In the mid 1980s, my favorite band was R.E.M. At that time, they were the kings of college radio and snotty rock critics. But high school kids were still using Van Halen, Loverboy and Journey as their soundtrack for getting in trouble. When classmates would kid me about listening to… Read More

Working for StreetAuthority, I do a lot of different things. In the course of a day, I may be writing an article… editing a newsletter… discussing potential picks with our staff… researching the next investing hotspot… even going over article ideas with Bob Bogda, our managing editor. Read More

Earnings season is off to a generally solid start, though tucked into the broad group of estimate-beating companies are more than a few cautionary notes: A range of companies — many of which have exposure to Europe or China — are speaking of tougher times ahead. Read More

In this low interest rate environment, investors have turned to high-yielding blue-chips as a source of retirement income. This five-part series will outline what I believe to be the top five dividend aristocrat stocks, most suitable for a retiree’s portfolio. In… Read More

Volatility is back. The markets slumped badly at the end of last week and have rallied considerably higher thus far this week. From solid corporate earnings to tepid economic reports to deepening troubles in Europe, there’s a whole lot of push and pull… Read More

Exchange-traded products (ETPs) are wildly popular. Their assets grew more than 30% a year during the past decade, compared to just 5% to 6% for mutual funds, according to McKinsey & Co. The management consultancy projects ETP assets will more than double over… Read More

More than a decade removed from the dot-com era, investors are once again reverting to bad habits. They’re chasing seemingly sexy hot IPOs (initial public offerings) as they rise ever-higher and are often the last ones left holding the bag when reality eventually sets in and these stocks steadily fall. Read More

There is one huge risk when it comes to owning shares of high-growth companies. No one really knows how far or how close the company is to market saturation, so investors (and… Read More

Last year was a record year for spin-offs, with deals worth an estimated $116 billion completed. There are even more expected in 2012. Spin-offs occur when companies want to shed units that are performing poorly, undervalued or unrelated to the main business. Instead of selling to a… Read More