The wrong way to invest in a secular bear market is to lunge after stocks even at these multi-year lows. We’re still mired in a severe credit-inflicted recession that will probably keep a lid on growth for the next few years until leverage in the financial system is finally exhausted. However, con...

One of the more widely used slogans to address this dismal market environment over the last 19 months is the “lost decade.� Japan suffered its “lost decade� in the 1990s as deflation and sub-par growth strangled the Japanese economy from 1990 until 1998. Now it’s America’s turn along wit...

At this point it’s obviously impossible to predict where the stock market will find a bottom. Equities continue to break important support levels and Monday’s mini-crash is an extension of the recent October 2002 bear market low violation last week. We’re truly in no man’s land. The Dow can ...

Since last November I’ve been recommending and purchasing investment grade corporate bonds in the United States, including a portion of my company’s cash liquidity. The sector crashed last September following Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy and has since enjoyed a big rally – until recently. Ind...

Corporate earnings in the United States have literally fallen off a cliff since 2007 with reported S&P earnings down more than 30% in 2008 following a decline of about 16% in 2007. Increasingly, it’s becoming almost impossible to pick stocks that don’t decline several days following a purchase a...

Utilities might be staid and stodgy but they’re also reliable. And finding anything that’s holding its value in this market is worth a hard look. With the Dow Jones Industrials Average down 8.5% this year, one of the few areas of the market posting any gains at all is the Dow Jones Utilities Ave...

Since peaking at an all-time high in October at 89.53, the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX has plunged 56% as stocks seemingly attempt to form a bottom off the November 20 lows. The S&P 500 Index has now risen a cumulative 16.8% since November 20th while the Dow is up 10.5%. Is this the beginning of a ...

It should be obvious to most investors that until the financial sector stabilizes and starts to post a meaningful rally, stocks will not bottom and remain hostage to an ongoing bear market. Already this month the banking sector has tanked more than 15% weighed down by another wave of losses in Q4 an...

About 12 months ago at a Sovereign Society conference in St. Kitts, I asked the audience if they were bullish or bearish about the U.S. dollar's prospects. Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents were extremely negative on the dollar and wanted to increase their exposure to other currencies li...

Does market-timing work? Better yet, does it matter if you’re a long-term investor dedicated to stocks or other asset classes? Don’t most investments appreciate over time? The evidence suggests that knowing when to enter and exit a market can make all the difference in the long run. Investment p...