Opinions

The fall in the price of gold bullion has certainly hit investors, but there is even greater pain among junior mining stocks. Obviously, junior mining stocks depend on gold prices to generate revenues and earnings. However, unlike larger, more integrated companies, junior mining stocks might not have any cash flow,

It’s official: free-spending Prime Minister Shinzo Abe along with his Liberal Democratic Party and its alliance with the New Komeito Party will control the fate of Japan for the next few years. This will be enough power and support to push forward Abe’s massive and ambitious $1.2 trillion 10-year spending

We are told by the “gold bears” that we are headed for a period of deflation ahead, so we should sell gold bullion because it doesn’t have any purpose in your portfolio. But these “gold bears” might be surprised to know that inflation in the U.S. economy is already much

Complacency is always dangerous when it comes to investing. Over the past few months, many investors globally have begun to let their guards down, as the episodes of severe financial crisis appear long gone. However, there are many signs that a global recession is still possible once again. For many

Another day, another record for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. The upward move has been a blessing for the past four weeks, and there will be more gains to come. The key is that you do not want to bet against Dow theory or against the trend.

I recall my first time seeing the electric sports car marketed by Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ/TSLA). While my son thought it was cool, I thought it was gimmicky. If I had listened to my son, it would have been a great investment because Tesla was trading around $33.00 at that

A positive bias remains to current stock market action. Earnings are still modest, but for the most part, many are positive. The S&P 500 Index did an excellent job recovering from a small (Federal Reserve/market-misread-induced) consolidation in June. Since the beginning of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has

Politicians and the mainstream will certainly love this… Last week, Moody’s Investors Service changed its outlook on the U.S. national debt from negative to stable. (Source: Reuters, July 18, 2013.) Despite the credit reporting agency’s “upgrade” on U.S. national debt, my opinion remains the same: the U.S. national debt has

Oil prices continue to edge higher on the chart, and that’s pushing the cost of gasoline higher at the pumps. Now, while U.S. crude inventories have risen over the past two weeks, I do not believe there’s a supply-demand issue that is propping it up. I believe the demand for

Well, it’s official—as of last Thursday, the city of Detroit is bankrupt. Detroit is a sad example of a city that was continually running a large budget deficit. But it grew into such a huge amount of government debt that the only way out was to file for bankruptcy and

If you really want to measure economic growth, keep your eye on one statistic—consumer spending. One of the key determinants to economic growth in America is the level of consumer spending. That’s because consumer spending accounts for approximately 70% of the overall gross domestic product (GDP). This makes it imperative

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified to the House Financial Services Committee last Wednesday, and there was nothing surprising in what he said. He stated that the money printing will continue until there’s improvement in the economic recovery and the jobs market. Bernanke again repeated that the Federal Reserve might

It seems like every day we’re seeing the stock market advance higher, which makes me wonder if traders are just trigger-happy and trading on the momentum in the market—and, trust me, there’s plenty of it. Whether you are a day, swing, or longer-term trader, there’s easy money to be made.

I know many of you probably don’t even look at Chinese stocks anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised given the years of fraudulent reporting by numerous China-based companies that decided to come here and steal your money through deception. The reality is that the flow of new Chinese initial public offerings

Long-time readers of this column know of my affinity for railroad stocks. I like keeping things domestic; I like keeping things simple; and I like consistent growth—in revenues, earnings, and dividends. Railroad stocks are benchmarks on the North American economy. What they report is real, definitely worthwhile noting, and a

In an ironic twist, the subprime credit crisis was probably what was needed to save the banking sector. The failure of Lehman Brothers that drove the financial crisis and recession also prompted the government to force big banks to clean up their business. I still recall when Citigroup Inc. (NYSE/C)

The cement business is as good a benchmark as you are going to get on the U.S. economy. And if this company is any indication, cement sales are accelerating at a double-digit rate. Texas Industries, Inc. (TXI) sells cement and aggregates mostly in Texas and California, the two largest cement

Face it: there is no real economic growth in the U.S. economy. The only reasons the key stock indices keep rising are nothing more than easy money and false optimism. They are anything but a key indicator, and you should not use them as one. The reality of the U.S.

The eurozone is still a mess. Instead of improvements, I just see more troubles. Economic slowdown in the region’s debt-infested nations is already staggering, but even those that were able to fight it are now experiencing huge problems. Around this time last year, the European Central Bank (ECB) was very

In what can only be described as another excellent quarter of performance and growth, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) once again beat Wall Street consensus with its earnings. The company defied the odds and posted genuine business growth—not just domestically, but abroad as well. Similar to its first-quarter performance, the company