“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.”— Old saying, recently revived in Kung Fu Panda I watched Kung Fu Panda last weekend as part of my son’s 10-year birthday party. There…

We don’t play politics at Penny Sleuth. Frankly, we can’t agree on politics. But that doesn’t mean smart investors should ignore what Washington’s doing. Some of the largest profits in history spawned from legislation and court rulings. Take…

There’s no doubt about it: Markets around the globe have been hammered over the past few months. The one-two punch of tight credit and slowing growth has punished just about every investor out there. And I’m not just talking stock investors,…

If you were to view a list of the 75 richest people in all of history — adjusted for inflation — you would see names of royalty and powerful businessmen from around the world. Of these 75 names, 14 are Americans born within nine years of each…

Investing in the stock market is an all-out war. No, we’re not referring to the madness on the trading floors or the tug of war between buyers and sellers. Investing is actually a war against our own impulses. An e-mail exchange with a colleague…

The past year has not been kind to stock investors. The historic collapse during October and November affected every industry and influenced all sectors of the market. Several penny stocks, however, have still managed to turn in some impressive…

Last Friday was the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. It seems we can’t escape looking back over our shoulders at the 1930s. We teeter closer to the sequel no one wants to see: Great Depression II. We got horrible news on the job…

So far, I’ve heard from ethanol advocates, the anti-ethanol/biofuels crowd and some very inquisitive (and maybe brilliant) skeptics. So without further adieu, I’m going to jump into the mailbag headfirst to help answer some of your questions and…

On January 20, 2009, millions will line the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to watch the 44th President take the oath of office. And while conversation in the District centers on hope and change, we will be talking about the best way to cash in on…

Want to tap into the largest financial market in the world? It’s not bonds, or mutual funds, or money markets… Even the stock market can’t compare in size to the power of this moneymaking behemoth. Chances are, you’ve seen forex trading ads…

In the corporate tax world, one dreaded phrase reappears when you talk about dividends: “Double Taxation”. All incorporated companies are taxed on the income they make. The shareholders are taxed again on any dividend distribution they receive…

Fifteen years ago, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur decided to launch his own startup venture. The economy was struggling in the wake of the early ’90s recession. Home values were down across the country, and the national unemployment rate was in…

“Global Demand for Oil to Plummet,” screams the headline of the Financial Times on Dec. 10. Huh? No it won’t. Who are they trying to kid? Global oil demand is not going to “plummet.” And for the FT to say so is just plain silly, if not…

With yesterday’s rate cut, and with the bailout money in excess of $1 trillion by most estimates, it appears as if the government is setting the stage for massive inflation in 2009. So, what’s in it for you? Inflation is the silent predator…

What do frozen desserts, designer handbags, and underwear have in common? Two of the best investment opportunities this decade. Allow me to explain… A single company – one you’re probably familiar with – sold all three seemingly unrelated…

We may be on the cusp of a great global boom in the automotive industry. That may be hard to believe given all the ink spilled on the troubles at the mossbacked mastodons known as GM, Ford and Chrysler. But there are reasons to believe something big…

The bell of American finance has cracked. It was a long time coming, as I’ll show you. The biggest change in the American economy in the last generation or so has been the rise of finance at the expense of making things. This seemed to work for a…

Let’s get right to it: The recent markets have been wreaking havoc on just about every trader and investor out there. And if you’re holding stocks, the news is downright grim. Take a look at this graph… As you can see from this graphic,…

The robotics industry, as Bill Gates recently said, is the next PC industry. Investing in robotics today is comparable to buying companies like Apple, IBM or Intel in the early days of personal computers. Robotics will grow into a major industry,…

On Monday, former retail giant Circuit City (CC: NYSE) announced that it would be closing 155 stores and cutting thousands of jobs in hopes of staving off bankruptcy. Adding insult to injury, Circuit City received notification from the NYSE on…

Let’s face it — penny stocks get a bad rap in the financial news media. But despite what the pundits tell you, the jabs at cheap stocks are rarely justified. It’s time to bust Five Myths About Penny Stocks. 1.) They’re Riskier Than Other…

Making money in stocks is about more than just buying and selling at the best prices. Yes, that’s the biggest part — but there’s another side to making money that most people overlook. Say you buy 500 shares of a $1 stock. Then six months…

As expected, molybdenum prices fell sharply over the last two weeks. The metal has finally fallen in line with the rest of the commodities. For us, this is a benefit. Molybdenum is not traded like copper, zinc, or nickel. It’s such a rare element;…

