Until recently, the long-term outlook for Norway’s energy future had been rather bleak. Its North Sea oil fields had declined rapidly from the glory days of previous decades. But all of that recently changed with Norway’s largest oil field discovery since the 1980s. And one Norwegian company,… Read More

There’s plenty of fear on Wall Street these days. One of the main fears is that the economy is heading for recession, which would imply there’s no reason to find stocks appealing right now. But this fear… Read More

A real conundrum has emerged in the stock market: it’s become quite easy to find undervalued stocks, but when you have too many to choose from, it’s hard to see which choice will be the first to rise or has the greatest upside relative to the hundreds of other stocks… Read More

He is the richest person in modern history. Warren Buffett? At his peak, Buffett’s wealth is less than one-fifth this man’s fortune. Bill Gates doesn’t even come close. Neither does Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) founder Sam Walton or telecom… Read More

The end is near. That is to say, the deepening European crisis is coming to head. And when policy makers finally devise an effective strategy to tackle the banking mess in Southern Europe, the never-ending market selloff in Europe will likely come to an end. This is… Read More

Despite the wild ups and downs it has created, this year’s tug-of-war between the bulls and bears hasn’t amounted to much. To date, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been flat, while the S&P 500 has dropped a little more than 4%. We’ve essentially been on a hellish rollercoaster ride… Read More

Gyrations in the U.S. stock market have been capturing headlines worldwide, but European stocks have had it even worse. While the S&P 500 Index was down roughly 4% through the end of August, German and French stocks had fallen 17% year-to-date, while English stocks had lost 8% of their… Read More

It’s pretty easy to spot the major investment winners of the last decade. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has risen from less than $10 in 2003 to nearly $400 today. Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), and Lululemon (Nasdaq: LULU) and a few dozen other stocks… Read More

The term “accidental high yielder” became prominent in the investment lexicon during the financial crisis. Now, it seems like every time the market falls, pundits and investors alike start talking about a fresh crop of dividend-paying stocks that sport inviting yields. Overused or not, there is something to be said… Read More

In investing, there’s a time to focus on reward and a time to focus on risk. And in a clearly growing economy, it always pays to find the companies best positioned to grow steadily. In better times, investors have been amply rewarded for their… Read More