The expectation that we'll just grow our way out of this big fat bubble is not realistic. That has never happened - not once in history - and there's NO CHANCE this will be the first time - not given our aging populations, low productivity and unprecedented debt burdens! Here's my forecast - my expectations - for this very tricky year:

According to the Atlanta Fed’s closely watched “Deflation Probabilities” indicator, overall prices in the U.S., as determined by the Consumer Price Index, now have exactly 0% chance of dropping over the next 5 years, down from a probability of 14.1% in May last year.

Just as it’s smart to question the doctor suggesting test after test for you at a facility he or she owns, it’s important to know how your financial advisor’s pay structure creates incentives that may harm or help your portfolio in the long run. Let's review the various ways there are for you to pay a financial advisor as well as the various ways a financial advisor can get compensated for how he/she "manages' your portfolio.

If you’re a day trader — someone who watches the market minute-by-minute and closes out your positions every evening — then leveraged ETFs can be a great tool. They can also be useful over longer periods if you know what to expect and watch your ETFs like a hawk, or if you have someone trustworthy watching them for you. Words: 574

Stock market can go down as well as up but I have some good news on how you can actually protect yourself from losses while making money if the markets plummet! Words: 701

Follow these five trading tips and you’ll be surprised how much your results can improve. Are they magic? No, not at all. You’ll still have plenty of ups and downs but good trade execution is still a very important step for more active investors. Words: 994

10 questions to ask before deciding whether or not to invest in an oil or gas company. Words: 820

The carbon footprint left by Canada's oil sands has been a target of criticism for years with many environmentalists suggesting that the extraction and processing of bitumen from Alberta's northern oil sands is "two to three times worse" for the environment than any other supply of oil on the planet. Is that legitimate criticism? Words: 692

Whole oceans of ink have been spilled detailing the good and not-so-good points of the closed-end fund CEF (Central Fund of Canada) and the twin ETF's GLD (SPDR Gold Trust) and SLV (iShares Silver Trust) funds. My goal here is to distill the salient points down to the fewest words possible to help make your due diligence task somewhat less...well...tasking. [Let's go!] Words: 650

Below is a summary of the criteria I would want to find in an Investment Advisor. It is a demanding "wish list" so if you know of such an individual please let me know. Words: 640