While most investors look for industries they expect to boom in the future, there’s a solid investment case to be made for buying stocks in bad industries. Jeremy Siegel, one of Wall Street’s best investment minds, said that, “Some of the most…

Question: Where is the price of petroleum going? Eric Sprott: Long term, up… I can see it hitting $200 or $300 or $400 a barrel. — Barron’s, Aug. 18, 2008 Eric Sprott runs the Sprott Offshore Fund, a fund that’s delivered sizzling returns of…

Where’d you find your last slam-dunk stock? Sometimes it seems like looking for investment ideas can be the toughest part of the investing game. After all, there are tens of thousands of stocks out there — way too many to consider one by one. If…

The battle between credit contraction and government-sponsored inflation rages on. For several weeks, the forces of credit contraction have been winning. There are fears that banks will never expand lending again, and that everyone with debt wants…

As you probably have heard, it was announced today that Jerry Yang, founder of Yahoo, had stepped down from his post as CEO. Although the stock is up about 10% today, the future of Yahoo is still very much up in the air. As I told my readers a few…

Clientele Effect: The preference of an investor or group of investors for buying a particular type of security. — BNET Business Dictionary We’ve seen a run up of banks, real estate, and commodities, just to see all three crash in unforgettable…

Some concepts I can explain to my 9-year old son, Calvin, but economists with advanced degrees seem not to get it. Calvin, named after my favorite ballplayer (Cal Ripken, though my wife hates it when I say that. “We didn’t name him after Cal…

I was recently looking through my pocket-copy of the U.S. Constitution for the “Bailout Clause.” But somehow I must have missed it. If any readers out there can find the Bailout Clause, please send me a note and let me know where it is. There…

We’ve talked a lot recently about what the market is doing, and how bleak the whole investment world is. Today, we’re going to step back and let you in on what truly matters…profiting from penny stocks. You see, even in the worst of times,…

The Internet is often portrayed as an infinite resource — an endless collection of content and information. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, the Internet is a vast resource. But as with oil, the fuel that powers the Web is finite.…

“When you look back over the last 10 recessionary environments, what tends to lead back on the upside is small-cap equities.” — William Greiner, Chief Investment Officer of UMB Asset Management “Like springtime crocuses, small-cap stocks…

When the going gets tough, people count on Lady Luck to turn their misfortunes into riches. And much as with alcohol, studies show lotteries record their strongest sales when the economy weakens. A Rockefeller Institute of Government study cited in…

We’ve been witnessing utter political bumbling in Washington, D.C. — beyond the scale of a mere $400 million “Bridge to Nowhere.” Here’s the central fact: Congress spent years enabling the crooked dealings of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and…

“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…

Contrarian thinking is an important ingredient to investment success. Running against the crowd often produces investment success…but not always. The essence of a contrarian investment approach is, as author Humphrey Neill memorably put it,…

Congratulations on making it through yet another week of panic, margin calls, and forced selling! If you’re surviving, and you’re not down too much this year, you’re better off than most money managers. Out of the thousands of hedge funds in…

“No Halting the Market’s Avalanche,” reads a headline in the Boston Globe. In the last year, the world stock markets have turned from business as usual into what the Motley Fool recently called “the stock market week from hell.” Despite…

“It’s not easy being green,” sang Kermit the Frog many years ago on Sesame Street. At the time, Kermit was simply referring to the fact that he’s a frog, frogs are green and it’s tough out there for green frogs — especially if they can…

Warren Buffett has never claimed the ability to predict short-term stock market action. Instead of relying on charts and technical indicators, the greatest investor this country has ever seen has trusted his own analysis. By picking through…

In a scene from Douglas Adams’ Life, the Universe and Everything, Arthur Dent and his alien friend Ford Prefect end up at a cricket match in modern-day England. A crowd of spectators is enjoying the game when a giant spaceship descends from the…

I’ve written about RNA interference often and will in the future. After spending weeks studying and talking to leaders in the field, I have to admit that I’m boggled at the rate of progress. It’s a sign of these accelerating times that the…

We spent last Wednesday at one of our regular closed-door editor meetings here in Baltimore. These meetings are usually routine — Agora Financial editors convene in Baltimore and we debate our best investment ideas. But thanks to the current state…

