Michael Spence, professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics, believes there's "probably a 50%" chance of the global economy slipping into recession. Nouriel Roubini disagrees and says flatly that a recession is coming and that it is a mission impossible now to stop it. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank places the odds at 85% of a recession. David Rosenberg, another very savvy economist, says that by 2012, the chance of a second recession is 99%. Peter Schiff, who with Roubini, correctly and accurately predicted the collapse on Wall Street and ensuing recession, thinks one is 100% certain. [Let's take a look at why they hold such views.] Words: 829

Investing in the stock market is hard enough. The last thing you need is to find yourself owning a company that has questionable accounting, disclosure or other policies. [Below is] a review of 5 things you should watch out for when investigating companies for a stock investment. Words: 740

With gold miners, in general, so attractively valued relative to the gold bullion price, the question becomes which stocks are the most compelling and have the best leverage to robust precious metals prices...In order to find the diamonds in the rough, I use what I call “The Five M’s” for mining stocks... Market cap, Management, Money, Minerals and Mine life cycle. [Let me explain each .] Words: 1146

This article identifies the top 10 most owned stocks by the 49 value-oriented "super investors" as tracked by Dataroma.com and those stocks that are most popular with said 49 investors. Take a look! Words: 947

One market trend that seems to be attracting more and more attention is the large performance gap between gold bullion and gold stocks. The price of gold bullion has increased roughly 28 percent in 2011, while the S&P/TSX Gold Index is down [about] 1 percent. [Let me convey why that is the case.] Words: 1001

As investors look for safe havens in a potential market panic, I am reminded of the adage, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." Today, I see several metaphorical one-eyed men in this land of the blind that could serve as safe havens were there to be a market panic. All of them have significant flaws. In this post I would like to discuss them one by one. Words: 780

Housing makes up 42% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with the rest of it - food, energy, clothing, recreation, education, transportation, toys, cosmetics, etc. - making up the other 58%. [The current] softness of housing prices is artificially suppressing the growth of the CPI inflation rate [but with the coming increase in lumber costs that is about to change. Let me explain] Words: 772

The Baltic Dry Index is often cited by economists as a bellwether of global economic activity. The index, which measures the price of transporting raw materials by sea, has now risen by more than 21% from its recent lows and is also up 16% in the last week alone ...calling into question the advent of a global recession. [Let us explain.] Words: 292

Benjamin Graham, known as the father of value investment, is famous for his simple, yet powerful, valuation method as first explained in his 1973 book, Intelligent Investor, and later updated in his book entitled Renaissance of Value. His "Graham Number" approach has been adapted and applied to all 30 stocks listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Index to determine which of the stocks have above average safety factors - of which only 10 do. Below is an explaination of the approach, the formula and the results for all 30 stocks. Words: 1220

We are in a "new normal" environment with a future of low returns and high volatility. The Fed is pledging to keep short-term interest rates near zero through mid-2013. [Nevertheless,] in this low-yield world, there are still plenty of large ETFs offering yields higher than the 10Year Treasuries. [Let me explain in detail below.] Words: 723