Has every ship run aground?  Have all the oceans frozen over? You might think so if you've followed the dramatic tumble of the Baltic Dry Index -- which had at one point fallen 94% from its peak just seven months ago. The index tracks the price to ship dry goods ...read more

“This is the winter of our discontent,” a famous Shakespearean phrase begins, “made glorious summer by a 936-point Dow rally.” Okay, so maybe Shakespeare did not write this EXACT phrase…but if he had, CNBC would have been quoting him all afternoon Monday. After suffering months and weeks of bone-chilling stock market selloffs, ...read more

The phrase “penny stock” tends to scare many investors away. But, those are the companies you read about that returned triple and even quadruple-digit returns. Penny stocks are usually small and newly created companies. While still trying to get established, penny stocks are analogically infants and toddlers compared to large-cap adult ...read more

Don’t ever judge a book by its cover. Chances are…it’s a good book. Otherwise it would have never been published. The same goes for penny stocks… There are several accusations about penny stocks that can make an investor hesitant and timid to invest because of a “risky no-gainer gamble” stereotype. These ...read more

In 2004, then Treasury Secretary John Snow was traipsing about the globe trying to “talk the dollar down.” Why? In a word: debt. At the time, our debt stood at $7 trillion, with interest payments in fiscal 2003 totaling $318 billion. But now the U.S. national debt stands above $9 ...read more

Somebody asked this question on TickerHound a few months ago (just as the market began to take a dive): What are some good sectors to invest in during an economic downturn? It’s a question I’ve thought a lot about, and have written extensively on, for the last few months. For me, it all ...read more

Ten Tips to Successful Options Trading By Mark Louie July 22, 2008 Options can be a menacing trading practice. Once you think you have it figured out, it shifts. Like any investment, there’s going to be some sort of gamble. Although viewed by bitter traders as confusing, risky and unprofitable at times, options ...read more

As I wrote last week, it’s pretty clear times are tough right now. With three quarters of the population thinking we’re already in a recession and the market sinking by the day, I don’t think there’s any more debating as to whether or not we’re in bear market territory. So the ...read more

Taking a look at the longer term charts is always a fun proposition and this week things look exceptionally well. Gold is ready to fight for another all-time high in the near future, silver looks poised to do it at any second but realistically over a month or two. Platinum ...read more

It was Ben Franklin who once said, “every problem is an opportunity in disguise…” One of the problems with American culture is that we don’t fix anything until it’s beyond repair…levees, the housing, bubble, debt, healthcare, social security, you name it. Unfortunately this also applies to the ongoing energy crisis. While a ...read more