The price of oil goes up. The price of oil goes down. On July 11, 2008, oil sold for a record $146 per barrel. Just over two months later, on Sept. 15, oil plunged through the $100 mark for the first time since last February and was changing hands…

Here at Penny Sleuth, we feel a balanced portfolio should include more than just penny stocks. Penny stock investors are more aggressive than most. We like fast-growing groundbreaking stocks with technologies and catalysts that can double their…

In this market, it’s not enough to simply invest in the “next hot stock.” As penny stock investors, we are looking at all our options. We’ve received tons of emails about one particular investment, and we want to share our response with you…

There are thousands of investment techniques to choose from. Today, we are going to show you one of our favorites. This technique let’s you invest in penny stocks practically for free. It’s a two-part system that should protect you in all…

While in Vienna last month, I grabbed hold of the international edition of The Wall Street Journal. Over a classic Viennese breakfast of coffee, a boiled egg and pastry, I stumbled across an interview with Ted Forstmann, titled, “The Credit Crisis…

On Nov. 19, 1984, you could have picked up shares of the emerging biotechnology firm Amgen, Inc. (AMGN: NASDAQ) for $3.63. Those shares rose steadily for the next 20 years and were worth more than $85 as recent as 2005. Taking into account Amgen’s…

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…

Western nations — the U.S., in particular — are now experiencing the bow wave of a profound change in the current and future availability of oil. According to recently published data, oil output from all major Western oil companies is on an…

In the world of energy and scarcity, the name of the next president will matter to us quite a bit. “People are policy,” as Ronald Reagan used to say. But then again, a lot of energy and scarcity facts defy party labels. The energy resources are…

Every morning, I descend on my bevy of newspapers, which I cheerfully digest over a hot mug of tea. This week, the headlines of all the newspapers carry the same story: The U.S. government’s takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie…

While both presidential candidates are trying to outdo each other by implementing the words geothermal, solar, and wind into every stump speech, oil’s hay day is by no means over. We will continue to drive cars run on gasoline, homes will continue…

You hear it from talking heads on TV, financial pundits, brokers and analysts. They want you to believe that you have to buy large, expensive stocks, because it’s how they make money off of you. If you choose to believe it, it will keep you at the…

I hope when you read the last article I wrote to you on economic basics you walked away with one simple concept: Most of us are already pretty darn good at economics! In fact, when we talked about the general outlook for the economy, overall growth,…

Last year, a tiny semiconductor design startup, BeSang Inc., announced a breakthrough in 3-D chip fabrication. Specifically, it touted a new technique for radically improving the performance and cost-effectiveness of chips produced by conventional…

There’s no question… China is getting richer. Its economy is booming. Its middle class is growing. But that doesn’t mean everything is going so smoothly. Take commuting for instance. According to a UC Berkley study, urban population in China…

Sitting in the middle of the fifth row of the periodic table, molybdenum is one of the most-often overlooked elements. World-renowned chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered it only two years after the U.S. declared independence from Britain. But it…

Frank Holmes is the CEO of U.S. Global Investors, a money management firm honed in on the commodity bull market. I had dinner with him recently at the Blue Water Cafe in Vancouver. Over salmon and flying squid, as well as an excellent local ale, we…

“Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes her laws.” — Mayer Amschel Rothschild Let’s observe a moment of silence to mourn the slow demise of capitalism in the U.S. Our government is now overtly manipulating the stock…

No matter whom you’re voting for this November, one thing is clear — $4 gasoline isn’t good for anyone’s pocketbook. Automakers have been slow to offer up alternatives beyond the concept cars and the only marginally more efficient hybrids…

Why are precious metals moving upwards? After all, the market smashed them down all summer as the dollar strengthened. The short answer is that right now gold and silver are the only decent game in town. Yes, there are a few other asset and income…

There are an unusually large number of bears roaming our neighborhood this fall, and I am not talking about stocks or commodities. I know of two actual bear attacks since July — I guess that is not all that surprising in the Pacific Northwest.…

“Taking the long view, we are running out of dirt.” — David R. Montgomery, geologist Over the summer, Iran bought a large amount — more than ONE million tons — of wheat from the U.S. That’s something we’ve not seen in 27 summers. In…

Risk… It’s a word that makes most investors think twice. But should it be? Bill Miller knows a thing or two about risk. As one of Legg Mason’s portfolio managers, he was responsible for managing a sizable chunk of the firm’s $923 billion in…

