Since 1945, Greek elections have swung back and forth between two parties, similar to the Republicans and the Democrats here in the U.S.—very predictable. With the Greek unemployment rate at a record 21.7% in February and youth unemployment at an alarming 54%, the elections in Greece held earlier in May saw this 60-year political cycle come to an abrupt end. The parties that support the European Union and the austerity measures—and the parties that traditionally held power for over 60 years—only garnered ...

The stock market and a number of commodities are in correction and this is no surprise at all. I want to repeat my view that all kinds of solid, growing gold mining companies are becoming very attractively priced right now and, as a sector, it’s worth putting gold stocks on your radar screen. It’s a bit too early to jump right in with the spot price of gold likely to experience more downside. From a stock market perspective, most gold stocks ...

The bulls have been good to us so far in 2012, despite a hiccup in April; but May has started on a positive note. The stock market continues to show optimism, with the key stock indices displaying a golden cross, with the 50-day moving average (MA) above the 200-day MA. There were several moves recently to below the 50-day MA, but this was met with good support buying and a stock market bounce. All of this buying bias is encouraging, ...

The latest revelation that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE/JPM) suffered a multi-billion loss on bad investments is yet another warning sign that bank stocks are littered with questionable trades that the average person simply can’t decipher. The investment strategy developed by bank stocks over the past decade has been questionable at best. The strategy of taking excess liquidity and using those funds in an investment strategy to enhance earnings, which then leads to higher bonuses, has littered the bank stocks ...

The battle to tighten budget deficits has now reached a new level. Public employees are pushing back by taking their employers—the cities—to court. In San Jose, California, the public unions are taking the city to court to contest the city’s attempt to force the public employees to either contribute more of their paycheck toward their pension or accept a reduced retirement pension plan (source: Reuters, May 8, 2012). There are eight similar lawsuits nationwide! I have discussed most of these troubled cities in ...

The prices of gold and other precious metals are in correction and therefore gold and other precious metal stocks are in correction. I think it’s particularly important for stock market speculators to be paying attention to this sector as it corrects. There are a lot of very attractive mining companies out there with lots of cash and great producing properties. No matter what the story, the fact of the matter is that precious metal stocks trade commensurately with underlying spot prices. ...

China is rapidly become one of the top travel markets in the world for both domestic and international travelers. To deal with the increased travel, China has been steadily building its road, rail, and air infrastructure that will make travelling in this country much easier. “China is the most attractive place in the world right now for hotels. That’s why investment capital is racing there and why the major international brands are racing there too,” said Patrick Ford, president of U.S.-based ...

While some energy prices have remained high this past year, such as crude oil and refined gasoline, natural gas has hit decade lows. These events have coincided because of the mild winter and a glut of new supply hitting the markets due to new techniques to extract natural gas, like fracking. This has led to an excess amount of supply being dumped into the energy markets, driving down natural gas prices. With inventory of natural gas 31% above the normal ...