The Russian and the Frenchman First, let’s return to Mendeleev and his missing elements. Why were there gaps in his table? Did the Russian scientist make errors in arranging the elements? Or, based on the gaps, were these apparently “missing elements” key to another aspect of chemistry? Mendeleev was perplexed, but he ...read more

When you listen to military communications, a lot of words are slang, and actually have quite distinct meanings. For example, there was this time, long ago during my Navy days, when my squadron was working up out at NAS Fallon, Nevada. (“Working up” is Navy shorthand for getting everyone qualified ...read more

There’s a short phrase buried deep within the U.S. Constitution, at Article I, Section 8, Clause 13. It’s short. In fact, it’s only six words. But it practically guarantees us the chance to profit as investors. The Constitution doesn’t spell out many things in black and white. Heck, people litigate constitutional ...read more

[This article originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning on Saturday, January 26, 2013] Stocks up. Gold down. Bitcoin...waaay up. The S&P 500 busted through the 1,500 mark this week. Stocks haven’t been this expensive since 2007...right before they got a whole lot cheaper...for a whole lot longer. Gold, meanwhile, dipped a tad. ...read more

We’ve learned to take the continued improvement in semiconductor manufacturing for granted. Computers, once only affordable to governments and large institutions, have invaded our homes, and now our pockets. Most of us walk around with processing power in the palms of our hands that qualified for supercomputer status just 30 ...read more

January is a busy time for technology and biotechnology companies. During the early weeks of the year, tech companies show off their latest innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Biotech companies, on the other hand, engage investors at what is likely the year’s largest biotech investor event ...read more

“Get rich quick” is a pipe dream and often a scam. It’s also grammatically incorrect. “Get rich slowly” is, however, a very attainable reality. You can try to out-trade the supercomputers sitting on the floors of the big exchanges, if you want. They’re located there because they have the advantage of ...read more

If you’re wondering why today’s Penny Sleuth came 5 hours earlier than usual, it’s because I decided to get today’s issue to you as soon as I could. Before you finish reading, you’ll know why. But first, today, I’d like to tell you about “the other” economy, because it’s precisely ...read more

Today, I’d like to tell you about a way you can get rich from the comfort of your own home. The only risk involved comes from the act of buying one company’s shares, each of which will run you less than 50 cents (actually, 19 cents to be exact). Frankly, this ...read more

Let me begin by saying that I don’t blame you if are skeptical about what I’m going to tell you now. It took me six months to come to grips with the reality and the magnitude of this discovery, despite plenty of solid research from world-class scientists. Finally, I did ...read more