“Gastown, Vancouver’s oldest neighborhood…founded on the shoulders of desperate alcoholics by an entrepreneurial bar owner.” — Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations It might be too much to say Vancouver got its start with a bunch of…

I’d like to tell you about a couple of important new breakthroughs that have just shown up on the radar. Both have enormous potential, in terms of both your health and your portfolio. I came across the first while looking through lists of new…

In 1936, one smart six-year-old purchased a few six-packs of Coca Cola from his grandfather’s grocery store for a quarter per pack and resold each bottle for a nickel apiece. With that initial 20% profit he made of each six-pack, the world’s…

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…

Forget financial, energy, and retail companies. Well, maybe you shouldn’t just forget them. There are deals there, too. But, something much better is starting and you need to know about it… For the past few years, Wall Street has beaten down one…

As I drive across Canada and down into North Dakota, I’m seeing energy everywhere. The farms are well tended, and the agricultural productivity is awe-inspiring. There are wind farms up, and going up, on many a hillside. Power lines crisscross the…

I was very fortunate to join my dad, Steve Sarnoff, as co-editor of Options Hotline in 1995, and I worked closely with him for four years. If you aren’t familiar with my dad, he’s an author of more than 60 books, editor of several newsletters,…

I’ve long held that mutual funds are full of bad habits, like a boy who can’t stop picking his nose and burping at the dinner table. If you had to design a poor investor, you need look no further than the typical mutual fund. For example, the…

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…

On the energy front, we’ve seen several days of declining prices. Oil has led the way, falling from about $146 to $112. Coal and natural gas sold down, as well, as did many energy companies and service firms. So we’ve seen quite a tumble, led by…

Greetings once again. I hope you’re having a good week. There are just a few things I’d like to deal with today. One is the persistent pessimism I’m seeing in both the media and the polls. I just looked at Gallup’s daily numbers, and the…

The relationship between silver and gold is an old and complicated one, but we recently ran across a new way to look at it that proves why silver is the precious metal to own even if gold jumps to $2,000 an ounce. Many “silverbugs” out there use…

Many feel that the stock market is only truly understood by the fat cats on Wall Street. The intricacies of daily stock movements confuse outsiders. But in reality, that’s nothing compared to what it was like a century ago. The old days of…

As a nation, we recycle almost 33% of our waste — a rate that has doubled in just 15 years. According the EPA, The U.S. now recycles 52% of all paper, 31% of all soft drink bottles, 45% of all aluminum cans, 63% of all steel packaging, and 67% of…

Some of the greatest economic shifts in history are associated with big political swings, if not with politicians by name. Think of Hooverism, Roosevelt’s New Deal, Reaganism or British Thatcherism. But those are just labels. Things are not as…

Last year, I devoted several issues of my Strategic Investment service to the web of structured finance. I think it paid off. Since then, banks and brokerage stocks were punished. Energy and material stocks have soared-thanks to the Fed’s…

“All a man has to do to get rich in America is find out where people are going, get there first and buy land.” — Gen. Douglas MacArthur Bob Hope, the great American comedian and Hollywood star, was actually born in England. He once quipped,…

Here’s what we know. Prices for both gold and oil were moving upward for most of the spring and well into summer. Then prices hit a peak. Gold touched $980 per ounce. Oil topped $146 per barrel. Now prices are falling. Back when oil was in the…

Awhile back, I wrote a report about “Penny Retirement Stocks.” Basically, it detailed how you can collect income that will help you retire through dividend-paying penny stocks. Today, I’d like to dive back into that issue and give you a fresh…

Imagine a municipal bus that’s powered by an electric motor, crawling along the crowded streets of Beijing. What does this bus have in common with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California? Or imagine offshore oil…

“You know, you saw subprime go first, and then, on a slight lag, you saw home equity, and now in the lag, you’re seeing prime go. And it’s exactly the same loss factors. But remember, the components of where we are in the states…[are] very…

Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Mogadishu, Mumbai, Mangalore…all trading cities along the fabled rim of the Indian Ocean. These eastern African cities thrived between the 12th and 18th centuries, with ships sailing in and out on monsoon winds.…

What’s the best way to pick option plays? While there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of different answers to that question, now is not the time to get overly sophisticated. I like to keep it simple, and I think you will, too. Longer-Term…

Someone just e-mailed me… How exactly do you go about finding stocks to buy? And after I read it, I really began to think about how my investing process works. How do I go about identifying, researching and ultimately buying a stock? For many…

