Taking profits is rarely a bad idea, and staying fully invested at these levels seems foolish. That is why it might pay to raise some capital now, before the sell in May strategy comes up. Having a core position of equities along with some dry powder and keeping a look out for short-term trading opportunities is how I plan to play this market through 2013. [This article presents 5 specific reasons why it might be wise sell in May and go away - or even sooner - this year.] Words: 1280

The economy is heading for unprecedented volatility between rampant inflation and deflation courtesy of Ben Bernanke’s sponsorship of the $7 trillion increase in new Federal debt since 2008. Investors need to plan now while they still have time before the economic chaos begins.

You are damned if you do and damned if you don't! In my opinion, we are about to...[witness] a mean reversion in corporate profitability regardless of outcome as we have most likely has reached its limits for the cycle. Now comes the painful part, which is usually jam-packed with earning disappointments and investor losses.... Words: 485

A lot has been made of strong stock market returns around the world so far this year, but adjusting for currency moves, the returns look a little less flattering. The U.S. dollar is up nearly 4% year to date, while currencies like the Japanese yen, the British pound and the euro are all down. Below is a look at the year-to-date stock market performance of 21 major countries around the world. For each country, we highlight its 2013 performance in local currency vs. U.S. dollar adjusted terms.

The average S&P 500 stock is currently 4.33% above its 50-day, which is a very high reading. The S&P 500 itself is trading 3.5% above its 50-day. Below is a list of the 35 S&P 500 stocks that are currently trading the farthest above their 50-days and a list of the 35 that are the farthest below.

The continuation of the rally has left the S&P 500 and all 10 sectors in overbought territory. All but 6 of the Dow 30 stocks are trading in overbought territory as well. Take a look at the details in the 2 tables below.

When you get into too much debt, eventually really bad things start to happen. This is a very painful lesson that southern Europe is learning right now, and it is a lesson that the United States will soon learn as well. Words: 826

The mainstream media is absolutely giddy that the U.S. unemployment rate has hit a "four-year low" of 7.7% but is unemployment in the United States actually going down?...Headlines all over the nation boldly declared that "236,000 jobs" were added to the economy in February, but what they didn't tell you was that the number of Americans "not in the labor force" rose by 296,000. That is how they are getting the unemployment rate to go down - by pretending that huge numbers of unemployed Americans don't want jobs. Words: 596; Chart: 1; Table: 1

My portfolio version of Benjamin Graham’s time- tested strategy for defensive investors has has only trailed the markets in 3 of the last 12 years and has dramatically outperformed the S&P 500 during that period realizing a 19% (annualized) return vs. only 2% (annualized) for the S&P 500. Let's take a look at the method and this year's group of Graham stocks. Words: 790

Russia may be the ninth largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product, but its abundance of natural resources in the Ural Mountains, Siberia and the Russian Far East makes it much more important in the world of commodities. Below, we dissect Russia’s commodity industry to give investors an in-depth look...and some specific ideas on how investors might participate. Words: 935