As an investor, you may be sick of the turmoil in the traditional financial markets and looking for alternative forms of investment that can provide decent returns. Alternative investments are considered “alternative” for a reason — they often have limits to their upside, are illiquid, or have an entire set of risks that isn’t fully ... Read More »
Price waves have widened significantly and quickly since September. On 18 separate days last month, the Dow Jones swung by at least 200 points. In one week, it moved more than 400 points a day for four consecutive days. And, on October 4, it abruptly turned from a decline and jumped 400 points in less ... Read More »
By Doug Casey, Casey Research. Even if you are already wealthy, some thought on this topic is worthwhile. What would you do if some act of God or of government, a catastrophic lawsuit or a really serious misjudgment took you back to Square One? One thing about a real depression is that everybody loses. As Richard ... Read More »
I’ve long argued that the stock market is just one area for investors. The stock market is often seen as the default place to invest, but this absolutely isn’t a justified assumption. The stock market only outperforms inflation by a few percentage points — if even that. The stock market is also absolutely and hideously ... Read More »
A popular argument among risk-tolerant investors and entrepreneurs is the idea that debt is a good way to hedge against inflation. Some, including Mike Dillard who is one of my business heroes, argue that if you know inflation is going to be about 5%, and you can buy a house at a 4.5% mortgage, you ... Read More »
In the last few weeks, I’ve been posting less for two reasons — first, I’ve been enjoying learning about economics, investing, and finance on an online membership training program. I’ll be writing about this sometime this week to explain how you can join to learn as well. Second, I’ve actually sold my main gold website, ... Read More »
With everything going on in the world today, we thought it a good time to catch up with the views of longtime friend Richard Maybury, a low-key but highly respected author, lecturer and analyst. In addition to his work consulting with businesses and high net worth individuals on strategic planning, Richard is the editor of ... Read More »
By David Galland, Managing Director, Casey Research. Today I’d like to share a couple of thoughts on the matter of the correction in commodities about which we have been so vocally warning, and which has now occurred. After having written in early April about the possible market response to the end of QE2, specifically about it ... Read More »
A common question I’ve heard plenty of times from readers is whether it’s a good idea to invest for retirement or to pay off one’s mortgage first. While I don’t give personalized investment advice, I will explain my personal preference, and explain why I focus more on doing what makes me financially secure than whatever ... Read More »
I’ve always argued that the best hyper-inflation hedge is an investment in “stuff” or “real investments.” Academics and the politically correct financial community will probably never take such terminology seriously, because it sounds old fashioned, makes me seem suspicious, and sounds like I don’t trust the system. Then again, all of this is true about ... Read More »
In the last few months, we’ve written exhaustively about inflation. The last article published on inflation explained the three stages of inflation, and we offer a 16-part course on inflation completely for free. A common question I receive is, “Are TIPS safe ways to beat inflation?” TIPS are Treasury Inflation Protected Securities — essentially investments ... Read More »
I’m a huge, huge, huge fan of income investing. This should come as no surprise, as I’ve mentioned time and time again that I’m also a huge fan of cash — cash is king, and always will be king. But in this article, I’m going to be focusing on a specific form of income investing ... Read More »
The biggest myth about wealth building is that having a “high income” is the same as being “wealthy”. They’re not the same concepts. People with huge incomes are often flat-out broke. If you keep up with financial news, you’ll hear almost every day about millionaires and billionaires going belly up. You’ll hear about celebrities having ... Read More »
It’s not uncommon to hear economists, politicians, and even normal folks to talk about the different economic “classes” in America. The lower class, the middle class, and the upper class. While dividing people up on the basis of their financial situation is probably not a healthy idea, it’s something that can be useful for looking ... Read More »
We all know that inflation kills cash. Period. Everyone agrees on this, regardless of which political party they’re in. This is why one of the best long-term savings tools is always precious metals. It’s why I launched my gold website and my silver website in the first place — to help people learn how to ... Read More »
This is going to be an extremely politically incorrect article, and I’m already bracing myself for the onsaught of inevitable emails that will be filled with angry investors who have a religious-like faith in the stock market. I don’t have that faith. I do own publicly traded stocks, and probably always will own publicly traded ... Read More »
Every once in a while, we get honored with a guest post from popular investors and financial writers here at Stand Strong Research. Today is no exception. The following post is a by guest post by Marc Lichtenfeld, Investment U’s Healthcare Specialist.: ___________________ “Even the Roman Empire took 400 years to fall. I assume your investment horizon ... Read More »
Food inflation in the United States is up around 3% over the past year – 1.5 times the rate of inflation. What’s more, Andrew Wolf of BBT Capital says a 5% jump is not out of the question and could cause real sticker shock in grocery prices. Already, dairy is up 5.5%, while fruit and ... Read More »
The best penny stocks you can buy right now are none of them. You shouldn’t buy penny stocks. A penny stock is to investing what slot machines are to gambling… a money machine slanted in favor of the system, and not the player. This article is going to be short, because it has an extremely ... Read More »
As the conventional and cheap oil and gas start to dry up in the Middle East… a bigger, even better opportunity seeks to replace it. For many who aren’t familiar with the region, the Middle East comes across as an updated version of Lawrence’s Arabia, only with lots of oil. But this mosaic of cultures ... Read More »
Yes, the economy is bad — and yes, it’s going to get worse. The Federal Reserve is hell-bent on destroying the dollar. The inflation is already starting… food prices, gold prices, energy prices, and commodities in general are exploding. Wednesday, the UN reported that food prices In 2008, food prices around the world hit a ... Read More »
After stellar years for both gold and silver, what prices will precious metals hit in 2011? Here’s an analysis based strictly on their price behavior in the current bull market. First, take a look at the annual percentage gains that gold has registered since 2001 (based on London PM Fix closings): Excluding 2001, the average ... Read More »
Exchange Traded Funds known commonly as ETF’s are investment funds traded on various stock exchanges. An ETF is made up of stocks, bonds or a combination of both, traded at net asset value. Due to the uncertainty of government, whether as a result of social, political, economy collapse or in times of war, precious metals ... Read More »
The economy isn’t getting better. It’s getting worse. The government is hell-bent on destroying the dollar, exploding inflation, and tearing down the US economy. This is bad for the dollar, but good for gold. Because of this, our gold investing course is now completely free. You can get it emailed to you by subscribing to ... Read More »
Today, we have a special treat with a guest post by David Galland. You’ve probably heard of him before, because he’s the managing director over at Casey Research. Below he talks quite a bit about asset allocation — something that most people absolutely must learn. We’ve talked about this in the past here at Stand ... Read More »