Precious metals have taken the back seat in the recent rally in commodities. While corn, soybeans, oil and other commodities were making either fresh contracts or all-time highs on a daily basis, precious metals simply consolidated. This was to be…

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 by everyday distractions…that is, the perfect opportunity to…

“On a human level, the garbage man is just as important as the teacher or a rock star or a president, because you have to have them. The world would have been dead a long time ago without garbage men.” — Herbie Hancock In a world full of…

Stocks ended the holiday-shortened trading week looking for a bottom. Will they find it this week and test sellers’ mettle by mounting a strong snapback rally or will buyers continue to spit for distance like watermelon seeds at your 4th of July…

According to a recent survey, three-quarters of the American public think that we’re currently in a recession. The Dow is trading around the same price it was seven years ago and only seems to be heading lower. Fuel and food prices are at all time…

By a wide margin, the United States has the largest coal reserves on the planet. The coal supplies in the U.S. account for 95% of its fossil fuel reserves and a whopping 60% of the fuel reserves in the world, according to the American Coal…

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…

With the price of oil doubling in the past year, there are more fingers being pointed than solutions being offered. Unfortunately, one of the biggest “culprits” garnering much of the blame has been the oil speculators. Congress has decided to…

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…

One of the best ways to make money in the stock market is to not buy stocks at all. But instead, buy a stock’s derivative — or option. This way, you can actually control more shares of stock than you would normally be able to afford with limited…

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…

Grading a junior is an important process where many analysts fall short. Grading juniors is much different than grading a major gold producer — that’s why I came up with a set of concepts that I always look for in my junior recommendations. In…

Ultra high-strength and super-light steels are the plastics of the 21st century. There is high demand for these steels for use in everything from jet engines to rail components. In turn, there is a big push for the quirky metals so critical in…

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…

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…

Not that long ago, the media were full of warnings that Big Pharma was running out of steam. Patents were expiring, and not enough new candidates were in the pipeline to keep them profitable. We don’t have much interest in Big Pharma here. Big…

Your next opportunity was born through the 1911 Supreme Court case Grigsby v. Russell. Until this historic ruling, life insurance policy owners were barred from selling their policies. That is, until Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes decided that life…

As oil prices continue to rise worldwide, cities and communities have to take another look at how citizens are getting where they need to go. One point has become abundantly clear: public transportation needs to improve and evolve in a world where…

About 7,050 feet above sea level, high in the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains, lies a little frozen meadow called Gin Flat. It got its name from a speak-easy that closed long ago. Nestled amid a forest of pine and cedar, a little scientific outpost…

There is no more disruptive or transformational technology than stem cell therapy. The ability to repair or replace aged and diseased body parts, from hearts to brain cells, will dramatically improve both the length and quality of life. It will…

A close friend of mine has been a freelance photographer for almost a decade now. And while it’s nice to know whom to call when you need a beautiful snapshot, it’s even more convenient to know someone who owns the latest camera…

Last November, Intel announced a suite of new chips boasting 420 million transistors per dual core. This nearly doubling of transistor density over Intel’s previous product line may be the biggest transistor advancement in 40 years. By…

Today I want to tell you about a small company with great prospects and great liquidity. At just $0.05 a share you can pick up a couple thousand shares for just $100. Silverado Gold Mines (SLGLF.OB: OTC BB) has been slowly delineating and mining…

Typically, when investors hear “pink sheet stocks,” they think of tiny companies, more often bad than good, and for the analysts out there, it means a ton of work lies ahead of them. It’s infinitely harder to dig up information on small cap,…

During a trip to D.C., I talked with a group of people in the field of energy research. I heard some of the “inside baseball” information on one major DOD program that will convert large amounts of U.S. coal into synthetic liquid fuel. This will…

What will happen when there is less oil? U.S. oil demand will fall, whether anybody likes it or not. The oil will simply not be available in the volumes that the government, industry and people in general have come to expect. So the phenomenon of…

The world keeps turning and the resources get used up. It’s really quite simple. Despite that fact, the debates rage over Peak Oil, Peak Food and peak everything else. It’s about as sensible as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. So the…

An Investment-Grade Nation The Best Play in Brazil is Traded Over-the-Counter in the U.S. Sometimes, investing is all about being in the right place at the right time. Floundering economic conditions can set back even the best-run companies, while…

It’s pretty clear that TickerHound, while certainly focused on finance, is first and foremost a web-based business.  Therefore, I tend to pay a lot of attention to the web startup scene.  I like to know what else is out there, what’s working,…

