A core problem with government is that its managers believe that all reality will conform to their wishes if they issue the right orders, pass the right laws, and put the right people in charge. Reality resists this simple-minded approach;…

“Let’s turn on some music…” said Brian, one sultry night in 1966.

We were far from legal drinking age, but there were plenty of saloonkeepers who didn’t seem to care. One ran a bar named “Mickey’s”…a rickety dive built on stilts.…

Clean Up and Rethink Your Portfolio During Vacation

It’s almost the Fourth of July and vacation time beckons… When I think vacation, I think of distance or a relaxing change of venue like a beach resort. But when you are not inundated…

A few weeks ago we witnessed a political act of such unimaginable stupidity, it is hard to not choke at the mention of it.

A cursory review of the details is worth a minute of your time. This compliments of The…

After the global financial industry shed $403 billion in write-downs, European banks are finally turning a corner and boosting their share prices.

German giant Deustche Bank AG (DB) and Switzerland’s UBS AG (UBS) both declared they would not need to raise further…

Oil Over $143; GM Falls to 54-year Low; Starbucks Closes 600 Stores; Nikkei Post 10th Straight Loss; United Health Lands in the Emergency Ward; 900 American Flight Attendants on Standby; Blockbuster Abandons Bid; Microsoft at it Again;

Crude futures closed…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is already in the bear’s grasp. And the U.S. economy may well be headed for a recession. But here’s the ultimate irony: Bear-market investing offers a direct pathway to the biggest profit opportunities most investors…

Today, we’ll keep it short and sweet.

The Dow managed only a piddling 32-point rise yesterday; still no recovery from last week’s big losses.

Oil rose another $1.30 - to close over $141. Gold jumped $16; it will now cost you $944…

Gradually, people are becoming aware that we have an inflation problem, which seems to stretch around the world. Perhaps it is time to think about how to resolve it. Certainly a few coy remarks by some Federal Reserve representative aren’t…

I’ve been corresponding with an acquaintance who works at the National Science Foundation. This guy (“People call me Jim”) is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. And he asked me to note that he is speaking from his…

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke ignored the warnings of most economists last week, and kept the benchmark Federal Funds rate at 2%, far below the actual rate of inflation.

As a result of this non-move, investors can probably…

I believe in the existence of the business cycle. That’s partly because almost everything in life is cyclical, which has been recognized at least since the tale about Joseph and the seven fat years and seven lean years. The Austrian…

Last week the U.S. Federal Reserve moved one step closer to acknowledging reality.

Unfortunately, it didn’t let that admission move it from a policy course firmly guided by fantasy - meaning the central bank opted to stand pat on interest…

There’s a house on my block
That’s abandoned and cold
Folks moved out of it a
Long time ago
And they took all their things
And they never came back
Looks like it’s haunted
With the windows all cracked
And everyone call it
The house, the house where
Nobody lives

Once…

Penny-stock traders are like the Rodney Dangerfields of the investment world - they get no respect from their bigger brethren.

If a penny-stock trader made a killing on a few penny-stock trades, there’s a good chance he or she orchestrated a “pump-and-dump” scam -…

For investors who are used to living large, this has been the year from hell.

The markets are tanking. Food costs 25% more than it did a year ago. Inflation is on the march for the first time in decades. The…

Canada Staving off Recession; H&R Block Rebounds; Kellogg Buys Chinese Cookie Kingpin; Occidental Petroleum: New $1.1 Billion Hydrocarbon Plant; This Bud’s Not For You; Eurzone Inflation Hits 4%; Dubai Ties Into Russia’s Energy Sector; Tyson Takes a Bite Out of…

What not to do with your money now…

It has been the worst June in 77 years, says Bloomberg. In June of 1930, the Dow lost 18%. So far, it is down 9.4% this month. Since this is the last day…

It’s hard to be bullish on gold when there’s so much bad news in the world.

After all, gold offers a refuge against bad times ahead. Like all good insurance, it’s best bought before trouble arrives — not during or after.

And…

Most investors have heard the term “pink sheets” as a reference to stocks. But how many know what they are.

Pink sheets are companies that are traded over-the-counter and that aren’t part of any major stock exchange. But that doesn’t mean…

The benchmark crude oil rose 57 cents to settle at a record-high $140.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday, after a sell-off on Wall Street left the Dow Jones Industrial Average in bear territory.

After plummeting 358 points on Thursday,…

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 20% from its October peak - placing it firmly in bear-market territory after what’s so far been its worst June since the Great Depression - neither institutional traders nor individual investors seem able…

“I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do declare that said national emergency still continues to exist and pursuant to said…”

With those mealy words, America’s Depression-era president ventured from bad luck into treachery. The Executive Order…

America is not alone when it comes to Peak Oil versus cornucopians. Saudi Arabia has its own factions, each led by former executives at Saudi Aramco.

Today’s edition of Mr. Murdoch’s new rag spins a pretty good yarn of Sadad al-Husseini — who’s…

Ten Tips for New Penny Stock Investors

Many people who have never played the stock market game before start with penny stocks. Heck, even if you’ve been around investing for decades, penny stocks are still your ticket to triple-, quadruple- or…

A catastrophe for Iowa farmers will not be just a catastrophe for Midwestern Americans. In the Iowa floods, we’ll see more evidence of how the problems of weird weather (climate change) combine and ramify the problems associated with Peak Oil. In…

European stocks were gutted yesterday (Thursday) as banks took heavy losses in the face of more hawkish inflation comments from European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet that put pressure on already struggling financials.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 closed down…

Oil and jet-fuel prices are in the stratosphere, many of the world’s top airlines have ordered severe cutbacks, and passenger traffic is falling, so why is Dubai funneling 82 billion of its petrodollars into an aerospace project that includes plans…