After half a decade, the massive U.S. housing crisis is officially over. Pricing and demand for homes are improving, banks are no longer saddled with billions in sour loans, and shares of many homebuilders are trading far up from their generational lows seen in 2008 and 2009.  So should investors prepare for a housing boom in coming years? If so, that would make this a great time to buy homebuilding stocks, which have recently cooled off after multi-year gains. Here’s a look at five key stats to look for in the housing market to give a sense of what lies… Read More

After half a decade, the massive U.S. housing crisis is officially over. Pricing and demand for homes are improving, banks are no longer saddled with billions in sour loans, and shares of many homebuilders are trading far up from their generational lows seen in 2008 and 2009.  So should investors prepare for a housing boom in coming years? If so, that would make this a great time to buy homebuilding stocks, which have recently cooled off after multi-year gains. Here’s a look at five key stats to look for in the housing market to give a sense of what lies ahead. 1. 9 Years And 5 Months That’s how long it has been since the average home in the top 20 U.S. cities sold for the price it sells for today. And adjusted for inflation, home prices are substantially cheaper than they were back in May 2004.  Housing prices peaked in late 2006 and are off roughly 20% since then. The hardest-hit markets since September 2006: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Miami and Tampa, all of which are still more than 35% below their peak. (Denver and Dallas are the only major cities to see prices move higher from that late 2006… Read More

The unthinkable has finally become a reality: The U.S. government has shut down.  A legislative deadlock triggered by President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) combined with fears of a U.S. debt default has resulted in shivers of fears in the economy. Talk of economic Armageddon, crashing markets and… Read More

I’ve heard you need to be something of an egomaniac to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.  Sure, the pay is great, but to compensate for the grueling hours and the ultimate stress of being the scapegoat for any corporate failure, you have to take no small amount… Read More

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article first published Aug. 22, 2013. At StreetAuthority, we often look at where Washington’s most powerful men are putting their money. Recently, we learned what not to do from Barack Obama’s portfolio, picked up some tips on diversification from Mitt Romney… Read More

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article first published Aug. 22, 2013. At StreetAuthority, we often look at where Washington’s most powerful men are putting their money. Recently, we learned what not to do from Barack Obama’s portfolio, picked up some tips on diversification from Mitt Romney and revealed Ron Paul’s affinity for gold and silver miners. But none of these men have the potential clout of a woman who may soon become the world’s most powerful economic force.  If you’re thinking of Hillary Clinton, Marissa Mayer or Angela Merkel, you’re wrong.  As the first chairwoman of… Read More

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article first published Aug. 22, 2013. At StreetAuthority, we often look at where Washington’s most powerful men are putting their money. Recently, we learned what not to do from Barack Obama’s portfolio, picked up some tips on diversification from Mitt Romney and revealed Ron Paul’s affinity for gold and silver miners. But none of these men have the potential clout of a woman who may soon become the world’s most powerful economic force.  If you’re thinking of Hillary Clinton, Marissa Mayer or Angela Merkel, you’re wrong.  As the first chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen would have a deciding role in determining the monetary policy of the world’s largest economy and her portfolio holds some interesting stocks. I know, Yellen has yet to be approved by Congress, but she has some important qualifications:#-ad_banner-# First, Yellen has been on the Fed’s Board of Governors for a full economic cycle, and she’s been there for the discussions on an unprecedented monetary policy. Obama needs that kind of institutional knowledge to help guide policy coming out of this historic period. Second, Yellen is much more dovish than any other possible pick, helping to… Read More

Stocks ended the week unchanged, but they should break out soon as earnings season begins.#-ad_banner-# Traders Seem Unconcerned By Washington SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) closed down $0.02 on the week, virtually unchanged from a week ago. Despite the small change in price, analysts were very active, explaining that… Read More

For years, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) has been known as the ultimate “story stock.” Investors have been asked to overlook the e-commerce giant’s relatively unimpressive cash flow metrics, assuming that the company will eventually deliver the bottom-line numbers that mature companies deliver.#-ad_banner-# How large is the disconnect? The company delivered an… Read More

And so it begins… As the clock struck midnight Monday, Congress failed to reach an agreement on a short-term budget resolution. As a result, for the first time in 17 years, the United States has entered a shutdown, and thousands of government employees have been furloughed. Depending on how long… Read More

Coming out of the housing crisis, hundreds of thousands of homes could have been bought on the cheap. And some of the world’s largest investors did just that.  For example, we noted earlier this year that the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) spent roughly $100 million per week buying distressed real… Read More

Thanks to the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, the decades-long ban on hedge fund advertising ended Monday. The question you need to consider is whether you should pay attention. Hedge funds have almost been a secretive society in the investment world. Individual investors are largely prohibited from buying… Read More