The world of Round Hill consists of two distinct countries with two distinct economies separated by one gigantic ocean. The sun rises on the Independent Republic of Hamlin in the east and sets on the Democratic Nation of Stuart in the west. For more…

If you didn’t invest in this nuclear equipment provider (NEP) company on March 31, you missed out. Within minutes of the latest news, shares for this NEP started rising, and currently, they are sitting 25 percent above their March 31 price. Too…

Corn ethanol does nothing but bring the bushel price to an all-time high, vaguely put a dent into our energy demand, pollute lands with pesticides and drink up a limited water supply… Bottom line is, corn is a food, not a fuel. Well there’s a…

The global wireless industry has been exploding — over 250 million subscribers in the U.S., over 500 million in China, there are more people on this planet that own a mobile phone than those that own a computer — bottom line, this is the place…

I received an email from a Washington, D.C. advocacy group urging me to urge my U.S. Senators to “support the Climate Security Act.” Climate security? This is legislation to set up emissions trading or a “Cap & Trade” system for…

Most of us Americans are so accustomed to a world of plenty; we have a hard time imagining a world of scarcity — much less making investments based upon this idea. But the energy markets provide a very powerful example of what happens when…

This deal is a must-own for your portfolio… But before I tell you what it is, I want to give you a sense of how big this really is: It’s exactly like being there for the birth of the offshore oil and gas industry. This industry, born of the…

Splenda — utilizing the artificial sweetener sucralose — has been successfully marketed in the U.S. and across the world as a safe substitute for sugar. Its slogan says it all — “Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar.” The sweetener’s…

Wow, what a week this has been! I landed in China about seven days ago and have been completely amazed by how much it’s changed in the last few years. I haven’t set foot in Beijing since late 2005 and the difference between then and now becomes…

So far this year, the market has been pretty unfriendly to everyone. Unless you are running an energy or commodities fund, you are probably in the red thus far. Just take a look at what the market here in the U.S. has been up to YTD: As you can see…

The returns are coming in from the distant precincts of the oil patch, and the winner is……… Oil! The price for oil has barely budged based on the Saudi Summit. There has been no summer sell-off, and I’d be surprised to see a significant…

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 even quintuple-digit gains. You just…

One of the most important terms in investing is “market cap.” Every company is some kind of “cap.” There are large-caps, small-caps, mid-caps and even microcaps. I’ll get into the differences among them in a minute. But first let’s…

“[Nature] is rich, she is generous, she refuses to no one who will ask his share of her treasure of which she has inexhaustible reserves in the trees, in the mountains, in the sea. But one must know how to climb the tall trees, how to go into the…

“Look at this, OK? I want you to remember this face here… This is the guy behind the guy behind the guy.” — Swingers Smooth-talking Trent, along with his bumbling, nice-guy sidekick, Mike, are two struggling actors trying their best to pick…

One of the questions we get a lot here at Penny Sleuth HQ is, “How exactly do I buy penny stocks?” Buying penny stocks isn’t much different from buying most any other stock, but there are some things worth knowing if you’re going to make a…

Well, it looks like my article on China last week raised some new questions for you and some of your fellow investors out there. One of the questions that hit TickerHound as a result was: “Ok, China’s a great place to be — but what stocks can…

My grandmother, Oget Palm, was just a little girl when my family was scheduled to sail from Europe to New York in 1912. Her parents (my great-grandparents) and her siblings were prepared to make the trip from Gothenburg, Sweden, where they lived.…

Gold Gold was taken to the woodshed the past few weeks… Support at $875 was broken and caused a sharp run to the major multi-decade support area of $850. I don’t see Gold going any lower but if it does it still does not signal an end to the bull…

Message boards on financial websites are interesting reads. People will say anything. But, there is one consistent theme that fascinates me… I spend a lot of time researching tiny, over-the-counter companies. Many of which are too small to mention…

The media have dubbed it “the new age of epidemics.” From SARS to cancer, diabetes to the flu, we live in a world of increasingly powerful germs and diseases. Drug companies large and small have renewed their interest in one specific health care…

The roar of the engines. The smell of the jet fuel. The thrill of the takeoff roll. Flying is an experience like no other. As a pilot, it’s one that still gets me excited, whether I’m flying a Cessna or sitting in the back of an airliner. And…

