1.80%. That’s the highest paying FDIC-insured bank CD I could find on BankRate.com. And that’s only if keep my money tied up for five years! The average one-year CD pays just 0.72% APY. I remember when I worked for a community… Read More

The smoke has finally cleared, and the final numbers are now in. Last year saw a frenzy of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, especially in the oil and gas sector.   Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, oil and gas companies signed a total of 191 deals… Read More

Europe, as we say in the South, “is a big ‘ol mess.” Authorities have put a tiny band aid on the wound, which is also known as “Greece.” Yet massive problems lie ahead in the other Euro-peripherals: Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. But, as you may know,… Read More

Twelve years ago, a total of $5 trillion in market value was lost when the “Dot-com” bubble burst. Many investors lost their life savings, their kid’s college funds, or their retirements as a result. Flash-forward to today, and I’m convinced many… Read More

One of the best places for investors to find high yields right now is in the MLP (master limited partnership) sector. Many MLPs pay 7% dividends and yield three times higher than S&P… Read More

Circle your calendars for March 28. That’s when investors will start to talk about the biggest growth opportunity for smartphones in the months and years ahead. On that day, China Unicom (NYSE: CHU), China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) and China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) plan to roll out a… Read More

Not long after I wrote about this big health care firm in December 2010, this stock began a nice hot streak. It’s now up 31% in the past 12 months, compared with a 14% gain for the S&P 500 during the same time. This is undoubtedly a… Read More

I can’t think of a stock that’s more hated. I’ve written about this company several times before. I’ve personally owned it for years. But just about every time I mention it, I end up receiving nasty emails admonishing the fact that I would cover… let alone recommend…… Read More

When gold was first discovered at Sutter’s Mill in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains in 1848, thousands of people dropped everything and headed west with dreams of striking it rich. Within a year, San Francisco was transformed from a sleepy outpost with a few dozen… Read More

Warren Buffett is the world’s most successful investor. He’s worth $44 billion and is the third-richest person on earth. The investments made by his firm, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), gained 513,055% from 1964 to the end of 2011. The S&P 500, including dividends, gained 6,397% over the… Read More