Most economists agree that the last era of runaway inflation, 1965-80, was brought on by “guns and butter.” Massive spending on the military during the Vietnam war era combined with massive spending on New Society domestic programs made double-digit inflation nearly inevitable.   We predict that… Read More

Catching a ride on oil’s shirttails   THE OUTLOOK: If you think oil supplies will come on strong enough to bring oil prices down, forget about it. Rising supplies will generate rising demand, and prices will continue to go up. HOW TO PROFIT: Beyond… Read More

Wall Street continues to overlook the company’s considerable growth potential   Second-quarter earnings are in and with just a few exceptions have made for good reading, with more than 80 percent of our companies beating consensus estimates. The one significant miss was Tiffany, which… Read More

Four dividend hikes and a bunch of favorable earnings reports   Second-quarter earnings point up our Income Portfolio’s overall soundness. In particular, our focus on companies with the resources to increase dividend payouts has translated into strong total returns for our utilities and energy stocks. Below… Read More

T. Rowe Price Equity-Income fund has been amazingly consistent   Don’t be afraid to upgrade. That’s good advice in lots of areas, and it’s particularly apt when it comes to investing. A big part of our job in FundFolio is to continually monitor our funds’ performance. Read More

It makes this small-cap explorer its fourth-largest position   In FundFinds, we openly “steal” some of the best ideas of some of the best fund managers. This month, having recently closed out PetroKazakhstan, we sought a new energy holding and turned to top-ranked… Read More

Asset Acceptance Capital knows how to collect; Advent Software struggles   Bad debt, it turns out, can be good business, as shown by our newest Fast Track pick, Asset Acceptance Capital. The company, around for some 40 years but public only since February, buys… Read More

Okay, so they’re not Berkshire, but at least you won’t be an odd-lotter   Berkshire Hathaway is a great stock, one that belongs in every portfolio. One problem, though: the A shares go for over $85,000 a pop, while even the B shares, intended for… Read More

Steven Lord: Sharp Eye On Defense   Steven Lord, editor of the monthly investment letter Advisors Digest and a partner at New York-based money management firm L.M. Waterhouse, has long followed the U.S. defense industry with particularly keen interest. In today’s world of chronic… Read More

The results might surprise you   “If you want to live like a Republican, you’ve got to vote for the Democrats.”   When Rep. Dick Gephardt uttered that quip during a debate last fall, he may not have been thinking specifically about the stock market. Read More