Last week, I wrote about a stock that I think is a fabulous addition to any long-term investor’s portfolio (especially one who is looking for some exposure to China). But that obviously isn’t a stock that’s likely to triple this year. That’s…

We are in a bear market, but Wall Street will never admit it. It is so emphatic in a bull market, but loathe to address bad times. I know the market is only off 10-15% from its October 2007 peak, but just wait. I spent 32 years as a securities…

“If American travelers from three decades ago were suddenly transported to the present day, they would be aghast at the condition of our national transportation system.” — National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission,…

George Orwell’s famous novel 1984 painted an eerie picture of the future, when every citizen’s actions would be monitored and recorded. And although his writings were works of science fiction, many of his views of a surveillance society are…

For every industry on the planet, the business cycle is inevitable — start-up, growth/expansion, maturity and decline. Each part of the cycle is characterized by the different levels of economic prosperity and competition of the industry…

The highest natural arch in the world is 25 miles southwest of Kashi, Xinjiang, China. It’s made of sandstone and nearly 1,200 feet tall. Eric Shipton (1907-1977), the famed British mountain climber, “discovered” the arch in 1947. Of course,…

Are you old enough to remember when the U.S. used silver coins? I am. U.S. coins used to contain 90 percent silver. In some ways, it was a sign of mutual respect between the people and their government. The people trusted the U.S. government to keep…

Almost every company spins its wheels when it starts out. It takes time to develop a product, and then have it catch on with the public to the point the business is making some serious cash. Herein lies our quest with penny stocks. Our goal is to…

Gold could be ready to end the summer doldrums even before summer begins. The most relevant area of resistance in the way of this outlook is the 30-point range between $890 and $920. If gold can break through and find support at these values it will…

Has oil hit its peak price or not? The answer to that question leads us to ask whether or not commodities are a bubble about to burst. Barron’s recent cover story on commodities came down on the side that the party was over. I believe the charts I…

As Buffett Places Bets Abroad, Your Profits May Still Be in the U.S. Buffett’s Recession and Our Discount Retailer’s Profits As I was doing my usual bout of “marathon weekend reading” I came across an interesting piece on Warren Buffett’s…

China is the new Germany. At the end of the Second World War, Germany was an “emerging market.” It was industrializing rapidly and producing brisk economic growth. Today, Germany is a mature “developed market” that grows slowly if it grows…

Stock Splits — for many, they’re one of the big mysteries of the investment world. But believe it or not, owning a stock that’s planning a split isn’t as big of a deal for investors as you might think. Let’s take a look at what a stock…

Major developments are taking place in the precious metals world. As we have noted here in Penny Sleuth, the price of gold is destined for upwards of $2,000. However, we are currently experiencing a very natural correction. With everything in the…

Even during bear markets, it is rare to find a small, growing company trading at a hefty discount to its true value. When we’re screening penny stocks, a low P/E ratio usually sets off alarms. Why is this stock so cheap? We sometimes ask.…

When I look at the policies that central banks are adopting today, everywhere, I see an inflationary epidemic that is feeding on itself and confirming the bull market in gold. In the U.S. — arguably, an epicenter of the modern global monetary…

In the world of finance, “options” isn’t just a word for your investment choices — options are a financial instruments that Wall Street gurus and individual investors alike use to make serious money. Most people don’t get it, but we can…

You’ve heard the good old story starting, “A guy walks into a bar,” right? OK, here’s my version of it: This guy walks into a supply house and goes up to the clerk behind the counter. He says, “Excuse me, but could I buy some…

Short selling is one of the most effective ways to make money on a stock that’s losing money for its investors, but the fact of the matter is that most investors don’t have any experience with shorting. Here’s the long and short of shorting…

China’s growth is no longer breaking news. It becomes exceedingly clear that China is going through a period very similar to what the Western world saw at the turn of the 20th century. Sure, we could give you the typical facts. You know China will…

For one moment, forget about stock markets as divine measures of prosperity. Focus on the lives of ordinary citizens. We read that 28 million Americans will subside on food stamps this year — the most since Congress enacted the program in the…

Finding ideas with the potential to turn into powerful trends can lead to impressive profits. But this strategy has its inherent risks. After all, a trend could turn out to be just that — a blip on the radar screen. Trends can get an investor into…

I’ll start in the tiny Swiss resort of Davos, the site of the World Economic Summit’s annual conference. Davos has long been a popular place with the well-to-do and those suffering from respiratory ailments. The writer Robert Louis Stevenson…