With the weak economy, drug makers have been scaling back their drug development plans. The slowdown has trickled down to the so-called contract research organizations (CRO), which help pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms manage the necessary clinical trials for a drug to be licensed… Read More

An unprecedented level of industrial expansion during the past two decades has not only made China wealthy. It’s made the country really dirty. Now comes the clean up. Years of industrial growth, largely powered by coal, have left China choking in smog. Cities smolder… Read More

Bill Gates evidently made a New Year’s resolution last year — one that he didn’t say much about. Of course, when you’re Bill Gates you don’t have to say much to make the things you resolve happen. In fact, Gates may have only said… Read More

There are a plethora of Chinese ETFs already on the market, so what can investors expect from another offering? Emerging powerhouses of Chinese business. This ETF isn’t limited by size and has free reign to invest across… Read More

Oil at $200 per barrel: That’s what an analyst at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) predicted in May 2008. At the time, oil had just hit a record high , surpassing $110 per barrel. A month later, the CEO of the Russian energy company Gazprom predicted $250 per barrel oil. Read More

Back in July, investors eagerly anticipated Alcoa’s (NYSE: AA) second quarter financial snapshot — not for any particular interest in the aluminum sector, but simply because the Dow component happens to kickoff earnings season each quarter. Fortunately, the company pleased the… Read More

“Give me a lever long enough,” said Archimedes, “and a place to stand, and I will move the world.” If the old Greek were alive today, he might well work for Fluor (NYSE: FLR, $41.95), one of the world’s largest public engineering and construction companies.  Fluor designs… Read More

I’m always on the lookout for the right combination of fundamental and technical factors to get a trader’s edge. Look carefully at the following two charts — the first covering the last three months of 2008 and the first three of 2009, and the second covering the… Read More

When there’s no competition for your services, you can pretty much charge whatever you want, advertise as little as you want, and pay dividends to your investors for as long as you like. That’s how defense contractors and refiners have operated for many years, and that’s how… Read More

Today we conclude our three-part series examining the companies with the biggest bank accounts, and whether they are worthwhile investments for the upcoming New Year.   Company (Ticker) Cash/Near Cash General Electric (NYSE: GE) $61.4 Billion Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) $26.9 Billion Ford (NYSE: F) $25.8 Billion Merck (NYSE: MRK)… Read More