Global Economy

The world economies are slowing. Japan’s credit rating was just downgraded to Aa3 from Aa2 by Moody’s due to slow growth and credit issues. My global economic analysis is that problems are brewing globally and there is a real possibility that the stalling will impact global growth and…

Just imagine... It’s 2012 and the world realizes the euro can’t make it as a currency. Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy have all been repeatedly bailed out. Germany and France have had enough. They tell these weaker countries to get out of the euro or Germany or France…

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that you can just as easily generate the same return on a stock no matter what market sector or market capitalization of the underlying business. The key to successful equity investing is always picking the right stock at…

In my last commentary, my investment advice was about the need to invest in emerging markets in addition to the established global economies. Times continue to be difficult for Japan, which had been the second-largest economy in the world prior to being surpassed by China in 2010. Not…

It’s difficult thinking about stocks, commodities and investing in general when you see the tremendous devastation in Japan. Stock picking seems like a flippant endeavor compared to dealing with the loss of life in this natural disaster. My cousin’s husband is a Japanese American executive with Coca-Cola in…

— "Profit Confidential" Column, by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA The famed ability of the market to climb the proverbial "wall of worry" continues to be put to the test by yet another wall — the Greek debt default tragicomedy. But default by sovereign borrowers is nothing new. Financial…

— "The Financial World According to Inya" Column by Inya Ivkovic, MA Developed economies are facing increasing risks of national bankruptcy. Some are already delinquent, such as Greece, whose debt has reached almost 108% of its GDP. Trying to import fiscal austerity at such a late hour, the…

— "The Financial World According to Inya" Column by Inya Ivkovic, MA Not long after President Obama won the 2008 elections, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, reminisced on numerous crises that his new boss was left to clean up after the Bush administration. He talked about financial,…

— "The Financial World According to Inya" Column, by Inya Ivkovic, MA There is a huge difference between treating symptoms of a disease, which usually provides for only temporary relief, and diagnosing the nature of the disease and searching for its actual cure. It seems that this medical…

— "The Financial World According to Inya" Column, by Inya Ivkovic, MA U.K. intellectuals, academics and economists have embarked on an interesting journey; that is, to answer the Queen's question as to why they failed to see the financial and credit mayhem that ushered in the Great Recession.…

— "The Financial World According to Inya" Column, by Inya Ivkovic, MA According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in about 40 years, China's share of the global economy could triple, exceeding what is currently the U.S. share of 22%. Taking the lead is not something new for…

— by Inya Ivkovic, MA. The Black Monday of September 15, 2008, will be, and should be, remembered as the day when the global economy stood on the brink of recession and had little choice but to hurl itself into the abyss. That was the day the U.S.…

— by special guest columnist Anthony Jasansky, P. Eng. The growing influence China now has on the global economy can easily be seen through the increasing impact the Chinese stock market has on other global markets. Visual evidence of this can be observed by comparing the trend of…

— by George Leong, B. Comm. While stock markets in the U.S. are at a 10-month high, there are some concerns surfacing in China. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the country's top economic official, warned that the country faces continued uncertainty and numerous hurdles in the road ahead. Jiabao…

— The Financial World According to Inya Column, by Inya Ivkovic, MA Since the Great Recession was pegged to be what it is, investors have believed that many chief economists around the world had some explaining to do. One question: how come most of them never saw it…

— by George Leong, B. Comm. Following the recent breakout, the major stock indices are stalling due to uncertainties and a technically overbought condition in stocks. In my view, there is still a sense that the economy may not really pick up until sometime in the first half…

— by George Leong, B. Comm. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ/DELL), the world's largest computer maker, used to be the toast of Wall Street. Investors bid the stock price up from $0.10 in August 1988 to nearly $60.00 in early 2000, before the technology market imploded and crushed growth stocks.…

— by Mitchell Clark, B. Comm. There's been a significant debate about the pros and cons of outsourcing in the technology field. The controversy is that offshore workers, who do the same job but for less money, take away domestic jobs. This is particularly the case in customer…

Halloween just passed, but we still sense there are some gloomy days ahead of us that could put a scare into most investors. By the time you read this, the next President of the United States will be known and then it will be all business, as the…

You can't say this is not an interesting time for stock markets. Not only are the bulls looking for positive news, but now, for the time being, bears cannot even short some 799 U.S. financial stocks and, in Canada, you cannot short banks. The government and Fed have lots…