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

Many investors have been surprised by the steady advances in the stock market since it bottomed out three years ago. They shouldn’t have been. History predicted it would happen. Exiting a major economic slowdown, companies cut costs… Read More

In the value investing Hall of Fame, financial expert Mario Gabelli should earn top honors. Gabelli leads GAMCO, a $36 billion global investment firm that has generated 16% annual returns for investors since the firm’s inception in 1977. Gabelli uses a bottom-up, value-driven approach to identify stocks… Read More

Warren Buffett is undoubtedly one of the most prolific investors in stock market history… and for good reason. During the first decade of the new millennium (2000-2010), Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) returned a blistering 76%. By comparison, the… Read More

When ratings agency Standard & Poor’s set about to create a group of stock indexes, it came up with the S&P 500, 400 and 600, representing large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks, respectively. What about micro-caps? The company’s… Read More

Insurance giant American International Group (NYSE: AIG), or AIG for short, has had a tumultuous few years, to say the least. Right now, a handful of investors literally hate the stock and refuse to buy it. That’s their loss… As counterintuitive as it sounds,… Read More

Although the U.S. economy has recently been on an unpredictable path, get ready to see more typical economic patterns take root. The economy is just get its footing now and should be a bit better in 2013. And, if history is any guide, it… Read More

When it comes to the stock market, many investors — myself included — spend quite a bit of time analyzing the trading activity of the richest and most successful investors in the world. These include well-known experts like Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn and George… Read More

It’s getting awfully tempting to book profits on any stocks that you’ve seen boosted by the current rally. Even if you make that move, it’s an open question as to whether you should redeploy your funds into other less expensive stocks, or simply just sit tight with a rising cash… Read More

It’s pretty safe to say hedge-fund manager Edward “Eddie” Lampert has gotten far more headaches than he bargained for in 2005 when he bought a major stake in what has since become Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD). Back then, he promised a more profitable company and more growth. Read More