This year, investing has been all about the red, white and blue. Troubles in Europe and China have sent international and emerging market stocks to multi-year lows. That is, with the exception of one market… Investors that once flocked to Chinese… Read More

In June of 2009, both Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and insurance firm The Travelers Cos. (NYSE: TRV) received an invitation to a very exclusive club. Only 30 companies get to be members of this club, and it’s one of the crowning achievements for a company to be asked to join. Read More

They’re some of the most reliable dividend-paying stocks on Earth. Each one owns a virtual monopoly in its market, practically guaranteeing it will receive uninterrupted revenue for years to come. Of… Read More

Will Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) soon join the Dow Jones Industrial Average? A rising chorus of pundits suggests so. A few other firms may also be added, since the analysts who chose the index‘s components rarely make just one move. But to make way for… Read More

Think you’ve got a bead on the best sectors to own? It’s amazing how often assumptions can differ from reality. While most investors may believe the technology or financial sectors tend to offer the biggest returns or the most… Read More

Treasuries are still viewed as the safest assets in the world, but a closer look at the numbers reveals a very different story. In the past 10 years, the federal debt has almost tripled, climbing by more than $10 trillion to $16.5 trillion. Read More

Just like the broader economy, various industries go through phases of retrenchment, growth and then a peak. If you hold off on investing in these cyclical industries until growth is robust, then you’ve missed the boat. Various studies indicate that stock prices peak about… Read More

When there’s a recession or when the economy is sluggish like now, consumers look for ways to save their hard-earned money anyway they can. They can do so… Read More

Even as investors spent much of the last decade licking their wounds with U.S. investments after the dot-com bubble was pricked, there were still solid gains to be had for investors willing to venture abroad. Indeed, the concept of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) investing was a savvy play… Read More

Nick Dreystadt is an Unsung Hero of American business. In 1933, the engineer knocked on the boardroom door at General Motors (NYSE: GM) and asked to be heard for ten minutes. He said he could take GM’s most problematic division and make it profitable within 18 months. Read More