U.S. banks posted their biggest profit in three years for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. According to the FDIC, U.S. banks earned $21.6 billion in the second quarter of 2010. So, the improving economy is bringing bank profits back up again. When you add in the $18.0 billion in profits these banks had in their first quarter, we are looking at a profit for U.S. banks of about $40.0 billion in the first half of this year. But, despite the banks ...

There's not much action in the stock market for speculators, unless you're trading the index. Enthusiasm for stocks always goes in waves and the only group that's experiencing any upward momentum in this market is, of course, gold and silver stocks. Other precious metal stocks are holding up well, but none are performing with the same robustness as gold. The spot price of gold really doesn't have to do much going forward. It only has to stay where it is in ...

As an investor and trader, what you can do when you feel the market may be set to take a pause and stall is to write some covered calls on your long positions. This appears to be the case at this juncture. Covered call writing (also called Buy-Write) means you hold an underlying position in the stock represented by the call option. It is much less risky compared to naked call writing, in which you do not have an underlying position ...

I've used Japan as an example of what crippling asset and credit crises may leave in their wake. In Japan's case, it is almost two decades' worth of negligible or no economic growth. And now the conundrum -- while the economy is breathing its shallow breaths, Japan's currency is skyrocketing. While at face value it may seem like a good thing, the rising yen is spelling doom for Japan's crucial export sector. I don't speak "car" well, but if I were ...

Years ago, we published an investment report on how Alan Greenspan and the government had a secret plan to devalue the U.S. dollar to make the ever-rising national debt of the U.S. more palatable. Was it really a secret plan? I'll never know. But if we look at the policies of President Obama's administration and the current Fed chairman, coupled with the fact that selling U.S. Treasuries has never been so easy, one has to say that this "plan" is being ...

One of the strongest groups of stocks prior to the recent market selloff that began in the last week July was semiconductors. This sector got a strong boost from Intel Corporation's (NASDAQ/INTC) second-quarter numbers, which were quite strong. Only now are a number of other stocks in the semiconductor group pulling back with the broader market. It was a good trade that looks now to be over. Over for the entire group. Intel is a good benchmark stock to follow, because ...

The year 2010 is turning out to be dud, unless we see a stronger third quarter and forward guidance. And, while the possibility of a double-dip recession is likely relatively low, there are still concerns with stalling in the global economies. China has shown some stalling with the government there, trying to gingerly rein in some growth in order to avoid an asset bubble and inflation. Any sustained slowing in China would impact other global markets. China's GDP is predicted to ...

It seems that the U.S. economy is heading towards another recession. There is no other way of describing what the erosion of confidence is doing to it. Although the first half of 2010 has been more than decent, a number of economic indicators are suggesting that the U.S. recovery has lost its luster, to say the least. What is causing all this nervousness? Among the indicators from last week are orders for durable goods that barely moved in July by 0.3%, ...