Investing

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.

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

While I remain cautious on stocks and the risk trade, the technical picture shows that the uptrend to be intact and the bulls should still be given the benefit of the doubt for now. At this point, any call for a correction is at best conjecture [as evidenced by the following 4 indicators]. Words: 399; Charts: 4

"A sluggish economy, political gridlock, tepid earnings, the European debt crisis, high gasoline prices..." I can't really argue with Barron's depiction of the current market environment yet, against all these seemingly negative conditions, the stock market keeps surging higher. Can it possibly continue, though?

Looking at the recent Gold Miners price action and crash-like conditions, I cannot hide my excitement. As we judge the recent cyclical bear market within the longer term secular uptrend, we can see that Gold Miners are becoming very attractive. Whether it is the technically oversold levels that only occur a handful of times over a generation, the rock bottom valuations on nominal or relative basis, or the extreme sentiment that the overall sector is going through, all of these indicators point to one conclusion: we are fast approaching a major buying opportunity. [I support that contention below with the use of 8 charts and a full explanation of each.] Words: 1133; Charts: 8

If similarities between the 5 major spikes in the price of gold since 2001 were applied to the 5th price spike (August, 2011) going forward it would not be unreasonable to expect a spike to $2,600 in June or July of this year and another spike - to somewhere between $4,700 and $5,050 - in January/February of 2015.

This infographic highlight changes in economic indicators, reports relevant news stories, reveals commodity and financial trends, provides technical analysis and looks at the recent price of gold and real interest rates with relevant charts.

On average the most energy intensive process in mining operations is comminution and with rising energy prices and decreasing ore grades, this is an area that smart producers are focusing on. Benefits of improving comminution efficiency include higher potential earnings, better overall environmental impact, and increased outputs as the very enlightening infographic below illustrates.

It’s that time again. The Dow surpassed its all-time high and the S&P 500 is not that far from the tops of 1553 on March 24, 2000 and 1576 on October 9, 2007. Just as in 2000 and 2007, the economic, valuation and political background does not support the budding euphoria. [Let us explain precisely why that is the case.] Words: 680