Tens of billions of dollars per year are being spent worldwide on graphene research. Why? Because graphene could have a dramatic impact on our future by changing the fields of computing, energy, materials and optics. How? By making everything smaller, stronger and more ecologically sustainable. Below is an infographic that provides all the details.

It’s incredible that the Mayans forecast 2012 would be the end of a major era. It looks, today, like we are standing on the eve of massive changes in the world that will have consequences for a long, long time to come. The scene is already set....the euro will collapse, and...other major currencies will collapse. The consequences of these (eventual) collapses will be horrible because we will have a hyperinflationary depression.

We’re coming to the end of government’s ability to borrow money to fund current spending that’s beyond the growth of their economy....and I actually find that massively bullish because that government funding misallocates capital. It’s going to end in the next 2 or 3 years, Europe first, then Japan, then the US....

Everyone who purchases a Treasury bond is purchasing a depreciating asset. Moreover, the capital risk of investing in Treasuries is very high. The low interest rate means that the price paid for the bond is very high. A rise in interest rates, which must come sooner or later, will collapse the price of the bonds and inflict capital losses on bond holders, both domestic and foreign. The question is: when is sooner or later? The purpose of this article is to examine that question. Words: 2600

"Even with the prospect of no QE, if you believe the Fed, gold has not made a new low [since December] so, in my opinion, the absence of QE is priced into gold. On the other hand, if market conditions hit emergency levels, the central banks will be forced to their knees and they will be doing QE by whatever name it’s called. I think at that stage you are going to see gold go ballistic because it will be an admission of failure on the part of policymakers....If investors don’t do something now and take advantage of this funky period we are in, this daily grind of back and forth, they are going to be paralyzed. They will just be bystanders when gold finally takes off.”

The Citigroup economics team...made some noise late last week when they wrote that Greece would exit the euro on January 1, 2013 [and,] despite the results of this weekend's Greek elections which favors bailouts, austerity, and the euro, Citigroup continues to believe Greece is likely to exit the euro. Here's why. Words: 950

If you invest or trade in the equity markets, this is an article you ought to take the time to read and think about. It presents the perceived strengths and weaknesses of China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, seven other Asian countries, and Australia in an informative interactive graphic.

We all know that the true cost of a car doesn't end at it's purchase price but most people don't really know what the annual cost will actually amount to. The next time you are shopping for a car consider these additional costs.

Buying bonds that insure against the extremely unlikely possibility of a specific catastrophic financial event can prove to be a very profitable investment and an ideal portfolio diversification move. I'm talking about cat bonds. Here is probably the first article you have ever read on the subject. Enjoy! Words: 821

How does Greece — an economic basketcase — compare to Germany — an economic powerhouse? The infographic below answers that question. Take a look.