according to BankRate.com, is yielding just 0.67%. For comparison, the average Social Security check is $1,266 per month. In other words, you’d earn more from Social Security than you would from $1 million. It’s a similar story with a number of other investments… 10-year Treasury Note — Sitting near historically low levels, if you loaned the federal government $1 million, with annual yields at 2.9%, you’d only earn $29,000 a year… or $2,900 a year on $100,000. Savings Accounts — With a maximum yield of 1%, the absolute best you’ll get from a savings account according to BankRate.com right now is $10,000 a year. Corporate Bonds — If you invest in the right… Read More

This is truly a golden era for dividend-hungry investors. Payouts have been growing at an impressive pace, and many companies have the ability to boost their dividends further, as I noted recently. Indeed, a variety of companies that have historically sought to boost their dividends at a moderate annual pace… Read More

The proposed expansion of the Keystone pipeline is probably the most hated energy project in America. The project has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who claim the harvesting of oil sands in Alberta poses unacceptable risks to the ecosystem. Last week, The New Yorker published an extensive article describing how Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and former hedge-fund manager, is spending millions of his own fortune to defeat the measure.#-ad_banner-# That’s interesting, especially considering that Steyer’s hedge-fund, Farallon, invested in fossil-fuel companies. From the New Yorker:… Read More

The proposed expansion of the Keystone pipeline is probably the most hated energy project in America. The project has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who claim the harvesting of oil sands in Alberta poses unacceptable risks to the ecosystem. Last week, The New Yorker published an extensive article describing how Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and former hedge-fund manager, is spending millions of his own fortune to defeat the measure.#-ad_banner-# That’s interesting, especially considering that Steyer’s hedge-fund, Farallon, invested in fossil-fuel companies. From the New Yorker: “After being criticized by some Republicans for holding some investments in the fossil-fuel industry, including stock in Kinder Morgan, which has proposed extending a rival pipeline to Keystone, Steyer said that he would fully divest his portfolio of its “dirty energy” holdings within a year.” The pipeline has also become a political issue. During last year’s presidential race, President Barack Obama refrained from taking a strong stand on the project despite… Read More

For more than 40 years, George Soros delivered an average annual return of about 20% to the investors in his hedge fund. At that rate of return, a $10,000 investment when the… Read More

The only way the Federal Reserve will stop waving its magic stimulus wand is if job creation miraculously comes to life, rescuing the economy. I wouldn’t hold my breath.#-ad_banner-# And, as long as… Read More

Stocks have been strong heading into the Federal Reserve’s quarterly press conference. They are now back to levels reached in May, before speculation about tapering picked up. This week, we will… Read More

Many investors think commodities are too risky. It makes sense when you look at the history… Before the 2008 recession, oil was nearing $150 a barrel. Then it fell to the rock-bottom price of $35. Copper approached $1.20 per pound from a high of… Read More

I hesitated to write about this trend. It’s disturbing. Many of its facets are also politically charged. But as an investor, I have to avoid politics. There’s no money to be made by laying blame or opining about what should be. My only job… Read More

When Syria uses chemical warfare or Iran threatens to launch missiles, it puts the collective world on edge, pushes stock markets over the edge and launches oil prices off the charts. The mere mention of Middle… Read More