Large telecom providers have become some of the market’s strongest dividend-paying companies. Although they pay strong yields, most of the big U.S. telecoms don’t offer much in the way of growth. The problem is that fixed-line usage is slowly dying as more customers drop their wired phones… Read More

With a stroke of his pen — and after a hellacious fight with the Congress — President Obama brought massive change to the health-care industry. He’s doing the same with another industry today. The industry is different and he doesn’t need Congressional approval. And the plan has… Read More

There has been an increasing amount of distrust among investors about the clean energy sector in recent months, pushing share prices down across the board. This cynicism stems from an expectation that governments in Europe and the United States will reduce their clean energy subsidies in the face of rising… Read More

Commodities shape just about every aspect of our lives, from the cost of a tank of gas to the price of a gallon of milk. But instead of being subjected to the whims of volatile commodities, smart investors find a way to soften the blow. Let me explain… During the summer of 2008, when crude oil prices were near $150 a barrel, drivers felt a sting in their wallets. But while prices were high, companies like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) raked in record profits. This example doesn’t just apply to oil, either. Many other commodities traded near record… Read More

Commodities shape just about every aspect of our lives, from the cost of a tank of gas to the price of a gallon of milk. But instead of being subjected to the whims of volatile commodities, smart investors find a way to soften the blow. Let me explain… During the summer of 2008, when crude oil prices were near $150 a barrel, drivers felt a sting in their wallets. But while prices were high, companies like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) raked in record profits. This example doesn’t just apply to oil, either. Many other commodities traded near record highs during that time. Take corn. Thanks to ethanol subsidies, the price of corn flour in Mexico nearly quadrupled in a matter of months in the summer of 2007. And while that country’s poor rioted over the cost of corn tortillas, companies like Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) made mounds of cash. During the subprime crisis in the United States, people began stripping abandoned homes of copper wiring, hoping to capitalize on high copper prices. And when metals prices were near their highs in 2008, stories began to pop up about some who even… Read More

It’s no secret that share price appreciation goes hand-in-hand with earnings growth. If only it were that simple. Screening for companies with the strongest outlooks will only get you so… Read More

The intensely debated health care legislation has become law. Traders now speculate on how the bill impacts the health care sector. Of the winners and losers, the pharmaceutical companies have come out near the top. Over several years, they will pay $90 billion to help offset the… Read More

If you were paying close attention last week, you might have noticed some of the world’s most powerful groups — who each have the power to move markets by themselves — all said the same thing… albeit in different language. Last Tuesday, the Federal Reserve announced that it will keep… Read More

T. Boone Pickens is the quintessential Texas oilman: outspoken, complex and savvy. During the course of his career, he initiated headline-grabbing takeovers in the energy sector and amassed a fortune of about $3 billion. Pickens began his career as a “wildcatter,” drilling in areas not known to contain oil, and eventually… Read More

As the Japanese economy developed in the 1970s and 1980s, U.S. companies such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) made major headway into the hearts and minds of local consumers. But a similar trend may not emerge in China. Western nations… Read More

Every year, about a quarter million cases of liver cancer are diagnosed in the United States; around the world the number is estimated to exceed two million. According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate of liver cancer is just 10.8%. This is one of the most fatal… Read More