Although we anticipated the market’s recent pullback and expect it to continue, most of the economic headwinds are likely transitory. While a defensive posture is warranted, there’s no need for investors to go to cash.
Gold is near its lowest price in three months and QE3 is back on the table given last week’s poor employment report. Ben Shepherd explains that the best gold ETF is not the most popular.
Although Obamacare remains controversial, prudent investors should put politics aside and determine how to profit from the law should it withstand the Supreme Court’s scrutiny. While opponents of the law were heartened by last week’s arguments before the Supreme Court, the market’s behavior suggests that it expects the law will ultimately receive the court’s affirmation.
The fund manager of this top-performing stock mutual fund aims for a portfolio with a dividend yield at least twice that of the S&P 500.
Despite suffering a substantial backlash in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster, nuclear power is still the most cost-effective way for emerging markets to meet energy demand. Indeed, the need for affordable energy will likely overcome anxiety about the possibility of a nuclear accident.
Investors are fearful of the patent cliff that many drugmakers face over the next few years, but Merck is one drugmaker that is primed to buck the trend.
China is in the process of shifting from an export-driven economy to a consumer-driven economy. So while Chinese policymakers may attempt to keep inflation in check, they still need their economy to generate considerable growth to engineer this transition.
Edmund Harriss of the Guinness Atkinson China & Hong Kong Fund (ICHKX) says sector selection is key to continue profiting from China despite the country’s economic slowdown.
Business productivity has declined precipitously since the Great Recession. And as the easier comparable periods from the downturn fade into the past, falling productivity will make it far more difficult for companies to beat their earnings expectations. That means the upcoming earnings seasons could put a halt to the market’s rally.
Bond maven Bill Gross has finally entered the ETF arena. ETFs offer almost real-time transparency as compared to the quarterly lag of their mutual fund counterparts, so that means greater insight into the latest moves of one of the world’s savviest investors.
