It is appropriate that the fiscal crisis of the West has begun in Greece, the birthplace of Western civilization. Soon it will cross the channel to Britain. The key question, however, is when that crisis will reach the last bastion of Western power, on the other side of the Atlantic. Words: 609

In a global crisis sovereign debt fears have the ability to be contagious destroying investor confidence in the capital markets of troubled countries and the overall global economy alike and when confidence wanes, capital flees it is a surefire recipe for falling dominoes. That's especially true today in the wake of a deep global recession that has left many countries with bloated deficits and debt loads. Words: 707

The key concern for analyzing trading/investing opportunities for the rest of 2010 is whether we are facing a major pullback or 'crash back' to Autumn 2008 or March 2009 lows, or to see markets continue in their “risk on / risk off” pattern of the first quarter. Words: 516

You've probably heard about hedge funds, those super-secretive private pools where millionaires stash their money. Yes, sometimes they blow up. But many hedge funds have a long history of good returns in all market conditions. They do this by combining sophisticated trading techniques with long and short positions in various markets. The problem is that the best hedge funds aren't available to everyday investors in small amounts. Words: 1078

Our leaders in Washington are so detached from reality it begs the question, "What are they smoking?" I'm not talking about the insane amounts of spending that's going on in our capital, or even about the patently unpayable debts and promises they're making to all of us and our foreign creditors. Although I think these things, too, result from whatever drugs they're on inside the beltway I am referring the way Washington manipulates its official statistics. Words: 1107

Many ETFs now present unique approaches to stock and bond investing by tweaking popular and widely-followed benchmarks. The very first ETF, the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY), remains by far the largest U.S.-listed ETF, reflecting investor familiarity with the underlying benchmark, but there are now approximately 30 other issuers now competing for a slice of this still-growing pie. Words: 789

Looking forward, our formula for working out of the current deficit pattern would be to have the Republicans regain control of one house of Congress (but not both houses of Congress plus the White House). The economy fully recovers. I’m not ready to forecast surpluses to come, but I can envision the deficits coming down to reasonable magnitudes. Words: 1438

As inflation rears its ugly head and future demand for gold promises to overwhelm mine supply, gold’s price will launch a parabolic rise from current levels in the near future. Gold has much, much further to go. Words: 536

Being afflicted with an Austrian outlook can turn many a would-be investor into a permabear. Indeed, if I were truly a hardcore advocate of Austrian investing, my only assets would be a shotgun and a bag of gold because, up until now, I have never come across any writing that attempted to weld Austrian thought onto an investment framework. Words: 953

No one ever likes to lose money and one of the best ways to do so is to set, in advance, at what point you are going to sell your security. You can either do it by simply setting a $ price point or a % decline point at which to sell. Such an approach is fraught with emotion and procrastination. There is a more objective way to accomplish the same objective. Words: 636